Health & Fitness: FIT -- for a good cause Health & Fitness: FIT -- for a good cause (January 12, 2005)

Marathon program trains walkers, runners and cyclists to participate in events and raise money for leukemia research

By Renee Batti

Almanac News Editor

Sara Maas breaks into a wide grin as she recounts how a good friend of hers got involved with a marathon-training program that benefits leukemia and lymphoma research.

"She was getting married ... and she said, 'I want to look hot in my wedding dress,'" Ms. Maas recalls.

The bride-to-be, who had never run -- or even walked -- in a marathon, heard about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's "Team in Training" fundraising program. "She used to say she couldn't run from light post to light post," Ms. Maas laughs.

But Team in Training organizers promised coaching by world-class athletes and certified professional trainers to prepare team members to run or walk in marathons, or participate in cycling events and adventure races.

Although Ms. Maas' friend, Amy Berryhill, didn't know anyone afflicted with leukemia or lymphoma, she signed on, determined to get in shape. It was early 1997.

Little did Ms. Berryhill know at the time how her commitment to those fundraising efforts were to shift, just a year and a half later, from the abstract to the personal.

In late 1998, Sara Maas -- a lifelong Menlo Park resident and (as Sara Hageboeck) a graduate of Menlo-Atherton High, Hillview and Oak Knoll schools -- had to break the news to her by-then thoroughly fit friend that she had just been diagnosed with leukemia.

The diagnosis came after she and her new husband, Jason Maas, got back from their honeymoon in Fiji. She had noticed a bulge in her abdomen during the honeymoon and, though it didn't hurt, it also didn't go away. Concerned, she went to her doctor when they got home.

The diagnosis: chronic myelogenous leukemia. She was 28 years old, and facing a life-threatening illness.
New Team member

Two months at Stanford Hospital and a bone-marrow transplant -- once a match was found from across the sea in England -- saved Sara Maas' life. Now 35, the vivacious survivor has joined her friend, Ms. Berryhill, in the "Team in Training" program, first as a team honoree, then, when she was strong and healthy enough, as a runner.

Her husband, too, has joined up, although he had never run a marathon before. They now participate in four to five marathons a year, Ms. Maas says.

Teaming in Training, she says, "is a great fitness program -- the coaching staff is just excellent.

"And, it happens to be a very good cause."

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has launched its latest Team in Training recruiting effort, and will conduct an informational meeting in Menlo Park on Tuesday, January 18, for people interested in training to walk marathons to raise money -- 75 percent of which goes to leukemia research and support for those who are battling the illness. The meeting is set for noon at the Menlo Park Library.
New year, new resolve

January appears to be a good time for Team in Training recruitment. "Every year we do it -- we begin January with a resolution to get in shape, and by February, we can't even find our new gym cards," notes Casey Shaughnessy of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, in her pitch for new team members.

Team in Training, she says, is "the nation's longest-running and most successful endurance training program." Through the program, athletes of all levels train for marathons and half-marathons, triathlons, cross-country ski events, 100-mile cycling events or adventure races.

Each team has a leukemia-patient honoree for inspiration. "The group dynamic makes it easy to stay motivated," Ms. Shaughnessy says.
A slower approach

While Sara and Jason Maas run for funds, many prefer a slower, gentler form of activity.

Merry and Rich Alter of Menlo Park signed up for the walkers' team several years ago, and now are joined by one of their two daughters. They've participated in 25 marathons with Team in Training, and have raised about $30,000 for the society.

The Alters had plenty of motivation to get involved with Team in Training: one of their daughters was diagnosed with leukemia when she was a toddler (she's now in good health), and Merry's mother died of the disease.

But not everyone in the program has had personal experience with the disease they're raising money to cure. "There are just as many members (on her walking team) who want to get fit," Ms. Alter says. "And that's fantastic -- bring them in."

A big draw for her, she says, is developing relationships with fellow team members. "You just meet some really wonderful people; you really bond as a team."

Her fellow team members "are people who are willing to think outside themselves," and that's one reason they're a pleasure to know and walk with, she says.
Training

At first the thought of walking a 26-mile marathon "seemed very daunting," Ms. Alter recalls. "But if you follow the training, you do it, and you do it fine."

And, she adds, "everyone has a good time."

Team members are responsible for their own training during the week. Participants are given detailed training calendars that are tailored to each person's experience level, Ms. Shaughnessy of the leukemia society explains.

But on Saturdays, team members train on various trails on the Peninsula, one week with coaches, and the alternating week with volunteer mentors, Ms. Alter says. "I really enjoy it. Knowing I'm meeting the team gets me out there."

Since she started the program, she adds, "my fitness (level) has greatly improved."
Raising money

Ms. Alter admits that the prospect of having to ask people to sponsor her marathons with donations to the society "was probably the one thing that scared me the most. At the information meeting, I said to myself, 'Oh my God, how am I going to do this?'

"But the beauty of the program is, you're asking your friends and relatives to support you. And people are amazingly supportive."

She said one time she sent letters to neighbors along her walking route, and the response was generous and heartwarming. One man even made the effort to find her phone number so he could call and thank her for what she was doing, and he donated a considerable sum, she says.

Ms. Maas found that "raising money turns out to be the easiest part." The society has an effective program to help participants figure out how to approach potential donors. "They are so well-equipped to help people raise money -- and make it to the finish line," she says.

"I believe that we, as humans, inherently want to help others ... but we're often not asked to do so," she says.

In addition to her faith in that inherent goodness, another factor spurs Ms. Maas' willingness to ask people for their financial support. "The reason I'm here today is because of the fundraising that was done before I was sick."
MEETING

An informational meeting for people interested in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training walking program is set for noon Tuesday, January 18, at the Menlo Park Library, 800 Alma St. Other informational meetings for walkers, runners and cyclists are scheduled in other Peninsula and South Bay cities, including Foster City and Burlingame. For more information, call 1-800-446-9460, or log on at teamintraining.org.
About leukemia and lymphoma

Every five minutes, someone in the United States is diagnosed with blood cancer, and every 10 minutes, someone dies of it, according to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

The blood disorder, which is divided into four categories, is the leading disease killer of people under the age of 20, the society says.

The Team in Training program is a major fundraiser for the society, which has invested $358 million in research to find a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, according to spokeswoman Casey Shaughnessy.

The society has an extensive Web site that offers information about the disease as well as support for those battling it. The site is at leukemia-lymphoma.org.

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