We met in Princeton, NJ at the towpath by Washington Street; there were 5 participants, 1 coach, and 1 captain. Before we took off for our training run, Coach Les gathered us in a circle and asked us to share why we are running and participating in Team In Training. One woman shared that her father passed away from Lymphoma and she wanted to race and raise money in honor of him. Another veteran runner said that his father was diagnosed with Lymphoma recently but with only 4 chemotherapy treatments he is in complete remission. I shared that I was running in memory of my mother who passed away from cancer in 2005. I also shared about how only a year ago I developed a mysterious rash and my doctors were concerned about possible malignancy. I was lucky the doctors did not find any malignancy, but it was such a scary and challenging time and it made me want to do something. Running with Team In Training is my way of giving back and helping those in need.
After the introductions were complete we started off on our run on the Princeton Towpath. We ran 5 miles along the beautiful trail along the D&R Canal. We started off our run slowly and within a few minutes David ran up behind us. David inspired us all at the kickoff meeting when he shared his story about his life as an attorney in NYC, his success, his new marriage and his cancer diagnosis. David joined Team In Training soon after being diagnosed; sometimes his training runs were the day after chemotherapy treatment! David is not only in remission but he is vibrantly alive.
The trail was muddy and puddles seemed to engulf the entire trail in many spots. We hopped around the puddles trying to find the least muddy areas, but still I felt the muddy water seep inside my sneakers. But none of this mattered because we ran easily chatting and talking to each other about running and our mission to help people with cancer. Sometimes we came upon a group of geese just hanging out on the trail or in the puddles. One runner joked that the geese were going to outrun us! But we picked up the pace and they moved out of our way.
Before we knew it the run was over and we were back in the parking lot giving each other high fives. Countless times I have run a five miler, but this run was different and it put a huge smile on my face as I drove my sore muscles home. This five miler was special because this was the first one with Team In Training an organization of truly amazing people taking time out there lives to help others who are in need.
Maybe cancer has touched your life in some way, maybe you are inspired by my story, or maybe you would just like to be a part of the journey to make a difference in someones life, to be a contribution. If you are interested in donating please checkout my webpage http://pages.teamintraining.org/nj/nikesf11/kmarciano
Thank you for sharing in my journey!
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