And Four to Go!

One, for the money;
Two, for the show;
Three to get ready;
And four to go!

So, last night, I kicked off my sixth Team in Training Cancer Kickin' Campaign.  Here was my first note and campaign kickoff.

Hello -

When I think of my five friends and family members who have died from cancer in the last two years, I feel blue. When I think of the 11 people that I know right now who are battling cancer as we speak - some with very uncertain outcomes - I feel really crabby. But when I think how every four minutes in just the United States alone, someone gets diagnosed with a blood cancer, I'm no longer just crabby - I'm steamed! After a three year break from Team in Training (TNT), the major fundraising arm of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, I'm coming out of my shell and racing for a cure once again. My race will be the Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon in Hampton, Virginia on October 6. At the least, I'll speed walk the race. If my chronically sore left knee feels good enough by then, I'll run some of it. Maybe at the end, I'll be crawling, maybe I will scuttle across the finish line. Maybe I will be cantankerous, maybe I will be grumpy. Maybe I will feel crustacean elation. But one way or another, I will finish the race in support of cancer patients everywhere.

Do you want to learn more and/or make a donation? Just go to my secure TNT web page:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/crwlncrb13/afritter

I've set my fundraising goal to $6,511:

6 for the number of TNT events I will have done after the Crawlin' Crab Half
5 for the number of family members and friends who have died from cancer since I did my last TNT event in 2010
11 for the number of years since I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in May 2002

Your donation to this great cause will make me as happy as a crab, er, clam!

Why the Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon? Well, I want to keep this note short, but I'm doing this particular race to honor the memory of an incrEDible guy, Ed Stone. If you are interested in more information about this, please go here:

http://racn4acure.blogspot.com/2013/05/why-i-picked-crawlin-crab-for-my-tnt.html

I bet almost everyone getting this email knows someone who has died from or battled cancer. If you don't, consider yourself fortunate, as I know far too many. I'll be honoring a lot of people with my race this fall - and especially three friends who have died in the last few years: Ed, Judy, and Faith. Got someone you want to honor? Make a donation, send me their name, and I will write it on my purple race shirt for October 6.

I'll be sending out updates every three weeks or so until the race. In the meantime, I thank you for your interest and for considering a donation to this cause. I'll be training real hard in very hot weather in the months to come, and trying to get that troublesome knee to heal. Then in October, I'll be joining a lot of Team in Training participants for the race as we move our crabcakes for 13.1 miles.

So come on, don't fiddle around! Join this cause with a donation towards LLS's mission of making all blood cancers curable! In the war against cancer, no one can afford to be a hermit! Join in, and let's pinch cancer the crab where it hurts!

Thank you,
Art

PS: Want to donate but don't wish to do so on-line? Just email me, and I'll give you instructions to pay by check (payable to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society).