New Jersey

Honored teammates are very special individuals who have battled or are battling leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma or myeloma. Team In Training ^® (TNT) participants train and race in honor of these extraordinary people. An honored teammate can be someone that a participant knows personally or someone The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society chooses.

So often people are asked to raise funds for a charity with very little connection or understanding of how valuable their efforts are. By honoring a member of the community and hearing his or her story firsthand, participants are able to understand the extreme value of their efforts.

An honored teammate is there to serve as an inspiration and keep the athlete motivated during the event and on those long training runs. Knowing what this person has gone through, makes the sweat, frustration, aches and pains of TNT all worth it.

TNT participants are provided with a bracelet on which they can write their honored teammate's name, a photo and a bio. Participants are asked to wear this bracelet throughout the training period. As the miles get longer and longer, they can look down at their wrist and think of the person whose battle does not guarantee an end.

If you would like to become an honored teammate or know someone who would, please contact Margarita Cianchetta at (908) 956-6628, or email margarita.cianchetta@lls.org.

Read about our Honored Teammates: 

My family and I appreciate all your hard work and dedication with the fundraising and event training that you are doing to help fund research to find a cure for blood cancers.  This spring will be my final treatment of a two year series and then we are in a wait and see stage...waiting for the next cure to be discovered.  With warm appreciation for all the effort you are giving! Gary Cohen - Hodgkin's Lymphoma

During the 2008 San Diego half marathon around mile 7, a gentleman was holding a sign that read "I am a Survivor".  As I looked over at him, he made direct eye contact with me and silently mouthed "Thank you".  It touched me so deeply, I felt he truly believed he was alive because of the efforts the purple TNT singlet represented.  I will forever be blessed by his genuine gratitude and grace.  I was so proud and uplifted at that moment and will never forget that feeling.  I hope you too have these moments of genuine gratitude you so deeply deserve.  Know that I sincerely thank you and believe that I am a survivor because of heroes like you, whose selfless efforts help cancer patients become survivors.  Tara Klinger - Hodgkin's Lymphoma 

I hope you are doing well with your training and fundraising.  Every week, I am amazed by how many people continue to commit to the countless hours of fundraising and training in order to find new cures and treatments.  On behalf of my entire family, THANK YOU.  I and so many others still fighting this disease, feel so fortunate that there are people like you, who are willing to sacrifice your time and energy in order to make a difference in the lives of others.  Your efforts and determination are paying off each day, and I look forward to seeing you all at the finish line.  Mitchell Brown - Large B-Cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma