When one of her high school friends died of leukemia, Courtney Summers '04 decided to take action to help battle the disease. But at the time, she had no idea it would lead her to run a marathon in Rome.
When she received a letter in the mail last summer from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program, Summers was intrigued by the prospect of running a marathon.
"I kind of got into running in college, and I had toyed with the idea of a marathon before," said Summers. When she learned that the Southern New Jersey chapter of TNT trained in Princeton, she knew she had "no excuse" not to run.
Early in the year, Summers' TNT team decided as a group to run a marathon in Rome on March 28. The course begins and ends in front of the Coliseum and passes Roman monuments along the way.
The 30-member team has been working hard in preparation for the event. Each of them runs at least 15 miles a week individually, and the group gets together each Saturday morning with TNT coaches to do long runs of over 10 miles.
In addition to the physical training, Summers is also peparing for the event by attempting to raise at least $4,700 to donate to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Mainly through word of mouth and email communications to friends, she has succeeded in raising a little over $1,000 so far.
Summers recently mailed over 200 letters to various groups explaining her efforts to make up the rest of the difference between her current amount and her goal. All proceeds go towards researching cures for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.
Summers said she is also planning to sponsor a benefit concert in February. Other projects include holding a raffle and a classical music concert.
Wearing a TNT wristband, she talks about her marathon plans to whoever is willing to listen.
"You don't' have to give money, though," said Summers. "It's really nice when people just take the time to listen [about why I'm running]."
Every year, each TNT team is assigned an "Honored Hero" — a person suffering from the disease for whom to run.
This year, the Southern New Jersey Chapter is running for Zachary Turgeon, a seven-year-old currently in chemotherapy for leukemia.
While Zachary inspires all the team members, "everyone runs for different reasons," said Summers. Her team consists of numerous cancer survivors who have gone into remission, one avid marathon runner, and a few people who joined TNT as part of a weight loss plan.
Summers herself runs in honor not only of her late friend, but also one of her sister's friends who is now in remission.
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