Honor the Runners in Purple

Something has been getting under my skin lately and I was finally inspired to write this rant. Over the past several months, I have occasionally come across articles in which other runners diss Team in Training, saying that inexperienced runners (actually, most of these articles refuse to even call TnT participants runners) use the program as a way to get a "free" trip to a marathon city. I even read one article that called the organization a "purple scourge" that makes marathons less enjoyable for "real runners" by allowing too many slow and inadequately trained runners onto the routes. Those claims simply infuriate me. Not only do such remarks smack of elitism, suggesting that only fast runners should be allowed to participate in marathons, they also fail to acknowledge that such training programs encourage people to lead more active and healthy lives. Many TnT runners are serious about the sport and are seriously good at running. And from what I can tell, many participants continue running in marathons long after their first TnT experience comes to an end. In fact, I spent one Saturday running with a woman who ran her first TnT marathon in under 4 hours and qualified for Boston during her second marathon. The TnT alumni who often show up to our group runs looking strong and running fast prove that the program encourages people to get off the couch and stay off the couch.

These critics also fail to recognize the serious dedication, time, and energy it takes to raise a large amount of money for such an organization. Obviously, participants have lives, with time-consuming jobs, and have to find time to host parties, send out letters, staff donation tables, run car washes and bake sales, sell bracelets and chocolate bars. Like many other TnT participants, I have donated a considerable amount of my own money to the program, buying supplies and making outright donations that total many hundreds of dollars. And all that on a very meager graduate student stipend. I can think of easier ways to get a "free" trip to Chicago, or any other marathon destination.

It certainly would have been much easier (and cheaper) for me to simply go to Chicago on my own. Instead, I decided to take the difficult road to Chicago, raising funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in memory of my grandmother and I don't regret the decision. Despite its difficulty, it's been a wonderful opportunity to honor her strength and collect funds for the organization's important research and education programs. When my grandmother passed away several weeks ago, getting up to go for my group run the following day was vital therapy. That day, I rose at 5:30am feeling tremendously sad. However, during my 18-mile run, I thought about my grandmother with each and every mile. The critics who mock someone's desire to memorialize a loved one in such a way are, to be frank, heartless.

I have also run with lymphoma survivors who began participating in the program as a way of reaffirming their strength and victory over cancer. I have listened to coaches tell me inspiring stories about mothers and daughters who have struggled to cross the finish line together after enduring months of treatment and months of training. Anyone who thinks people do this for an "easy" ticket to a marathon needs to spent more time around a real group of Team in Training participants. I promise that you will be inspired by their athleticism and their selfless dedication to such an important cause.