Day One...

Hey guys!! I wanted to start a blog in hopes that it will help with my fundraising. I have just joined Team in Training, which is a fundraising team that benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I signed up to run my very first Marathon on April 24, 2010 in Nashville, TN!!


A little blerp about me: My name is Katie Chance, hence the URL (clever I know lol), I am 25 yrs old and live in Philadelphia, PA. I have been running for the past two years and the farthest I have completed is 13.1 miles in February 2009..When I first starting running I never imagined that I could run farther than 5 miles..I had always ran when I played sports but never ran just to run. I always felt slower than everyone else but when I got out there truly for my own health, not in competition with anyone else, I felt good. I like running because I can go my own pace and I just like to spend some time not thinking. A lot of times I may not want to run but once I get out there I always feel like I have accomplished something.




My mother, Kathy Chance, is a cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with Colon Cancer in February of 2002. After having surgery and many months of Radiation and Chemotherapy the cancer went into remission. It is now 7 yrs later and she is still Cancer free! When cancer came into our family, it changed everything. I have always known about cancer but until it hit home, I had no real understanding of what it does to a person and their family. Thankfully I am blessed to be apart of a success story, but I know that there are thousands who are not so lucky.. Team in Training is a part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma society and the money will go to this foundation to help research and make new discoveries for blood related Cancers. Although my mother had a different variety of cancer, I still feel close with this cause.



I am fortunate enough to work in a Cancer Center and so I get the opportunity to see patients everyday struggling and surviving because of the doctors, nurses, and research trials that continue to give hope to curing this disease. Chances are that you or someone that you know does have or has had cancer and this organization, this team, is allowing me and others to make a difference. I may not be a doctor or be working hands on finding the cure for cancer, but I can attempt to make a difference by raising money and running. I never imagined running a marathon, I never thought I could ever do it. But when I think about the people we are raising money for and how many will never get the chance to even try and run or walk a few miles, it gives me the motivation that I CAN do this.



You have heard it before and I will say it again... "Every little bit helps." If you think about the $.99 you spend on a song on Itunes or a ring tone, you can just as easily donate that to this cause. I really feel uncomfortable asking people continuously for money, but I know that there are people who would like a cause to donate to and it opens the door when someone they know or a friend of a friend is involved in the organization. So I ask that you please donate if you can and send this to anyone and everyone that you think would be interested in this cause.



The Run: The Marathon is the Country Music Marathon in Nashville, TN!! There are going to be 50 bands and groups lining the course and I hear the atmosphere is amazing! Running a Marathon is 90% mental (these are statistics from my mind, but I think they are close to the truth) and so I have a lot of growing to do. I named myself Slow and Steady because if you ask anyone that I have run with, that is the motto I try to live by. As long as I finish, I'm a winner...I kind of dropped the end of the 'wins the race' but only because there are no losers, only finishers..



I hope that you will come back and read how my training is going and also check up on my fundraising site (link below). Thanks for reading :)

http://pages.teamintraining.org/epa/cmc10/kchance