Dr. Tom Bolan has recruited a group of his colleagues at Advanced Healthcare, P.C. in Aurora to participate in the Denver Marathon on Sunday, Oct. 18. His group is running in honor of his 15-year-old daughter Allison, a two-time leukemia survivor. Their group will join 61 other Team In Training(TNT) participants at the Denver Marathon.

"If the months of hard work and dedication prevent even one parent from ever having to go through the pain of seeing their child suffer from a blood cancer, then it will all be worth it," said Bolan. "What we experience with our training, even when running 40-45 miles per week is nothing compared to what these kids go through in their battle against this devastating disease. The amazing thing is, most of them do it with a smile on their face. The least we can do is raise money and be stiff and sore for a few months a year to help find a cure for lymphoma and leukemia!"

Bolan's daughter Allison, a freshman at Cherokee Trails High School in Aurora, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia when she was two and underwent three years of chemotherapy. Less than a year after being cleared, she relapsed at the age of five. She went through the entire chemotherapy protocol again and had to have a bone marrow transplant. Allison has been living cancer-free for seven years and enjoys music, her friends and dance. She is a junior Bronco cheerleader and aspires to become a Bronco cheerleader when she is older, like her sister Rebecca Bolan.

The Rocky Mountain Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's TNT program, covering Colorado and Wyoming, has raised nearly $17 million since its inception in 1992. They have trained over 5,000 athletes in that time and participated in over 30 different endurance events across the country and the world. The enormous success of this program has helped make possible advances in blood cancer therapies and treatments that have prolonged and enhanced the lives of hundreds of thousands of patients.

"I am truly inspired by these dedicated TNT participants who are running and walking to save the lives of Coloradoans affected with blood cancer," said Rebecca Russell, executive director for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of LLS. "They have already made such an accomplishment, two-weeks before the marathons they are well on their way to raise $300,000."

For more information about TNT and the Rocky Mountain Chapter of LLS, contact Anisa Robinson at (303) 984-2110 or anisa.robinson@lls.org.