Final Pre-Race Update Note

Hello one last time before the Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon in Hampton, Virginia, just four days away now. I want to thank everyone who has donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in support of my efforts. Your generosity never fails to amaze me. If you have been meaning to make a donation, or if you just want to read about why I am crabby about cancer, or if you want to see the list of names I will be wearing on my shirt, then my Team in Training web site is the place to start:

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

As of right now, my hair will be its normal color come Sunday, the day of the Crawlin' Crab. But I am 81% of the way to dye it purple, so who knows? With some final donations, I could be walking and running with purple hair for 13.1 miles on October 6th!

Purple hair may be in doubt, but wearing a purple shirt is not! I got my purple TNT shirt the other night at our team send off, and now I need to start writing dozens of names of cancer survivors, and those that were not fortunate enough to survive, on my shirt. When I am finished, it will be covered in names, and I will also pin four photos on my shirt for race day: Ed Stone, Judy Zettel, Faith Eury, and Ann Ritter. Ed's birthday is Sunday, and that is the reason that I chose this particular race. He died earlier this year at age 43 after battling various cancers for over half his life, starting with leukemia at age 19. He is a constant inspiration. His widow and sisters will be running in the race with me on Ed's birthday. Judy, a very good friend, died far too young from multiple myeloma and leukemia in 2011. Faith, who I met about four years ago through our mutual adventures with Hodgkin's lymphoma, was just as determined to live as I was. But she was not as fortunate, and died from this often curable disease last year at age 43. Ann was my sister, and she died two years ago from breast cancer. There is not a day that goes by that I don't miss her or wish I could just pick up the phone and say "hello."

Losing my sister and these three friends from cancer in less than two and a half years is a very good reason for me to feel crabby about cancer! And they are a constant reminder of the fact that, while there are many more cancer survivors these days than there were 20 or 30 years ago, there are too many people that do not survive. Despite the best medical care based on the advanced understanding of cancers that we now have, despite having the same grit and determination and spirit that cancer survivors everywhere have, despite all the new drugs with their awful side effects, there are so many people that just will not survive their cancer experience. So, there is still plenty left to do in understanding and curing cancer.

That is why I am doing Team in Training again. I know that I will not personally cure cancer, nor will any one donation of any amount made on behalf of my efforts cure it by itself. But cumulatively, all the donations I receive, added to those of thousands of others doing this, will make a combine to be a force for good, just as raindrops combine to form a river. LLS is one of the groups on the forefront of making a difference in the war against cancer. And understanding of blood cancers seems to be crucial in understanding other cancers as well. I once heard a researcher describe lymphoma as the "Rosetta Stone" of cancers: figure that group of cancers out, and clues to many other cancers will fall into place. It’s a daunting task, but it needs to be done!

11 years ago, I was down to my last two months of chemotherapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma, and feeling totally ill and worn out. Now, I'm getting ready to complete my seventh long distance event racing for a cure! Given time and good luck, our bodies have an amazing and inate ability to heal themselves from the damage caused by things like chemotherapy. But they do not have the ability to defeat cancers, once they get established, without assistance. For that, some external response - surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation - is needed. And that external response is usually pretty brutal to our bodies, and often of limited success. We don’t just need more effective cures, we need more effective cures that don’t partially destroy people’s bodies in the process. So if it feels right to you, join my seventh Cancer Kickin’ Campaign and make a donation to pinch Cancer the Crab where it hurts! It’s one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and on Sunday, it will be four to go - in the Crawlin' Carab Half Marathon, racing for a cure in purple! The time is now!

Thanks for the support and interest.
Art

PS: If I do end up racing with purple hair, I will post some photos and send out a post-race email next week to let you all know! And even if I don’t end up with purple hair, my TNT site will have a link to photos from the race event by a week from Thursday if you are interested.

Update From Art's Cancer Kickin' Campaign: The Rumors Swirl Again!

Hello again from Art's Cancer Kickin' Campaign, coming to you from the marathon trail with the Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon less than three weeks away. After taking a break from Team in Training for three years, I'm back trying to raise money to support the mission of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Many cancer survivors try to find a way to "pay it forward" for the good fortune we had to survive, and this is my way to do this while honoring the memories of those who were not nearly as fortunate as I have been. If I make my fundraising goal by the day of the race, I will dye my hair purple for the Crawlin' Crab. I am nearly 70% of the way there. Want to help me get the rest of the way? Just go to my web page at this URL to make a donation:

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

Donations of any amount are appreciated and go toward the mission of LLS. If you prefer writing a check to making an online donation, just contact me and we will work out the mechanics.

My Team in Training web page is also the place to start to see my honoree list or just learn more about what I am doing, and why I am feeling so crabby about cancer. By the way, thanks to the many people who have already donated so generously. If you are one of those folks, treat this email as a campaign update, not as a request for another donation.

On the training front, things are going well. My longest training to date has been 12 miles, and I feel like I am nearly ready to do the race. I'm getting in at least four training sessions a week, and the miles are starting to mount up on my fairly new running shoes.

Every time I do Team in Training the rumors start to swirl around me, and once again, I am responding to them. Some of this year's rumors: Art is retiring from TNT (do I have more in common with Brett Favre than just rugged, sexy good looks, incredible athletic ability, and tremendous wealth? Well, okay, only one of us has tremendous wealth.) With his world-class athletic talents, Art clearly has been taking Performance Enhancing Drugs (could it be that my new name should be Lance Artstrong or A-Rit?) Art beat Lindsay Lohan in a drinking contest (I’d have a better chance of beating Usain Bolt in a 100 meter run). Art beat Usain Bolt in a 100 meter run. (I reveal the shocking truth on my blog).

To read the details about these rumors, and more, you can go this link:

http://racn4acure.blogspot.com/2013/09/rumors-about-art-and-team-in-training.html

You have to be careful with rumors, people! Why, before I could refute the rumor about me retiring from TNT, at least a half dozen women, despairing and inconsolable about no longer seeing my incredible physique lumbering down the race course, threw themselves to their death off of bridges. So let's try to prevent such tragedies in the future, Okay?

One rumor you should never believe is that cancers are all curable now. Yeah, we've made great progress - survival rates for many blood cancers have more than doubled since 1960 - but for all too many people, that is not nearly enough progress. Sunday September 15 was Lymphoma Awareness Day, and was a reminder to me of my experience with this illness 11 years ago. I am blessed and grateful to have survived, and to be a part of this now. But I have five family members and friends who have died from cancer in the last 30 months, and that is far, far too many. So let's keep on reaching for a cure - a total cure! Maybe someday, hearing that all cancers are curable will no longer be a bad rumor.

Thanks again to all of you who have already donated in support, and thanks to all who are considering a donation before I wrap up my campaign in less than three weeks. That's all for now from my Cancer Kickin' Campaign, where I am trying to be one more small part in the war against cancer, and the race for a cure.

Art

PS: A number of you had told me earlier that you plan on donate but wanted a reminder. Consider yourself reminded! My campaign is coming down to the wire.

Something that Works Well Together

Wow! How quickly a few weeks can vanish, making it time once again for one of my Cancer Kickin' Campaign's updates. The Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon is less than six weeks away. Before I know it, my sixth Team in Training event will be in the past. But right now, I am continuing to train and to see if I can raise money for a cure - turning my hair temporarily purple in the process! Exactly 11 years ago from today, I was so sick from chemotherapy side effects that I ended up in the hospital for a while, feeling as awful as I ever had in my life. And yet, here I am 11 years later, getting ready to compete in my seventh marathon or half marathon as a cancer survivor, racing for a cure! I’m trying to pay it forward for my good fortune, and you can help if you choose to!

So what's the answer to "something that works well together?" (Hint - it's not Congress). I'll discuss that shortly, but before then, here are some updates. On the fund-raising side of things, I am 58% of the way to having purple hair on race day October 6. Whether or not I am prepared to travel 13.1 miles by foot on race day is almost totally within my control, barring an injury. But whether or not my hair is purple instead of gray? Well, that is up to the people getting this email! And here is how you can help turn my hair purple: (1) go to my web page at this URL:

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

(2) Make a donation of any amount. Or if you prefer, contact me about a check payable to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. My Team in Training web page is also the place to start to see my honoree list or just learn more about what I am doing, and why I am feeling so crabby about cancer. By the way, thanks to the many people who have already donated so generously. That includes a number of anonymous donors. Since I don't know who you are, I can only thank you en masse. So, thank you - very much - to all of my generous donors, anonymous or not!

On the training front, my back is back to feeling pretty good! I still have some knee pain, but it is very tolerable. I did slack off for a couple of weeks, including a trip out of state, and that really cut into my training. But I got back on track this past Saturday, walking and running nine miles. This coming Saturday, I'll go for double-digit miles for the first time since my last half-marathon. So I am confident that one way or another, I'll complete my mission of doing another half-marathon and racing for a cure once again.

Now, I know the suspense is killing you - what works well together? Well, a number of things. One would be crazy people like me, training for rigorous long distance endurance events with our legs and feet, collaborating with generous people like you supporting us with your fingers to write a check or enter a credit card donation. Another would be the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society working well with medical researchers to hunt down elusive and difficult cures. A third would be LLS working with cancer patients to support them in many ways. And your donation helps make the work LLS does in these wonderful areas happen.

I mentioned Congress earlier. Isn't it a good thing that most things work better than Congress? My goodness - can they cooperate on anything without worrying about how to make the other party look bad? What if cancer research worked that way? How many cures would there be? What if our bodies worked as poorly as the body politic does? How chaotic would that be? A year and a half ago, suffering from some knee pain during a 12 mile run, I started thinking about this. What if the various parts of our body worked as dis-functionally together as Congress does? What might that be like? To read my thinking on this subject, you can go to this post that I wrote:

http://racn4acure.blogspot.com/2012/02/body-politic.html

So let's keep working together to accomplish great things! Thanks to all of you who have already donated in support, and thanks to all who are considering a donation before I wrap up my campaign in just under six weeks.

Art

Update From Art's Cancer Kickin' Campaign: Soup!

Hey again, it is I, with one of my Cancer Kickin' Campaign's tri-weekly updates. The Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon is just two months away now, which seems unreal, and a bit scary, given that I just started adding some running to the mix but am dealing with a sore back. It is hard to walk normally right now, much less try to run.

So what's with the subject line: "Soup!"? More about that in just a bit, but first, here are some updates. On the fund-raising side of things, I am just over halfway to having purple hair on race day. Come on - help make that happen! You know you want to see me with purple hair! And here is how you can help turn my hair purple: (1) go to my web page at this URL:

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

(2) Make a donation of any amount. Or if you prefer, contact me about a check payable to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. My Team in Training web page is also the place to start to see my honoree list or just learn more about what I am doing, and why I am feeling so crabby about cancer.

On the training front, that was going pretty well until this back pain. Hopefully, that will soon be behind me. Well, actually - that is the problem, it is behind me: right in the small of my back! Anyway, I have now trained up to eight miles, which is still a long way off from a half marathon at 13.1 miles - but I am getting there.

Now, about the Soup... What's this soup? She-crab soup, perhaps, in honor of the race? The soupy, hot, steamy summer weather that we train in? Nope, neither of those. "Soup" is the nickname of a little girl I met after training Saturday. Her real name is Campbell, and she is almost eight. A year ago this month, Campbell was diagnosed with leukemia and has had a really rough year. She came out to meet our team, thank us for doing Team in Training, and give us cupcakes and homemade cards and her orange "Team Soup" wristband. It was great to meet her, although it makes me sad to see a child who must go through this. She is just a bit older than my granddaughter. Seeing Campbell reminded me of a young girl I saw in Nashville four years ago when I was there to run a half marathon for Team in Training. I still think of that girl often and hope that she is doing well. If you want to read my account of what happened, you can go to my TNT page and click the link near the top of the page about the Nashville girl:

http://racn4acure.blogspot.com/2009/04/look-theres-one-of-leukemia-society.html

I told Campbell's mom Saturday that I am an 11 year survivor. She told me how much she loves hearing from survivors because it gives her hope. And I told her how much I appreciated them coming out so that we could meet Campbell, and be inspired by her.

There is very little that I, or you, can do to help Campbell directly. But I fervantly hope that through using my feet to motivate people to donate whatever amount they feel is appropriate to this cause will ultimately mean that more Campbell's and more little Nashville girls go on to survive these awful diseases - an ordeal that no child should have to face.

So thanks to all of you who have already donated in support, and thanks to all who are considering a donation before I wrap up my campaign in two more months.

Art

Great News on the Cancer Treatment Front!

Hello from Art’s Cancer Kickin’ Campaign, with update number 3!

First, thanks to the many generous donors who have contributed to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society on behalf of my efforts with Team in Training in the Crawlin’ Crab Half Marathon this coming October. This includes several anonymous donors, who I can’t thank in person – since I don’t know who you are.

If you want to make a donation, read about what I am doing, or see my list of honorees, the place to start is my TNT web site:

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

If you want to donate, but don’t wish to use the secure on-line donation, simply contact me about how to get LLS a check for your donation.

On the fundraising front, things are going well, and I have attained 32% of my goal. If I reach that goal by the time of the race, I will celebrate by dying my hair purple once again for the race. This time, I will use a different technique than the one I used in Seattle three years ago (nearly to the day).

Cancer is a tough, tough foe. I am very lucky to be here, much less healthy enough to do a half marathon – run, walk, or crawl like a crab. There are many cancer survivors, but there are also very large number of people who face very difficult odds. So, when I saw the news of a breakthrough last week, I was really encouraged. Did you read about it? A new drug called ibrutinib has shown extremely promising results in two extremely difficult to treat blood cancers: chronic lymphocytic leukemia and mantle cell lymphoma. This is an oral drug that is not only very effective against these cancers, but has minimal side-effects when compared to traditional chemotherapy. News like this always gets me fired up! Will I see all cancers being treatable in my lifetime? Every dollar raised is a little step closer to this ultimate goal. I know two people with CLL, and I pray that this news means longer and healthier lives for both of them, and that there will be more similar news coming.

On the training front, I continue to walk a lot and do physical therapy and stretching for the knee pain, with the goal of running at least some of the half marathon. I’ve also figured out, with the application of mathematics, that I will set the world record in the men’s marathon in 2024! Skeptical? Well, like I said, I have the proof, and I'll share it with you:

http://racn4acure.blogspot.com/2013/06/im-going-for-marathon-world-record.html

That’s all from my campaign at this time, where I may be crabby about cancer, but happy as a clam about the ibrutinib news. Google it! It truly is an amazing thing!

Thank you,
Art

The Ones Who are Gone

June 3 being the 11th anniversary of me starting chemo, I thought it was a perfect day to get out a campaign update.

Hello again. It's been about three weeks since I kicked off my campaign to raise money for the mission of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society while training for the Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon in Hampton this October. So, here I am with a campaign update, and today being the exact 11 year mark of me starting chemo for Hodgkin's lymphoma seems like the perfect day to get this out. Things are going well - I'm putting in about four to five miles at a time in training. I am still sticking to walking (although I did run two solid miles on an anti-gravity treadmill today as part of PT), but continue to try to improve my sore knee so that I can hopefully do some road running later this summer. And on the fundraising front, things are moving along thanks to people's generosity. I'd like to again thank the folks who have donated to LLS thus far through my efforts, including anonymous donors.

If you want to make a donation, get more information, or see my list of people I will be honoring during the race, the starting point is my Team in Training webpage. Come on, donate some clams and help me make Cancer the Crab scuttle away in fear!

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

This is my sixth time doing Team in Training, but there is something quite different for me this time. For the very first time, my sister Ann is no longer here. For five TNT campaigns, Ann was among my biggest supporters. She always donated extremely generously, she enjoyed getting my campaign updates and gave me feedback on them, and seemed proud of what I was doing. Even after developing cancer herself in 2007, she continued to be a big supporter. She fought so hard for over four years, determined to find a way to keep living. And then, on Memorial Day 2011, she was gone. I think of her every day and miss her deeply, and know that I am far from alone in that.

The second anniversary of my sister's death a few days ago caused me to think back to her memorial service, and how difficult it was to know that she was gone, and that I would never see her again on this earth. But it also made me remember a rainbow that I saw over her beloved Tremper Mountain the day before the service. I will share the story of that rainbow here:

http://racn4acure.blogspot.com/2013/05/anns-rainbow.html

I think of all the people I knew who are now gone - very much too young and too soon - because of cancer, especially in the last two and a half years. And I am willing to bet that a large number of people getting this note have a hole in their lives that was once filled by loved ones who are gone now because of cancer. Nothing we can do will change that, but what we can do is to go forward and try to make a positive difference in the world, to work towards a cure so that all types of cancer become curable or at the least manageable.

In my case, I am using my legs and feet to propel myself 13.1 miles in October, and I am hoping that you will be inspired and motivated to use your fingers on your keyboard (or on a pen with your checkbook) to make a donation to the mission of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society: to find cures for all blood cancers. So, let your fingers do the walking - I'll take care of the miles for you with my feet!

As always, to anyone making a donation, if it is in honor of someone dealing with any type of cancer, or in memory of someone who is now gone, just let me know, and I will write their name on the honoree page of my Racing for a Cure Blog, and on my Crawlin' Crab race shirt.

Thank you for reading my update and message, and thank you for the support.

Art

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).

Who I Am Running For

This was my final note sent to supporters and potential donors....

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Hello, all –

Ten days from today, I will wake up at an obscenely early hour, apply temporary Team in Training tattoos to my face, smear temporary (I hope) purple dye in my hair, and put on my running clothes – including my purple race jersey covered with dozens of names. I will wolf down a bagel, if I can find one, and catch a bus to a staging area somewhere in the Seattle area. I will try to get a little rest in the pre-dawn darkness, and mentally prepare myself to start running and walking 13.1 miles.

Yes – I did say I will dye my hair purple, for my fundraising goal of $8,500 has been reached, thanks entirely to so many of you getting this update. But as we attempt to cure cancer, one mile and one dollar at a time, there is no harm in exceeding one’s goals. So if you have been meaning to donate all along, or if you are one of those folks who said “I’ll donate later, just remind me,” then this link is for you:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/rnrseatl10/art_ritter

Every time I do Team in Training, I write the names of cancer survivors, and of those deceased from cancer, all over my race shirt. You can see a list of my 2010 honorees here:

http://racn4acure.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-honorees-for-seattle.html

If I were to tell you something about every one of them, this note would be many pages long, for they represent the stories of so many people with cancer. A college girl whose friends took her out to celebrate her last birthday – thirteen birthdays ago. A two year old boy who died from leukemia last year. A man about my age who is fighting late stage leukemia as we speak. A boy stolen from his parents by leukemia at 15. A young pregnant woman battling Hodgkin lymphoma while carrying her child to term. A ten week old baby who developed leukemia but survived after several years of horrific treatments. A woman who, forty years ago, was the only person in her clinical group at St. Jude’s to survive a type of leukemia that is now over 90% curable. They are brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, friends and cousins – and beloved pets!

The first name I will write on my shirt is that of my sister, Ann, who is in the fourth year of battling a relentless metastatic breast cancer. I think of her every single day, and pray that she will be more relentless than her cancer.

Finally, I am running for anyone who may have cancer and needs a little hope and encouragement that they will survive and be healthy again. Eight years ago, I was in their shoes, and now I am a three time marathoner and soon to be two time half marathoner. If I can in some way inspire someone else who is currently ill to keep their chin up, fight to get better, stay positive, and maybe someday be motivated to do something to make a difference in the world, then I can ask for no better outcome from my experience.

I deeply appreciate all the support for this cause from so many of you. Finishing the half marathon next week is something that I have to do with my own two legs. But hitting my ambitious fundraising goal, and turning my hair purple in the process: that is your accomplishment. So thank you for your generosity, which made reaching this goal possible!

Art

Answering the Burning Questions

This was the note sent tonight to potential donors as a campaign update...

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Hello Again,

Eight years ago, the burning questions for me were: what kind of cancer do I have? Will I live to the end of the year? What is chemotherapy going to be like? Will I survive five years? (Answers: Hodgkin lymphoma, yes, not fun, yes). But now, with my 13.1 mile race in Seattle just 19 days away, I have a different set of questions to find the answers to.

First, a quick update: people have generously donated nearly $7,900 so far to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through my campaign. I am only a few hundred dollars away from running with purple hair. If you want to see how I am doing, make a donation, read campaign updates, or view my honoree list, the place to start is with my TNT page:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/rnrseatl10/art_ritter

Now, I know that the suspense is killing you, so let’s get to today’s burning questions.

(Q) Will your hair be purple come race day? (A) While I cannot be certain, I am so close to my goal now that I cannot imagine not hitting my objective of $8,500. A goal that seemed tenuous just a few months ago now seems very likely. Thanks everyone! You can check up on me by reviewing my “Purpleometer:”

http://racn4acure.blogspot.com/2010/03/my-purpleometer.html

(Q) How will you turn your hair purple? (A) I am looking for the right dye, one that I can apply easily the early morning of the race, without causing the hotel’s smoke alarms to go off or resulting in a hazardous waste alert. It has to be very temporary, since I really don’t want to come into work a few days later with purple hair. But it can’t be too temporary, because I will be sweating a lot during the run, and don’t want it to bleed out down my face and into my eyes.

(Q) What happens if the purple doesn’t come out? (A) Assuming multiple shampoos won’t fade it, I probably can’t miss work and go on disability for this reason, so I would guess I will just get a really short hair cut. And I’ll keep washing it. Or I could dye it red and become a carrot-top for a while.

(Q) What’s this about a leg injury? (A) I’d had a nasty cold, and didn’t run for nine days. When I did run again, it was just a 1.5 mile run barefoot on the beach, which seemed simple enough, but at the very end, I suffered a slight tear in my left calf muscle. After another week of doing nothing, I started short two mile walks yesterday. Running is still painful.

(Q) Do you think this injury is due to your age? (A) Absolutely not! Both my legs are exactly the same age, and only one of them is injured, so no way!

(Q) So can you still do the race? (A) I intend to, even if it means walking most of it. I’ve made great progress. A week ago, I could barely walk and it was painful. I tried taking a walk and a big snail sneered at me as he zipped by. His laughter cut me to the quick, and I yelled “You laugh now, but when I catch you, you’ll be escargot in garlic butter!” “Catch me?” he said, taunting me. “You couldn’t catch a cold!” I tried pursuing him for a while, slipping and sliding in his slime trail, but eventually he got too far ahead and I lost him. But this morning, I walked 2 miles in 28 minutes – much better. Hopefully, I can get in some running in a few days, and try to get back to race condition. Since a nine mile run on May 21, I have run a total of 1.5 miles, injuring myself in the process. So I definitely have some catching up to do.

(Q) Any big surprises this time around? (A) Not really, but I continue to be amazed at people’s generosity as we continue to slowly climb out of this recession. I think enough people realize that cancer is not in recession – not even close - and we have to keep making progress in the fight against it. Every ten minutes in this country, a cure arrives too late for one more person with blood cancers. Your generous donations are going to ultimately improve the odds and lead to more cures, and to more support of cancer patients.

Thanks again from my 2010 Cancer Kickin’ Campaign, “Survivor in Seattle.”
Art

The Lucky Guy

This was my fundraising note tonight to potential donors to my 2010 Campaign.
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Hello!

Almost exactly eight years ago to the day, I was sitting on a table in a doctor’s office, anxiously waiting to learn my biopsy results. I knew by that point that I had some kind of lymphoma, but which type? The news I got in the next few minutes would determine in part whether I would be likely to survive this, or be faced with the possible prospect of a pretty awful death in the next year or so. The surgeon strode in, looked at me, and tossed a lab report on the table next to me. “Hodgkin’s, you lucky guy!” he said. I felt like I had won the lottery, because Hodgkin lymphoma is 80% survivable at stage 3. Some of the other lymphomas have much lower survivorship rates, or were even considered incurable. I knew it wouldn’t be easy to go through chemotherapy, and was rather dreading that part of this big adventure, but I also knew now that I would probably live.

I’ll continue in that vein in a moment, but first want to give a campaign and training update. With just a few weeks of fundraising to go, I am only about $1,400 away from my fundraising goal and from having purple hair on June 26 in the Seattle Half Marathon. Want to help get me there? You can do so by getting me a check payable to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, or by donating on my Team in Training secure webpage:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/rnrseatl10/art_ritter

Thanks again, very much, to the 99 people who have donated so far to my “Survivor in Seattle” Cancer Kickin’ Campaign!

The half-marathon is exactly one month away, and I am slowly getting ready, having run as far as 12 miles a couple of weeks ago. It was a very hot morning, and by the last few miles, I was dragging. Towards the end, I walked as much as I ran, but I still did it! This week, I have a nasty cold and am taking it easy, and it feels very strange not to be working out or running. Hopefully, I can pick up some running this weekend and be fully back into it by next week.

In my last update, I talked about waiting for the cavalry, how so many people with cancer are barely hanging in there, waiting for the next breakthrough in cancer treatments – a development that will perhaps save their life in the nick of time. My surgeon’s news to me eight years ago meant that I didn’t have to wait for the cavalry. While no one’s survival from any disease is assured, researchers and clinical trials in the 1970’s and 80’s led directly to effective treatments for Hodgkin lymphoma. No cavalry rescue was needed. All I had to do was to endure the highly effective chemotherapy regime for six months and I had a great chance to survive. There were some bumps along the way, but here I am, eight years later and getting ready for my fifth marathon or half-marathon.

We have made great progress in the treatments of blood cancers. Five year survivorship for leukemia has climbed from 14% in 1960 to 54% by 2005. For non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the survivorship rate has gone from 31% in 1960 to 69% in 2005. Myeloma survivorship, while still low, has gone from 12% in 1960 to 37% in 2005. But you can still see that there is a long way to go with these diseases to reach the survivorship rate of 86% for Hodgkin lymphoma – and to improve on this. One more fact: every 10 minutes in the USA, someone dies of a blood cancer.

It was a great feeling to hear those words: “Hodgkin’s, you lucky guy!” I had something that could be treated, something that I was likely to survive. That knowledge gave me tremendous hope, and also a desire to make a difference for future cancer patients, which I have attempted to do over these past years with my campaigns for Team in Training. Anything I have accomplished with TNT is really your accomplishment, for without your generosity, all I would be doing is participating in a foot race. It is your donations that will lead to cures and to the support of cancer patients. If you have not donated yet and want to add to the donations of the 99 folks so far, there are still a few weeks left to do so.

From my “Survivor in Seattle” Campaign, with just one month to go, a Big Thank You!
Art

Waiting for the Cavalry

This was tonight's campaign update message to potential donors....

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We’ve all seen this kind of movie…. A coyote's howl, as mournful and lonely as a graveyard at midnight, echoes faintly off the canyon walls. The pitiless midday sun beats down on a scene of desperation and devastation as vultures circle overhead, eagerly anticipating the feast to come. Our hero, Slim, squints into the sun over the barrel of his trusty Winchester and pulls the trigger. A bad guy drops from the rim of the canyon like he was kicked by a mule, cart-wheeling in slow motion down the slope. “Thanks, Pardner,” says Shorty. “I thought fer shor I was a gonner. Good shootin’!” Slim loads his final three cartridges into the Winchester, and glances sorrowfully over at Red, who stares sightlessly at the Western sky, his blood creating psychedelic vermillion patterns in the sand. “There’s just too danged many of ‘em, Shorty,” Slim says. “Yup. If the cavalry don’t get here soon, we’re done fer,” Shorty says haltingly. “Well, the cavalry ain’t coming this time, but I’m a-gonna turn three more of them fellers into buzzard chow afore I’m done,” Slim says as he grimly sights his rifle once again.

Suddenly, so faint at first as to be almost imagined, the martial sound of a bugle tiptoes along the canyon. Quickly, the now unmistakable sound of the bugle is rapidly drowned out by the thunder of hooves and the shouts of men, as the cavalry comes sweeping through, flushing the bad guys out like sand before the tide. Once again, the cavalry has arrived just in the nick of time and saved the day.

In real life, the arrival of the cavalry is not nearly so assured. Day after day, cancer patients are told to just keep hanging on. They are told: “The next breakthrough is just around the corner. Just hang on. Hang on one more day, one more week, one more month, one more year, five more years. Help is on the way. All you have to do is hang on.” But every 10 minutes of every day in the USA, the cavalry arrives too late for someone with a blood cancer. They can’t hang on any longer, and their agonizing and devastating fight comes to an end. Their family is left to wonder “what if?”

You and I are not the cavalry, although there are weeks I spend enough miles on my feet I that feel like I could be a cavalry scout. But your donation to LLS is helping to buy the “cavalry” – medical researchers, doctors, nurses – the things they need to take the fight to blood cancers, and to ultimately prevail over the bad guys of cancer. So if you haven’t made a donation to LLS through my Cancer Kickin’ Campaign, please consider doing so with a check or by way of my web page:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/rnrseatl10/art_ritter

To the many of you who have donated, my sincere and deep thanks.

Let’s get the “cavalry” to arrive in time for so many people who are suffering from cancers around the world. As I write these words, every four minutes a new blood cancer diagnosis occurs in America. Every one of these people and their loved ones will ponder if they will survive. So for the parents of the three year old who wonder if their daughter with leukemia will blow out the candles on her next birthday cake; for the young woman with lymphoma wondering if she will live to dance at her wedding; for the young man with leukemia who prays he will survive long enough to attend his high school graduation; for the man with myeloma who wonders if he will ever get to hold his grandchild: I say, let’s do what we can now so that these things have a better chance of happening.

Thanks for your support and for your consideration of a donation. In the process, maybe you will help turn my hair purple for the half-marathon in Seattle in less than seven weeks. If so, I am pretty sure I will be the first “cavalry scout” ever with purple hair! Now that’s something you won’t see in a Western flick! What would Slim think about that?

Thank you very much from my “Survivor in Seattle” Campaign!
Art

Those Scary Words Eight Years Ago

This was my campaign update tonight to potential donors to LLS, sent on the 8th anniversary of a momentus day in my life....

Greetings from my 2010 Cancer Kickin’ Campaign, “Survivor in Seattle!” Eight years ago today, I heard those seven scary words that no one ever wants to hear. Not “Hey Dad (or Mom), can I borrow the car?” Nothing quite that terrifying! No, the words I heard were “It looks like you may have cancer.” I’ll discuss that more in a second, but first I want to give an update on how my campaign is going.

With exactly two months to go until the race, it is actually going pretty well! Our training this past Saturday was eight miles, so I am getting closer to my goal of 13.1 on race day. Much more importantly, thanks to the generosity of so many folks, I have raised about $6,100 so far. A little over two thousand dollars more, and I will be running with purple hair on June 26 in Seattle! Want to help make that happen? Go to my TNT web page and make a donation, or contact me to get me a check payable to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/rnrseatl10/art_ritter

You can also go to my web page to get campaign updates by way of my blog, to see my honoree list, or view my Purpleometer. As with all of my past endeavors for LLS, if you make a donation to LLS I will gladly write the name of a loved one affected by any type of cancer on my blog and on my race singlet in Seattle.

Now, back to those words I heard on April 26, 2002. What the doctor actually said as he viewed the X-ray was: “You have a large mass in your chest, something that should not be there.” I stared at the X-ray, unable to speak for about 10 seconds, my mind reeling. I focused on the words that the radiologist had written on the edges of the X-ray image: “Mediastinal Mass” and “Lymphoma?” Those words, combined with what the doctor said, had the same effect as if he had actually said "you have cancer," because I immediately was certain that was what I would be dealing with.

I wondered how I would tell my wife this news. I wondered what my future would hold, and what chemotherapy would be like. I wondered if I would see the end of 2002, or if 2002 would see the end of me. I decided in those initial few seconds that if this was going to be my fate, I would fight like hell to delay it as long as possible.

Obviously, I survived that year, and seven more years since, and it turned out well for me. But every four minutes of every day on average, another American is told they have one of the blood cancers: leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, or myeloma. I am sure that they have some of the same thoughts going through their brains as I did that day. And every 10 minutes in this country, a person will die from blood cancer, so clearly it does not turn out well at all for over 50,000 Americans each year.

When I was ill from the effects of chemo, I swore that when I recovered, I would somehow use my example of surviving cancer to do something good for others so affected, and to ultimately better their prospects. I don’t have the knowledge or skills to actually develop a cure. But maybe I can use my strong legs and spirit to inspire people like you to make a contribution to this cause, which will ultimately lead to more and more cures, and higher survival rates. I need your help, because running a half marathon in itself won’t cure a thing. It is donations to this cause that will lead to a cure, not anyone running 13.1 miles.

To all of you who donated already, many thanks. But if you are getting this and have not yet donated, then consider that your donation, when combined with those of so many others, is going to save lives. Maybe even the life of a loved one, because when you or a loved one has cancer, the phrase “War on Cancer” is no longer an abstract slogan. It is a difficult and exhausting fight for survival, and all too often a deadly one.

Like a bolt from the blue, that fight began for me eight years ago today. I am very lucky to be here, not only alive but healthy and strong as well. On June 26, I will be a Survivor in Seattle, and with your help, my hair will be purple, and we will be that much closer to a cure.

Thank you from my 2010 Cancer Kickin’ Campaign!
Art

If You Think a Marathon is Tough Try Chemotherapy

This was my recent update and note to potential donors...

Hello from my Cancer Kickin' Campaign, "Survivor in Seattle!"

I want to thank everyone who has donated to date to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society on behalf of my efforts. I am now just over 50% of my fundraising goal with a couple of months to go. If you want to donate or check progress, or see my growing list of honoree names for my race shirt on June 26, you may do so at my Team in Training web page:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/rnrseatl10/art_ritter

I am having a fundraiser this coming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Great Wraps on Lombardy just north of Broad in the VCU area. If you buy something there and tell them "Here for Art" when you pay, LLS will get 20% of your check. Please let others know about this, especially people in the Fan or the VCU area.

At the race expos where gear is sold, there is a tee shirt that says "If you think a marathon is hard, try chemotherapy." From personal experience in both areas, I can tell you that this is a true sentiment, and I thought I would do some comparitive differences.

Marathon – people prostrate themselves before you, the elite athlete that you are, in awe
Chemo – you prostrate yourself on the bathroom floor before the Porcelain God as your stomach does flops so spectacular that even Tiger Woods’ little black book pales in comparison

Marathon – You hate using the gross porta-potties that line the race course
Chemo – You would gladly use the grossest porta-potty you ever saw in return for everything working as it should once you got in there

Marathon – you drink nasty tasting sports drinks and eat nasty tasting “goos” to regain some energy
Chemo – nothing you eat or drink gives you any energy, and that luscious, ripe peach you would normally love makes you gag at the thought of it

Marathon - You are so worn out, you think you will just drop, but you keep going for 5, 6, 7 hours – whatever it takes
Chemo - You are so worn out, you think you will just drop, but you keep going for 5, 6, 7 (or 12, or 24) months – whatever it takes

Marathon – you wear a hat to protect your eyes from the sun, keep the rain out of your face, and to display your cool TNT “26.2” pins
Chemo – you wear a hat to protect your bald head from the sun, and, if you are a woman, to hide your bald head

Marathon – at about mile 19, your brain gets kind of slow. “Did I cover that last mile in 9.2 or 2.9 minutes, or was it 29.2?”
Chemo – most of the time your brain is in a fog so thick that the light from an explosion in a Chinese fireworks factory wouldn’t penetrate it. “Did it just take me 2 minutes or 2 seconds to shuffle into the kitchen, and why did I come in here? And why is there a shower stall and toilet in my kitchen? Hey, where’s the oven? Honey, someone took our oven and refrigerator! Or maybe we never had a refrigerator – I don’t know!”

Susan Butcher, the first woman to win the Iditarod, the 1,100 mile long sled dog race across Alaska’s wilderness, was no stranger to hard times and exhaustion. As she suffered through the exhaustion caused by her treatment for the leukemia that ultimately took her life in 2006, she discussed a key difference between an endurance event and blood cancers. "Running the Iditarod is a choice and something I loved doing and I never considered the things I was going through hardships. I knew they were hard and there were some really tough times. There was a lot of pain. I've broken a lot of bones out there, but it was what I loved doing. I didn't really choose to have leukemia. This is just a battle that was given me."

At one point during her leukemia treatment, this woman who could once mush a dog team more than 1,000 miles through the wilds of Alaska could only manage 97 seconds on an elliptical machine. The exhaustion caused by her disease and its treatment was that total.

In time, through lots of generous people and the research that their donations fund, I hope that someday the shirt says "If you think chemotherapy is hard, try a marathon!"

Thanks again,
Art

Two More Announcements from my Cancer Kickin' Campaign

This was my fifth note updating my campaign to potential donors....

I had a couple more big new announcements from my Team in Training Cancer Kickin’ Campaign. Fortunately, host Hal Larius of FSEN (Fundraising Sports Entertainment Network) let me appear on his show again to let the world know these exciting new developments. Following is a transcript of my recent interview with Hal:

Hal: Hi folks, tonight on my show, “Athletes in Grace and Disgrace,” we have a very special guest, Art Ritter – er – Cinco-ocho. I’m glad we could get you back on my show so soon, Art.
Art: Thanks, Hal. Great to be back!.
(Audience: thunderous applause and rhythmic chanting “Cin-co-o-cho”, “Cin-co-o-cho”)
Hal: I know you have two really big announcements tonight, but first, tell everyone about where your campaign stands.
Art: Well, as you know, I’m training for my fifth Team in Training event, the Seattle Half Marathon, and raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I want to thank the many generous people who have contributed. People can go to my TNT web page at any time to donate, catch up on my latest updates, or see my list of honorees.
(The web site URL of my TNT page is shown on the TV screen):

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/rnrseatl10/art_ritter

Hal: So, you’ve reached nearly half of your fundraising goal, right?
Art: Yes. People have generously donated $4,100 so far. This money will be used to provide services to blood cancer patients and to work towards the ultimate goal of curing blood cancers: lymphoma, leukemia, and multiple myeloma.
Hal: Well, what’s this about the color purple?
Art: Well, Hal, I am announcing here tonight that if I reach my fundraising goal by June 25, I am going to dye my hair purple for the race!
(Audience: a loud buzz fills the studio, and several young women in the audience scream)
Hal: Wow, that would be so cool! Hey, how about a purple Mohawk, Art?
Art: Let’s not go nuts with this, Hal.
Hal: Yeah, that would be pretty over the top and out of character for you, wouldn’t it?
Art: So that people can see how close I am to having purple hair for the race, on my TNT web page is a link to a cool new feature, my “Purpleometer.” I’ll update this as money continues to come in, and when “Mini-Me” has 100% purple hair, you know I’ll have purple hair too on race day! And after the race, I’ll post a photo of myself with purple hair on my blog, Racing for a Cure.
(Audience: breaks into cheering and stamping their feet; a few young women swoon)
Hal: Oh that is awesome! I can’t wait to check that out. So I just go to your web page and there is a link to your Purpleometer?
Art: Yep, it’s so easy, Hal. But I have another big announcement, too.
(Audience: collective sound of loud inhaling with excitement)
Hal: Well, don’t hold us in suspense, Art. What is it?
Art: Well, March Madness turned very quickly to March Sadness for me with Villanova losing in the second round, but I am going to turn it back to March Fadness by continuing my campaign’s wild and whacky hat fad!
Hal: Oh, exciting! How will March Fadness work, Art?
Art: Simple, Hal. For a $25 or larger donation for most teams, I will wear the college team hat of your choice for a day, and put a picture on my blog. Your team is still in March Madness? Rub it in, make me wear their hat. Your team is a ‘Nova arch rival in basketball, or even football – any Blue Hen, Spider, or Tribe fans out there? Go ahead, show LLS the money and I will wear your hat.
Hal: Wow, just 25 bucks? I think I see you wearing a Whittier Poets hat pretty soon, good buddy!
Art: Well, $25 for most teams. But for some teams, it is $50. All these teams either beat Villanova this year, or knocked us out of the tournament over the past few years. It is just so painful and humiliating to wear these teams’ hats, but for a good cause, I will: North Carolina, St. Mary’s, Florida, Kentucky, Kansas, West Virginia, Syracuse, Pitt, Temple, UConn, Marquette, or Georgetown.
(a fan in the back jumps up and screams “’Nova stinks, Tarheels rule! The audience boos him)
Hal: I’d love to see you in a Syracuse or Georgetown hat, Art. Oh, the humiliation.
Art: Yeah, feels kind of rash right now, but I am not backing down! Go ahead, humiliate me, it is for a good cause. Make the donation and loan me the hat, and I will wear it! Even if it is one of a hated rival!
(A guy in the audience shouts “Yeah!” Applause starts rippling through the studio)
Hal: Well folks, that’s all we have time for tonight. Art, thanks for coming on. I’m going to be checking out that Purpleometer and getting you that Poets hat! Goodnight, everyone.

That’s the latest from my 2010 Cancer Kickin’ Campaign, Survivor in Seattle. Stay tuned for future updates!
Art

A Big Announcement From My Cancer Kicking Campaign

This was my fourth campaign note to potential donors. After two pretty serious notes in a row, it was time for a whacky one, and I hope that this one fit the bill.

We super-athletes seem to have two major ways of drawing attention to ourselves – doing something incredibly stupid and illegal, or appearing on a sports talk show. The US Bureau of Prisons kindly allowed me to meet some of the folks that I could share living quarters with from 5 – 15 years if I took the former approach. I found them to be incompatible, and so I decided on the latter course of action. Following is a transcript of my recent interview by host Hal Larius of FSEN (Funky Sports Entertainment Network).

Hal: Welcome to my show, “Athletes in Good Grace and Disgrace,” Art. We’ve been trying to get you on for some time, and I’m glad we could finally connect.
Art: Thanks, Hal. Great to be here at last.
(Audience: loud applause and some cheers)
Hal: I know you have a big announcement tonight, but first, tell everyone about where your campaign stands right now.
Art: Well, I’m training for my fifth Team in Training event, the Seattle Half Marathon, and raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. People have been very generous, and I want to thank everyone who has contributed. People can go to my web page at any time to donate, catch up on my latest updates, or see my list of honorees.
(The web site URL of my TNT page is shown on the TV screen):

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/rnrseatl10/art_ritter

Hal: So, it sounds like your campaign is off to a good start!
Art: Yes, very good. People have generously donated about $2,500 so far. This money will be used to provide services to cancer patients and to work towards the ultimate goal of curing blood cancers: lymphoma, leukemia, and multiple myeloma.
Hal: Well, what about that big announcement you are planning on tonight?
Art: Well, Hal, after a lot of thought, I am going to change my name!
(Audience: loud murmur of excitement)
Hal: Wow, that will give you instant name recognition and notoriety. Think Kareem Abdul Jabbar! And of course, Mohammed Ali and Hulk Hogan! And then there is Chad Ochocinco, Old Number 85 of the Cincinnati Bengals! Who even remembers Chad Johnson, right? Ochocinco is now one of the most recognizable names in sports! What flair!
Art: That’s right, Hal. That’s the kind of publicity I’m looking for!
Hal: Okay, don’t keep us in suspense, Art – what’s it going to be?
(At this point, there is so much palpable excitement in the air that it creates an electric surge, and the power shorts out. A few minutes later, the show is back on the air.)
Hal: Sorry about that folks, but it isn’t everyday we get this much excitement on our show. So, what’s your new name, Art?
Art: Well, keep in mind that this is my fifth event for Team in Training, coming eight years after surviving lymphoma. So, my new name will be…
(Audience: murmuring expressing almost unbearable tension)
Art: Art Cinco-ocho!
(Audience: a loud gasp)
Hal: Now, that is powerful, Art! Very powerful. Short of shooting yourself in the leg in a nightclub, starting your own dog fighting ring, or getting involved in a barroom brawl, I don’t think you could get any more publicity than that!
(Audience: intense cheering and whistling)
Art: Yep, that’s the idea. Kind of take my campaign to the next level. Blood cancer is such a serious problem, with an American getting diagnosed every four minutes. Tens of thousands die every year because we just don’t have effective enough cures. People who donate to my Cancer Kickin’ Campaign will ultimately help to change that. Maybe not this year, or even next, but soon.
Hal: One question, Art. What about next year, when you are a nine year survivor? Your new name won’t quite fit then, will it? Have you thought about that?
Art: Uhh…
Hal: Or when you do your sixth TNT event?
Art: Uhh…
Hal: Won’t you have to change your name again then?
Art: Uhh…
Hal: Well folks, that’s all we have time for tonight. Art, I know you are considering another big campaign announcement soon. So once you get that finalized, let’s have you back on here in a couple weeks to talk about that, okay? Remember, folks, if an athlete is in the public's good grace or in disgrace, you will hear about him or her on my show! Goodnight, everyone.
(Stirring music plays while videos of athletes making incredible plays in slow motion and other athletes engaged in a big barroom brawl are shown)

That’s the latest from my 2010 Cancer Kickin’ Campaign, Survivor in Seattle. Stay tuned for future announcements!
Art

Our Team's February Miracle Girls

This was my third note to donors. You can go here to see some photos of our February Miracle Girls!

A couple of weeks have gone by since my last update, and we finally got enough of a break from the snow to start training. I want to thank everyone who has donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through my Cancer Kickin’ Campaign. So far, 36 people have donated $1,805 to my cause, and I very much appreciate your generosity. If you would like to make a donation, see my list of honorees, or catch up with what is going on with my campaign, you can do so at my Team in Training web page:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/rnrseatl10/art_ritter

Well, the snow finally held off long enough for our summer team to meet in very un-summer like weather this past Saturday. It was cold and icy, but it felt great to get in our first training at long last, and to run and walk five miles. But the main subject of this note is Team Richmond’s February Miracle Girls, Emma and Nicki.

Everyone on our team is charmed by Emma, whom I first met in 2005 when she was just five years old. If you are not inspired and touched by Emma’s story, please check your pulse, and quickly! Imagine that your ten week old baby seems very ill and you take her to the emergency room. After some tests, a doctor appears, crying. He tells you that your precious little girl has infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia. This was the experience of my friend Holly and her family with their newborn daughter / sister. They all said goodbye to Emma that weekend over ten years ago, sure that she would not survive the weekend. But thanks to cancer research, there was indeed hope, and after more tests, it was determined that Emma had a 50% chance of surviving the A.L.L. – up just recently from just 25% - if she could survive the chemo. All of Emma’s first major holidays and her first birthday were spent in the hospital. I still tear up when I see the picture of this little baby, so obviously in misery with her body all swollen, hooked up to all kinds of needles and tubes. And I always get a happy tear when I see the photo of Emma celebrating after finishing her first triathlon a few years back, for survive she did! Valentine's Day this year marked nine years in remission for this wonderful ten year old who loves all kinds of animals, but especially lions, tigers, cats, dogs, jaguars, cheetahs, rabbits, fish, turtles, leopards and elephants. To survive, she and her family went through hell, and the long term effects of this kind of treatment on children can be very severe. That is another reason we do Team in Training – not just for cures, but for cures that don’t nearly kill the patient.

Visualize being handed a bag. Inside the bag are 100 marbles – 95 white and 5 red. You are told to reach in and to remove a marble from the bag. If it is red, you will live; if it is white, you will die. That is essentially the predicament of my friend Nicki, a young woman in college, 13 years ago in late February. All her treatments had failed, and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma was going to kill her, unless a bone marrow transplant could somehow save her life. At that point, she had a five percent chance of survival as she received total body radiation and chemo to kill all her marrow. The replacement marrow was coming from South Carolina. Had the donor changed her mind or gotten sick, or had something happened to the marrow in transit, Nicki had a 0 percent chance of survival because her own marrow had been destroyed prior to the transplant. So there was no going back – the bridge had been burned. Amazingly, Nicki did not only survive, but has also run a number of marathons and half marathons for Team in Training since then. And on thirteenth anniversary (plus a day) of her life saving bone marrow transplant, she will be running the Mardi Gras half-marathon in New Orleans next weekend to celebrate the people who helped to save her life. These include her donor, doctors, nurses, medical researchers – and the people who donated to money to cure cancer.

Our team gets constant inspiration from our February Miracle Girls! Want to help save the life of a future Nicki or Emma? You can do so with a donation to LLS if you have not already done so, for each donation of any amount adds up. When combined with all of the other donations, your donation accomplishes truly great things.

Thanks for your support of this cause – to complete the development of effective cures for blood cancers, and ultimately, all cancers!
Art

The Nashville Girl with Leukemia

This is my second fundraising note for my 2010 campaign.

Hello Again,

I wanted to reach out with an update and a message about a little girl I saw last April in Nashville that really touched my heart.

First, I want to thank everyone who has donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through my Cancer Kickin’ Campaign. So far, 19 people have donated $1,000 to this cause. I very much appreciate your generosity. If you would like to make a donation, catch up with what is going on with my campaign, or see my list of race honorees, you can do so at my Team in Training web page:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/rnrseatl10/art_ritter

As far as other updates, the heavy snowfall we got over the weekend cancelled out our first training. So for now, I am getting in a little exercise when I can, but it might be a day or two before I can run outside again. Although based on the weather forecast we may not get to train this coming Saturday, either. And I am still waiting for Dallas fans to "cowboy up" with a donation of $100 or more to make me wear the cap with the star! Oh, the humiliation! But so far, no takers - well, a Seahawk fan and one other, but no Dallas fans. Hmmm, maybe the Cowboys aren't really "America's Team" after all!

I had a brief magical moment when I was in Nashville for the half-marathon last April, the kind of instant that makes you want to smile and cry all at the same time. I had decided to take a walk from the hotel to the Cumberland River the afternoon our team arrived. I was wearing a Team in Training shirt. As I walked by the convention center, two young women and two young girls passed me walking the other way. The girls were about six to eight, I would guess. I barely noticed any of them, given that I didn’t see them until I rounded the corner. But then I heard one of the women speak to one of the girls: “Look! There’s one of the Leukemia Society people!”. I turned my head and looked back at them. She was talking to one of the little girls, who happened to be bald with just a hint of hair growing back. And in an instant it hit me – “My God! This young girl has leukemia!” I smiled at her and waved, and she gave me a shy, sweet smile back. Then we went on our separate ways.

For a second I thought that I would go back and chat with them, tell them that I am a survivor and that she will be, too. But I felt like I might be intruding, and decided to keep on going. As I walked along, choking back tears for a short time, I thought of her. I thought about her as I sat by the river a little later. I thought of her during the Inspiration Dinner the next night, and again during the race the day after that. And of course since then, which is why I am writing this now. I know I will wonder about her for a long time. Will she ultimately survive? Will she graduate from high school and college? Fall in love? Get married? Have her own children and maybe grandchildren someday? Maybe do a marathon herself with Team in Training for LLS? Discover a cure for cancer someday or invent something that helps the world?

And I thought “This is why I do this.” Why I wake up at 4AM and 4:30AM to run and walk miles alone in the dark before work. Why I get up so early to run on Saturday mornings when sleeping in and then relaxing with a cup of tea might sometimes be easier. Why I train so long at times that I have to soak in a tub of ice water from the waist down. Why I am willing to run and walk 13.1 miles two days later in the heat, and 26.2 miles three times before. Why blisters and blackened and lost toenails are tolerable. Why I am willing to ask people for donations for this cause, even though it is always difficult to ask people to donate money. And it is why my teammates, thousands of them at any given time around North America, 650 of us in Nashville that weekend alone, do all of these things, too.

It is so this young girl, and others like her, can have a future. Nearly eight years ago, I received the gift of life when I survived a form of blood cancer that was treatable only because of much medical research and clinical trials. So to do what I can to help others have this same chance now and in the future feels like the right thing to do.

Whoever you are, young Nashville girl with leukemia, I hope you survive. I hope you have a long, productive, healthy, and happy life! And I am glad that our lives crossed for that brief, bittersweet instant last April.

Thanks for your support of this cause – to finish the job of finding effective cures for blood cancers.
Art

Rumors About Art and Team in Training

Hello Everyone!

Eight years ago this spring from surviving lymphoma, I am racing for a cure once again for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I am asking you to consider supporting my 2010 Cancer Kickin' Campaign by making a donation to the mission of curing blood cancers.

I guess there are always going to be rumors going around – that is just human nature – and recently, there have been some pretty interesting ones circulating that I want to take a moment to dispel.

Rumor # 1: “Did you hear that Art has permanently retired from doing Team in Training?” This is totally false! In fact, I am back with the TNT Summer Team, training for the Seattle half-marathon and fundraising for a cure for blood cancers. I would very much appreciate your support of this great cause. You can make a secure donation here:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/rnrseatl10/art_ritter

I think this rumor got started when people confused me with Green Bay Packers, er New York Jets, er Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre and all the times that he retired forever. I can understand why there was this confusion, of course. We are both manly men. We are both ruggedly handsome. We are both incredible athletes. We are both so famous we can’t go anywhere in public without being harassed by fans. We both wear purple uniforms when we compete. We are both getting a little old for doing this kind of thing. We are both fabulously wealthy. Okay, only one of us is fabulously wealthy. And yeah, maybe one or two of those other things was slightly exaggerated. But here is one thing about both Brett Favre and me that is true: we have both been affected by cancer; Favre through his wife; me, personally, and through my sister, sister-in-law, brother, and many other family members and friends. So, yes, I am indeed back out for another cancer kicking campaign, and would love for you to join me with a donation.

Rumor # 2: “Did you hear that cancer is cured now? So why is Art doing this again?” Cancer is most decidedly not cured. Every ten minutes, someone dies in this country from one of the blood cancers. In the five minutes that it takes you to read this note (and forward it to five friends if you wish), another American is diagnosed with a blood cancer. And that is from just one type of cancer. But your donation can get us just a bit closer to a cure.

Rumor # 3: “Did you know that Art is 85 years old? Isn’t that, like, too old to run a half-marathon?” I am 58, not 85. I can see where the confusion came in. I have said that the number of this TNT event for me (number five) and my years this spring since surviving cancer (eight) match my age. People just reversed the numbers, 8 and 5 instead of 5 and 8. I am putting the five and the eight in 58 this spring with this race! I have to say, there are times after training that I feel 85, though. It gets a little tougher each year, and I must seem like an old man to many of my young teammates. So make a donation to support this “ole man’s” cause while I can still do it!

Rumor # 4: “Cancer survivors too weak to do a marathon!” Some may be, but not this one, and not many others that I know. One reason I do this is to make a statement that cancer survivors are able to fully recover and be physically strong again. Maybe that will give someone else currently dealing with cancer some hope.

Rumor # 5: “Did you know that Art is a huge Dallas Cowboys fan? He even wears a Cowboys hat while training!” Not so! Cut my hand and I bleed Philadelphia Eagles green. Eagles fans are typically not Cowboys fans, believe me, and especially not this year when they totally humiliated us two weeks in a row. But here is a special offer that expires midnight on Super Bowl Sunday: if you are a Cowboys fan, make me a $100 donation and I will wear a Cowboys cap (that you provide) for a week at work. I’ll even expand the offer to wear the cap of any other team for a $50 donation! Dallas fans, “cowboy up” with that donation and make my humiliation complete!

I am excited to be out there with Team in Training again, trying to make a difference in the world. I greatly appreciate your support, because while I can run the race myself, I cannot race for a cure without the support of lots and lots of people.

Thank you,
Art Ritter

Final Campaign Email of 2008-09

My Fellow Americans and Citizens of the World,

My 2009 Cancer Kickin’ Campaign culminated with me running, with a good bit of walking in the second part of it, the Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville on April 25th. If you want to read all about it and see photos, you can do so here:

http://racn4acure.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-nashville-posts.html

Despite the heat that day, it was a lot of fun. We had such a great team in Nashville!

A few of you asked if people can still donate to my campaign, and for those folks, as well as those who previously told me “Great cause – remind me later”, you can still donate at my TNT web page for the next two weeks:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/cmc09/aritter

Or you can get me a check payable to Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, or simply LLS.

I hope that you have enjoyed my sometimes whacky update notes this campaign as I poked a little fun at our presidential campaigns while raising money for a good cause. Speaking of the latter, over 130 generous souls donated over $8,600 to my campaign this year. Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is my fourth campaign for Team in Training, beginning in 2005, and people have donated over $40,000 to these campaigns to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I am overwhelmed by the generosity of people.

So ends my 2009 campaign! Thanks again for all of the help. While I and I alone must run the race, the fundraising is impossible without all of you who generously donated. As my good health and good fortune continue, there will be a fifth Team in Training campaign for me at some point, but until that time, you can check your email without fear of another goofy update from me!

Thanks again for all of the help with my fourth Cancer Kickin’ Campaign!
Art

PS: If any of you know anyone who fundraised for President Obama, please have them get in touch with me before my next campaign!

Art Ritter in ’09 – He Went the Distance for You

Making a Difference in the World!

My Fellow Americans, and Citizens of the World,

I address you tonight from the Elliptical Office with my last campaign message before heading to Nashville to complete the Country Music Half-Marathon this coming Saturday. I am amazed how fast the last 5-6 months of this campaign have gone by.

First, I will take this opportunity to thank all those who have donated to my 2009 campaign – over 120 of you! If you did not “cast your ballot” yet but would like to, you can donate to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by going to my web page:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/cmc09/aritter

My web page also has campaign updates and other information about what I am doing, including links to my blog with additional details about my Team in Training Cancer Kickin’ Campaign. You can also get me a check payable to LLS.

On the morning of April 25, I will get on a bus at 4:30AM along with my purple-clad teammates, and be driven to the race staging area in Nashville. At 7AM, I will take the first step in running, with some walking, 13.1 miles. That date, as it turns out, has special significance to me. It was on that same date in 2002 that I noticed an odd pain in my lower ribcage with every breath, which I ignored for 24 hours.

When I saw the doctor the next day, he suspected pleurisy and ordered a chest X-ray. I will never forget him looking rather grimly at the X-ray and saying “You have a large mass in the center of your chest, something that definitely should not be there.” For about 10 seconds I could not say a word, but stared at the X-ray and this word that the radiologist had written on the image’s margin: “lymphoma?”, with a question mark after it. In 10 seconds, 6 months worth of thoughts raced through my head, the dominant one being whether I would still be alive at the end of the year or not.

When I recovered from lymphoma, I had two choices. I could get back on with my life. Or I could get back on with my life, and do more to make a difference in the world. I am fortunate to be strong and healthy enough to have completed three marathons and raised thousands of dollars to combat cancer as part of these efforts. On the 25th, I will add a half-marathon to the mix. But at the same time, I have these sobering thoughts: in the seven years between receiving that scary news and the day of my race, 368,000 Americans have died of a blood cancer. I am truly blessed and incredibly fortunate not to be counted among that total, because it didn’t have to turn out the way it did. And consider that, on the day of my race - just one day – about 288 people in the United States will get the shocking news that they have a blood cancer – leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or multiple myeloma. They, too, will try to hear what the doctor is telling them while thoughts race through their heads. They, too, will wonder if they will still be alive by Christmas. That is just in one country: the United States. And it is from one genera of cancer only: blood cancers. So there is plenty of work to be done.

That is why those of us who are lucky enough to be healthy need to try to make a difference. That is what I have attempted to do with this campaign – to play a small part in an ultimate human victory over cancers of all types. If you would like to help with a donation, then you become part of that effort as well. And unlike me, on the 25th, you can do this without getting up at 3:30AM and running 13.1 miles (or 26.2, like some of my teammates are doing). So sleep in, have a second cup of coffee, and smile knowing that you helped to make the world a better place. I’ll do the early wake up and running for you!

Thanks so much to those of you who made a donation, and thanks to those of you still considering doing so!

Art

(I’m Art Ritter, and I whole-heartedly approved this message, because far too many people are affected by cancers of all types)

Art Ritter in 2009 – He Will go the Distance for You!