Shrewsbury – On April 16, Lisa Wick, 49, ran the Boston Marathon for the first time. That is the same age her sister died after a short battle with lung cancer. Wick ran the Marathon to save lives by supporting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). LLS helps fight all types of blood cancers, and also helps with research and treatments of different types of cancer as well.
LLS organizes various endurance events throughout the nation through “Team in Training.” Experienced coaches are assigned to different events such as marathons, triathlons and century rides, and they form teams that work together to raise money and complete an endurance event.
This is Wick's third event with the group. She has completed an Olympic distance triathlon in Memphis, and a century ride in the mountains of Lake Tahoe. She also completed the two-day Pan Mass Challenge. In all, she has raised approximately $22,000 in the fight against cancer.
“The best part about running a marathon with Team in Training is actually being on a team and having knowledgeable people guiding you along the way,” she said. “Every Saturday morning our team would meet in Wellesley to run a portion of the Boston Marathon route. We often would have clinics before our runs with education on nutrition, sneakers, clothing and injury prevention, to name a few.”
She added, “Just before we would leave for our run, we would have the most important moment of the morning, our Mission Moment. A member of our team would stand up and share with us why they are running. I was shocked to learn the number of survivors we have on the team, many college-aged, bright-faced young men and women who are alive and well to run 26.2 miles beside me.”
Some of the participants were young parents who had lost their children. Others, had lost loved ones to other types of cancer. Each member was thankful to the organization for the money it raises to improve research and treatment options for blood diseases, as well as other types of cancer.
“So when people ask me if training for the Marathon is hard,” Wick said, “or if I think running a marathon is going to be hard I always say “Yes, of course!” But, compared to the obstacles some of my teammates have had to face, running 26.2 miles on Marathon Monday will be a dream come true, especially for our survivors.”
