Hi everyone!

I'm participating in a half-marathon run as a member of Team in Training, an endurance program sponsored by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is a national voluntary health agency dedicated to curing leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, while improving the quality of life of patients and their families. This is the Society’s largest and most successful fundraising effort in the fight against blood related cancers; last year alone Team in Training athletes raised over $82 million for the cause, bringing the total to over $200 million since 1988. The event takes place in Phoenix, Arizona on January 9th and I am dedicated my efforts to my grandmother Georgiana Gietl, who passed away from non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in 1999. I can think of no better way to honor her memory than to dedicate my training and run to her, which will take place in the city she lived in for over 20 years.