In 2010, I joined Team In Training (TNT) to run my first official half marathon in Seattle — not really for me, but for two people I loved. My friend Tara had just been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an aggressive leukemia, and my colleague Jonathan had quietly been fighting lymphoma for 17 years. TNT gave me a way to do something with my helplessness. Later, as I completed another TNT half marathon in Alaska, I would learn that my Uncle Jim required a stem cell transplant to survive his lymphoma.
I almost didn't make my initial fundraising goal — I sent letters, worked an IHOP pancake fundraiser, even handed out flyers at a grocery store. A week before the deadline, donations finally pushed me over the top, and I was headed to Seattle.
Every Saturday, my training run built more than mileage — it made me feel that I was part of a community. Teammates like Bob, training through his own lymphoma treatment, taught me what real resilience looked like. I gave Jonathan a purple "honored teammate" bracelet that he wore proudly for the rest of his life.
On race day, I crossed the finish line in 2:21:28 — a personal best, and the first of what would eventually become a 16-year, 50-state journey that is now captured in my book, Finishing Fifty. But that day was never really about the time on the clock. It was about Tara, Jonathan, and a team of strangers who became family.
Christine
Family member, supporter, and donor
