More than 912,000 Americans have leukemia, Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin lymphoma or myeloma. Every four minutes, someone new is diagnosed with blood cancer. Every 10 minutes, someone loses their fight. An estimated 139,860 people in the United States were diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma in 2009.
Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children under the age of 20. Lymphomas are the most common blood cancers, and incidences increases with age. The survival rate for myeloma is only 37 percent. Incidences are nearly twice as high among African-Americans as for all other races.
A key component of the ‘Finish Your Race’ mission is to support the Leukemia, Lymphoma Society via Team in Training events.
Team In Training (TNT), The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) groundbreaking
charity sports training program, has reached a remarkable milestone of raising $1
billion to support blood cancer research and patient services. Since its inception in
1988, when a team of 38 runners trained together for the New York City Marathon
and raised $320,000, TNT has prepared more than 420,000 people—approximately
40,000 participants annually— to achieve their dream of completing a marathon, half
marathon, triathlon, 100-mile (century) bicycle ride or hike adventure. The enormous
success of this program has helped make possible advances in blood cancer therapies
and treatments that have prolonged and enhanced the lives of hundreds of
thousands of patients.
For those struggling with these types of cancer, support is vitally important. Join us in our mission to Inspire | Motivate | Encourage | Educate.
