By Gwen Tolman
Training for an endurance event is tough, there is no getting around that. One must be ready to sacrifice weekends and much more in order to successfully complete such an athletic feat. There is pain and soreness involved; somewhere along the line you will mourn the loss of some toenails, push through the pain of injury and long for the days of freedom.
All of this probably makes most people wonder why anyone would do it in the first place. For Team In Training (TNT) participants, it is all about raising money for a cure and preparing for something spectacular. The feeling when crossing that finish line means so much more than what it does personally. Participants have given their time, their energy and their hearts – committed all of that to the cause, the mission. They do it because they can and they do it for those who can’t.
TNT is a fundraising program for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). The program is designed for beginners who complete a four- to five-month training program with certified coaches for endurance events like marathons, half-marathons, triathlons, century bike rides and hike adventures. In exchange for an expense-free event weekend, participants are asked to raise money toward the LLS mission: to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life for patients and their families. Since 1988 TNT has trained more than 600,000 participants and raised more than $1.4 billion toward blood cancer research and patient services.
Everyone who joins the TNT program is a hero just for signing up. Once in a while a unique participant comes along who energizes and encourages others simply with presence and attitude. That is how Sara Clarke Long’s coaches and teammates would describe her. Sara will admit that before joining TNT she did not consider herself an endurance athlete. She signed up to participate in the Kiawah Island Half Marathon on Dec. 14 thinking it would be a “one and done type of deal,” as she puts it. One Saturday when Sara was at a TNT event focused on teaching participants more about blood cancers and the importance of the LLS mission, her life was changed in ways she never thought possible.
A blood cancer survivor and TNT participant was sharing her story about her symptoms that led to a Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis. Sara had been experiencing the same symptoms for some time and she knew that something wasn’t right. Sara had been to the doctor and was put on antibiotics; at the time there was no concern surrounding her symptoms. That Monday Sara went back to her doctor and insisted that she be tested further. After a month of scans, needles and a bone marrow biopsy, Sara was diagnosed with stage 4 small lymphocytic lymphoma, which is a form of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Sara knew that her mission to complete the half-marathon in Kiawah and raise money for LLS was more important than ever. “Now my run has become a lifelong journey for the cure, a race for my future and the future of so many others,” she says. Sara’s doctors have told her she is healthy enough to complete her training and start her treatment after the race in December. Her story has motivated all of her teammates to push beyond their personal limits and keep fighting for blood cancer patients everywhere. Sara is a fighter and she is not ready to give up. Her teammates can’t help but feel the same way; they are fighting for her too. “TNT puts together this amazing package – support, coaches, the chance to be part of a team and you get to raise money for a great cause,” Sara says.
Sara is determined to dedicate the rest of her life to raising awareness and funds for LLS. As she puts it, “This has become a life mission. It’s my future, I race for my cure. This time I will run as a patient, the next race … survivor!”
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Gwen Tolman has been a campaign manager for Team In Training (TNT) in the Charlotte area since the fall of 2009. She initially became involved in honor of her cousin who is a blood cancer survivor and has completed five events with TEAM. She is inspired and motivated on a daily basis by the volunteers who give their time to make a difference in the lives of cancer patients. Gwen is honored to help others throughout their own TNT journey and watch them go from beginners to endurance warriors!
