Team Bun Bun is recruiting!

It was only 4 months ago that many of us gathered in a corner room on the 8th floor of Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital, surrounding our friend Rob Bundy. Recovering from his second bone marrow transplant to treat a reccurence of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), his eyelids were heavy from the morphine drip (to treat sores formed on his throat) and he couldn't swallow, much less eat; his skin was purple and his body was gaunt. I think for most of us, seeing him that night really opened our eyes to the battle he was facing, and it was scary.

If you know Rob, you know how caring, witty and incredibly positive he is- even through the most difficult situations. You also know how unfair it is that someone like him has to face this battle. 4 months later, Rob is slowly gaining strength, and we are taking action to help fight blood cancers!
We have formed "Team Bun Bun" to train for the Miami Marathon with Team In Training this winter and fundraise for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of Rob's ongoing battle. You can support the Team Bun Bun efforts in 1 of 2 ways:

• Consider joining Team Bun Bun and train for the Miami Half or Full Marathon! Train to walk or run the event and travel with the Bun Bun contingency to Miami this January! Contact me at Erin.Macbeth@lls.org for more information.
• If you cannot join us in Miami (or do not live in NYC), please consider making a $50 donation to LLS in support of Team Bun Bun; your donation will go to support patients like Rob and fund life-saving research...and it's 100% tax deductible! Click HERE to donate to our team page.

Training kicks off next month; if you aren't able to join the Team, we will be sure to keep you updated on the goings-on of Team Bun Bun each month...so get excited!

Team Bun Bun-
Erin, Charlotte, Diana, Kelly & Brix

A Midsummer Night's Booze Cruise: RAFFLES!

A Midsummer Night's Booze Cruise on June 17th presents...

Raffle Prizes Galore!

We have TONS of great raffle prizes for the 2nd Annual A Midsummer Night's Booze Cruise, so start saving your pretty pennies! Each of the prizes below will be raffled off seperately.

100% of the proceeds from raffle sales goes directly to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

"I'm on a boat, I'm on a boat

Everybody look at me cause I'm sailin' on a boat.."

[TO RSVP FOR THIS EVENT, CLICK HERE!]

Platinum Prize category- $10/raffle ticket or $40/5 raflle tickets

4 tickets to Yankees v. Kansas City Royals on June 23rd @ 7 p.m. (Section 106, Row 14)
Approximate Value: $600

3-Month All-Access Membership to Equinox
Approximate Value: $500

2 Tickets to Rock of Ages
Approximate Value: $400

Haircut & Color at Leonard Gulino Salon with Thom, the Cranial Follicular Specialist
Approximate Value: $350

***

Gold Prize Category- $5/raffle ticket or $20/5 raffle tickets

Nike Lunarglide Running Shoes & USA Track & Field backpack, donated by Olympian Erin Donohue
Approximate Value: $200

Wine Class for 2 at Vero Wine School
Approximate Value: $150

30-Day Membership to New York Sports Club
Approximate Value: $100

30 15-Day Passes to New York Sports Club **30 winners**
Approximate Value: $50/piece

2 VIP Tickets to Jimmy Fallon Live
Approximate Value: n/a

2 Tickets to Martha Stewart Live
Approximate Value: n/a

2 tickets to Late Show with David Letterman
Approximate Value: n/a

2 tickets to Gotham Comedy Club
Approximate Value: n/a

Booze Cruisin' for a Cure: Thursday, June 17th

You're invited!

Join me for the 2nd Annual A Midsummer Night's Booze Cruise

to benefit The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! 

When: Thursday, June 17th from 7-11 p.m.

Where: Boat departs from Pier 81 (West 41st & Hudson)

Price: $55/ticket for 3 hour open bar! ($25/ticket sale goes directly to LLS)

Click HERE for event details and to RSVP!

A little rain won't stop us, eh Vancouver Team?

 

Just returned late last night from Vancouver, British Columbia (that's in Canada, folks), where Team In Training had aboot 300 participants cross the finish line of the BMO Vancouver Marathon on Sunday.

TNTers from 8 chapters around the U.S. and Canada combined to raise over $1.25 million for LLS- adding another drop to the TNT Billion-Dollar-Bucket. (Yes, TNT has raised OVER one billion dollars to date...wrap your head around that!) Our New York City Chapter boasted 90 finishers of the full or half marathon, raising a collective $320,000 for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Soggy doesn't begin to describe race day conditions. Over 14,000 runners toed the line in a steady drizzle (and occasional pour), which lasted the entire half marathon and through about half of the full marathon. Cold temperatures and a challenging course didn't help, but it also didn't stop our runners from achieving what they had set out to achieve. Sprinting, bounding, cruising, crawling or hobbling- 100% of the NYC Team completed the race, many in personal best times.

Congrats Vancouver Team!

country music marathon: headin' home, ya'll

This weekend, I'm headin' down south for the Country Music Marathon on Saturday, April 24th.  Part of the Rock n' Roll marathon series, the Country Music Marathon is a tour of downtown Nashville, Tennessee, with bands scattered along the 13.1 or 26.2 mile course.

The race begins in Centennial Park and continues along many of Nashville's famous sights: music row, Belmont University, the State Capitol Building, the Cumberland River, Shelby Park, Shelby Bottoms Greenway, & ends outside LP Field, home of the Tennessee Titans.

And if I'm lucky, I might even get a sneak peak of this little gem along the way.

Truth be told, my preparation has included very little running. In fact, almost none at all. I like to think of my preparation as more mental than physical...and my motivation for crossing the finish line on Sunday? My mom and dad. Not letting them beat me, that is.

My mom Gerry and dad Glenn will be racing the half marathon, following months of preparation to run their first half marathons, and I could not be more proud! Stay tuned for post-race highlights and photos...

Speaking of Tennessee...I grew up about 30 miles down the road from Nashville, in a town called Murfreesboro- yes, that's right, THE geographic center of Tennessee. Mufreesboro's centricity is only one of the many reasons that I love Tennessee. Here are some others: the Vols, the ice, the (former) World's Largest Red Cedar Bucket (RIP), Jeff Fisher & those Tennessee Titans, the whiskey, the food, and the music!

Feel free to share the things that you love about the Volunteer State...

i'm on a boat...

It's right around the corner, so save that date! Details to come...

thinking of you, buns..

Today, my friend Rob Bundy (aka "bun bun") checks into Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center on Manhattan's Upper East Side for 8 days of chemotherapy, followed by his 2nd bone marrow transplant on April 15th, to treat a reccurence of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).

Rob was first diagnosed with leukemia in March 2007, only a year after moving from Knoxville, Tennessee to New York to begin a career in architecture at Kliment Halsband Architects. A month later, he had returned to Tennessee, where he underwent 7 months of treatment in Nashville, culminating in a bone marrow transplant that September.

The transplant was a success. Rob returned to New York in December 2007 and picked up right where he had left off: back to work and back to making sure everyone around him knows just how superior the Tennessee Vols are at all things athletic. (Too bad about that tourny loss)

Unfortunately, this December a biospy done on Rob's knee revealed a recurrence of leukemia in his right femur, prompting another course of radiation and chemotherapy in late December and January- and now the transplant this month. Rob's brother Jameson will be his donor for a second time.

Friends describe Rob as caring, funny, quick with the witt and able to see the best in any situation- even this one. He loves (again) UT Orange, deep sea creatures (especially giant squids- love, Kylie), architecture and is devout in his beliefs. Above all, he is an extremely brave guy.

Today, we're all thinking of you, Buns..

Check out Rob's Caringbridge Journal here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/robbundy


Want to do something more to help?

Register for the national Bone Marrow Registry. It's a pain-free process but could one day save someone's life. Or sign up for Team In Training or Light the Night, and raise money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Email me for more information on getting involved with the New York City Chapter.

run this city: the new york city marathon

It's time to do this New York thing, right J? 

I've officially signed on for the 2010 ING New York City Marathon with Team In Training's Fall Season, set to kick off training in June. On November 7th (219 days from now!), I'll run this city: through Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, before crossing Manhattan's Central Park finish line. 

Want to join me? Team In Training has guaranteed entries into the New York City Marathon- over 150 of them! Find out how you can get your hands on one- and be my teammate!- at an upcoming Team In Training information meeting.

why I run

Well here it is: the first post to my blog. Yes, I'm officially on the blogging bandwagon with this, a blog about my training, travels and tribulations with running. So, what better way to introduce a blog about running- and running for a cause- than to share why I run.

Why I run has changed over the years. From looking for a team to join in middle school, to maintaining my identity as "the runner" in college, to supporting a cause as a 20-something in New York: my motivation and relationship with running has evolved throughout my 15 years of competition.

I started running for one simple reason: Rejection from the 7th grade basketball team. Alas, at 5-ft-nothing, I was not destined to be a Lady Tiger; so with my middle school sports dreams dashed, I turned to a much more "available" team- the Central Middle track team in its inaugural season. I joined the distance runners and soon, I found myself winning time trials at practice, local county championships and eventually high school state track meets. My senior year, I was recruited to join The University of North Carolina track & field team.

Running in Carolina Blue.  I had given up scholarship opportunities at other schools to be a part of one of the country's top track programs, which ultimately led to a roller coaster of self-doubt and personal triumphs- and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to train and compete alongside some of the top collegiate runners (including then teammates, now Olympians, Shalane Flanagan, Erin Donohue & Alice Schmidt). My time on UNC's track team changed my life but also wore my competitive skin thin; eventually I hung up my track shoes, moved to New York City to begin a career in television and took a two year hiatus from running.

Mending my relationship with running...with a trip to Hawaaaaiiiii! It was in year two of couch-potatoing that a friend and former teammate Lauren approached me with a proposition: train for my first marathon with a group called Team In Training and raise money for an organization called The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the world's largest non-profit dedicated to curing blood cancers. Not sure what I was in for and still unsure of where my relationship with running stood, I begrudgingly headed out to my first practice. Four months later, I had crossed the finish line of the Honolulu Marathon and had found a cause that made every step of the 26.2 miles worth running. 


Hooked on Team In Training. Since crossing the finish line in 2006, I've also completed the P.F. Chang's Rock n' Roll Marathon in Phoenix, AZ and the Nation's Triathlon in Washington, D.C. with Team In Training. 

Shortly after my second marathon with the team, disillusioned with my work in TV, I took a job with LLS as a Team In Training Campaign Coordinator. Since March of 2008, I've worked with thousands of athletes on more than 10 TNT events. I currently manage the New York City Chapter Marathon Program, working with the Vancouver Marathon team (race date: May 2nd) and the San Diego Rock n' Roll & Lake Placid teams, to compete this June.