Think fast: what does Team in Training raise money for?
If you’re like most people that I’ve talked to, they have no idea. Of those who know that Team in Training (TNT) raises money for leukemia (most don’t know the lymphoma part of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society), few know what the disease actually is (a type of blood cancer) or that nearly 10% of all newly diagnosed cancers are blood cancers.
But what blows me away is that many people don’t know that TNT is a fundraising effort. I’ve had two different people say, “Aren’t they the people who help you train for triathlons when you’re having a milestone birthday crisis?” Well, yes, but that’s secondary to their goal of raising money for blood cancer research and patient programs.
Oh.
This experience has been eye-opening. How can so many people know the TNT name, yet not know what they represent? And yet, I think back to 2007 when I ran the Nike Women’s half marathon. The place was swarming with purple TNT tank tops, the sidelines packed with coaches and fans. And in all honesty, other than my general awareness that they were raising money for a disease-related cause, but even after a few hours of running along and reading shirts, I didn’t really know anything about blood cancers.
A large part of my reason for signing up with TNT was fundraising, but I also wanted to build awareness of blood cancers. After all, blood cancers don’t have a celebrity spokesperson. They just have people like Bob and the family he left behind.
From now on, I’ll be including blood cancer facts and stats in my training posts in an effort to educate and inform. It seems like the least I can do to honor the memory of Bob and thousands of others like him.