Ready to Run!

I recently signed up for Team in Training with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  I will be running a marathon to raise money for cancer research.  Below is what is on my fundraising page, I will also link it on here and on my Facebook.  If you wish to donate you can do so by clicking the tab on the right side of the page.  I hope you will follow my journey!  Thanks for your support!

GO TEAM!
http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/Oaks12/carlson10

Teams are made up of individuals. Without them, there is no team.

Welcome to my Team In Training home page.

I have a mission-to help find cures and more effective treatments for blood cancers. To accomplish that mission, I’m participating in the Raleigh City of Oaks Marathon on November 4, as a member of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team In Training. Like the other members of TNT, I will be raising funds to help find cures and better treatments for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma. I’m improving the quality of my life by participating and with your support, I can help improve the quality of life for patients and their families as well.

I have been thinking about joining TNT for some time now. I have found that in this day and age it is rare to come across a person whose life has not been impacted by cancer in one way or another. Cancer takes the lives of too many good people every year and leaves countless families grieving. Several types of cancer have invaded my family and friends over the past several years. The hardship and pain that these loved ones have faced/are facing has lit a fire inside of me to do something. I am not a doctor, so I can not find a cure myself, but I am able bodied and strong willed, so I can run. If I can use what I am good at to raise money for researchers to do what they are good at, then we have a win win situation here. I am running for all of those who have defeated, fought hard, or are fighting cancer, but there are 5 specific people that I am running in honor of:

Marianna Belding: When my mother was 6 years old she lost her mom to Hodgkins Disease. This is obviously who I am named after. I can't imagine not having my mother around growing up or even now. No child should have to grow up without a parent.

Tricia Chapman: My cousin, Tricia, battled Hodgkins Disease as a young adult. I believe she was 18 when she was diagnosed and she battled hard. Her friends went to parties while she went to chemotherapy. Something no teenager should have to face. Thankfully, Tricia fought and won and now has 3 beautiful children.

Ashley Baron: Ashley is a good friend of mine and fellow surfer. She called me about 2 years ago telling me that she had been feeling terrible for a while and the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong. After about 6 months of tests they found her to have stage 4 lymphoma. I'll never forget her phone call. It was such a shock that she had to focus on losing her hair, otherwise I'm not sure that she would have been able to process it all. All I could think to do was to offer her my hair. I had just cut it short and had more than enough to donate so not knowing what else to say, I offered it to her. I do have to say that I have never seen a woman own a shaved head better! After 6 months of chemotherapy, Ashley was declared cancer free!

Paula Sukenik: One of my best and oldest friends, Katie Plichta, is the person who introduced me to Team in Training. In 2004/2005 her mother, Paula, was diagnosed with Leukemia. She fought hard, had a bone marrow transplant, and eventually went into remission. She spent 3 wonderful years in remission and was able to watch Katie complete her first marathon. Those three years came to a screeching halt when she was given the news that her leukemia had returned. Shortly after starting chemotherapy she lost her battle. Her daughters took her loss and turned it into inspiration as her older daughter now works for LLS and is running or supporting runners almost every weekend! Katie now runs ultra-marathons while globetrotting and earning her JD/MBA. Both of them are changing the world! Paula's passing and Katie's running are what initially sparked my interest in TNT.

Larry Miller: Larry is the father of my good friend, Evan, who passed away just before Christmas. We were first introduced to Larry several years ago while he was recovering from a cancer related surgery. Sometime within that following year Evan informed me that Larry was not doing well and was pretty distraught. Larry defeated the odds and went into remission, we all celebrated! After Evan's passing, we became very close with his parents and call them our "Oklahoma family". A few weeks ago, Evan's parents informed me that Larry's cancer was back and his only option is a clinical trial. After a sleepless night I called TNT the following morning to get signed up. This family has endured too much hardship and I need to do my part to help.

Please make a donation in support of my efforts with Team In Training and help advance the research for cures.

“Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose.”