Catherine Bernard of Centennial, is one of the 36
Team In Training (TNT) participants who ran in the
Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco Sunday, Oct. 18. Bernard ran in honor of her six-year-old son Mason, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in May 2005. "I was inspired to get involved with
Team In Training when my good friend Cheri said she was going to train to run a half marathon and honor Mason," said Bernard. This will be her second
TNT event.
In January 2008, after nearly three years of treatment, doctors found leukemia cells in Mason's spinal fluid. He started an additional 104 weeks of more intense treatment, which includes chemotherapy and radiation. He will be finished with treatment in March of 2010. A first grader at
Creekside Elementary School in Centennial, Mason is the eldest of three children and enjoys riding his motorcycle and his bike, jumping on the trampoline, playing Xbox and swimming.
"Having Mason named the
Team In Training Hero was such a motivating factor for me," Bernard stated. "It amazes me each week when I come out to train, that so many people have taken on Mason's cause and are running and walking for him with the hope that one day soon a cure will be found and other children will not have to go through what Mason has so far in his life."
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.
Michelle Ellis is a public relations and marketing volunteer for