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"For the last 14 weeks more than 70 runners in a special group have been training through snow, sleet, rain and sunshine to help raise money to beat cancer.WLKY is a proud media sponsor for the Louisville Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training. WLKY's Ann Bowdan is one of those runners.View images |\u00A0Mobile\u00A0video | Team In Training BlogSo far the team has raised close to $100,000 for research for better treatment.\"If me running a marathon is a big deal, it's really not a big deal at all because it's so small compared to some of the battles they face and they're fighting,\" said Team In Training runner Amanda Huff.Huff is one of the 70 Team In Training runners doing the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon or miniMarathon not for themselves, but for a cause -- conquering the blood cancers that killed almost 55,000 people last year. Blood cancers affect more than 1 million people in the United States, including in this group.Like most runners, Huff has a story. Hers started when her little cousin was diagnosed with leukemia in 2009.\"I didn't know what to do. And then I got a flier in the mail from Team In Training and I thought, 'Well, I've always wanted to run. It's a nice way to pay it forward.' And here I am five years later still running with the team and doing marathons,\" said Huff.For 26 years the Team In Training has trained marathon runners while raising more than $1.3 billion toward research for treatments and access to treatment for the millions battling blood cancers.\"In 2010, I was diagnosed with stage one Hodgkin's lymphoma and it was something that, during the process, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society sent me information in the mail. I found out about what they were doing and how they raise money for cancer research and how they are helping try to find a cure, and obviously I wanted to join the cause,\" said cancer survivor Brian Miracle.Miracle is now in remission due in part to new medicines that have been researched, created and implemented thanks to the funds raised by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Team In Training.In 1960 survival for blood cancers hovered around only 10 percent. Today it's between 40 to 80 percent.\"I've known many patients over the 13 years I've been with the team,\" said Team In Training volunteer Louise Coomer.Coomer has run marathons, mini's and participated in swim sprints for Team In Training. Now she is the head of the psych wagon, the van that holds all the treats, water and encouragement for runners and walkers on the route. She's a veteran who has seen the power of never quitting in a race or a fight against cancer.\"I have a really close friend right now fighting lymphoma. She's 10 years older than me and I see the difficulty she's going through as a senior citizen is just unbelievable. We've lost children, we've lost young people, but there are a lot of success stories. As soon as someone beats this you feel like you have to keep going,\" said Coomer.So crossing the finish line for Team In Training runners means more than a physical accomplishment. The training, the days of soreness, the commitment and spirit in every runner comes together for a life-saving accomplishment.\"Why not get up and start your morning out right and raise money to find a cure for cancer?\" said Miracle.Team In Training is active across the nation all year long. They train not just for marathons, but also for swimming, hiking and cycling.\u00A0Embed images"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.wlky.com/article/team-in-training-runners-hit-pavement-for-cancer-research/3749307>