“It’s a cure from hell,” my aunt said, as she described her son Tim’s bone marrow transplant. “No, it’s worse than that,” she added. Tim was diagnosed with leukemia some 15 years ago. He survived after surgery on “true grit.”

But it takes more than courage to survive. It takes medical care and therapy. It takes scientists, doctors, and research labs to find the cures and treatments for blood cancers. It takes financial support.

Enter Team in Traning, an endurance sports charity program under the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). It’s dedicated to raising money for blood cancer research and patient care.

The group started in 1988 when 38 runners trained together and raised $320,000. Team in Training has since coached more than 600,000 people to run, bike, and swim while raising $1.4 billion for medical research and patient services.

The LLS website says it all: More than one million Americans have leukemia, Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or myeloma. LLS has invested more than $875 million in research alone, leading to newer targeted therapies, along with chemotherapy, bone marrow and stem cell transplants.

On a personal note, I’ve joined Team in Training cyclists this year to support Tim and other honorees: Three-thousand of us will ride up to 100 miles on June 1, as part of our commitment to fund research and help save patients’ lives.

Tim “faced his life with incredible courage,” his mom said, “accepting the cards he’d been dealt.” Let’s stack the deck in favor of the patients. Support the runners, bikers, and swimmers who are training together to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Please donate here!