• by Jim Osterman , May 12, 2009

Last October, I was running down the coastal highway outside San Francisco in the Nike Women's Marathon.

My left hip felt like an alligator was chewing it. My knees ached. The weather was cold and damp. I was cold and tired. I had gone 13 miles; I had 13.2 left to go.

The urge to find a warm taxi was strong but I didn't stop. I was out there for those facing a tougher fight. Carter, the first grader diagnosed with leukemia five months before. And Lori, who had repelled leukemia once but had it return, ending her young life and leaving a husband and toddler.

I was out there for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Through the LLS' Team in Training Program, runners of all descriptions agree to raise a set amount for the LLS. If you meet -- hopefully exceed -- your minimum amount, TNT sends you to various endurance events around the country to participate.

The TNT folks train and support us. We have great coaching in running and fundraising. And we get to know people who are dealing with leukemia, and their families.

The fundraising aspect can be daunting, but one of the proactive qualities of the Team in Training organization is the wealth of help they make available from the moment someone commits to an event. From writing fundraising letters/emails to suggestions on how to host a silent auction or a raffle, participants find the TNT staff is as invested in their success as they are.

For those connected to local businesses, the TNT organization has a package of information on bringing in corporate sponsors for a season. Look at the back of TNT shirts from around the country and you'll see regional banks, TV/radio stations, and other entities who wrote a big check share the spotlight with national TNT sponsors like Nike, PF Chang's, and Runner's World.

And, last season, the Atlanta office staff for the first time scheduled one-on-one fundraising brainstorming sessions upon request.

The more you interact with patients and their families, the greater the realization of how critical time is for someone with leukemia. A tough economy can delay a vacation or a new car purchase, but the disease won't wait for the stock market to bounce back before it progresses.

Cancer, sad to say, is recession proof.

Watch the eyes of a father who lost his daughter when she had just graduated college. In those eyes you see him go to the bad place before they obscure with tears.

So we raise money for research and patient support services. And on a granular level we listen to their stories. We hold them when they cry. And when they have no more tears to give we cry for them.

Did I mention we run? Holy Mother of God, we run. With TNT I have done marathons in San Diego, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco - and half marathons in Orlando and Atlanta. And that doesn't take into account the miles we record during training.

Friends ask how long I intend to do this. My current plan is until the staff at Team in Training is forced to find new jobs because a cure has been found.

Until then, I will run wherever the road and TNT take me. This October, I'll be back running the Nike event again. My fundraising minimum is $3,700 -- but $10,000 has a nice ring to it.

And it's personal for me this time, as a former boss and mentor, Andrew, is wrestling with multiple myeloma. He is my patient hero and, in his honor, I'll be going for $10K and 26.2 miles.

If you'd like to help go to http://pages.teamintraining.org/ga/nikesf09/jostermanjny. And bring on the benjamins -- we have a killer to kill.

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