Half asleep as he flipped through American Airlines’ in-flight magazine in December 2003, Colin Feehan was jolted to full attention by an advertisement. Suddenly, his life took on a greater purpose.

The ad detailed The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training, a nationwide program in which people of all ages complete a marathon, half-marathon, triathlon or century (100-mile) bike ride, raising money for medical research in the process.

Feehan’s father had been diagnosed with leukemia in 1998 and Feehan, a third-year graduate student at Syracuse Law School and the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, had found a way to personally fight his father’s disease.

The following summer, Feehan ran the San Diego Marathon and raised over $12,000. The event came one month after his father’s successful bone marrow transplant in May 2004.

But Feehan is far from finished with his mission, and others at SU are just beginning their own. Feehan is one of five SU students (all graduate) participating in the Team in Training (TNT) program this fall or winter, an all-time high in the 11-year history of TNT in Central New York.

There are more than 30,000 members of TNT nationwide, making it the largest program of its kind in the country. The society’s mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

Participants can either run with somebody in mind who is afflicted by a disease or for the honorary members recognized by each of the nation’s chapters. CNY’s honorary members this fall and winter include a 15-year-old boy from Utica, a 25-year-old female graduate of Cornell University and a 53-year-old woman from Binghamton.

The current dollar minimum runners are required to raise is $3,700. That figure allows the society to pay every runner’s expenses for the final event – at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., for all the SU students – and donate 75 percent to research.

Three of the six SU runners – Feehan and fellow third-year law students Hirsh Kravitz and Carrie Sarhangi – will run the Disney marathon Jan. 8.

Heather Lutz, in her third-year studying for a doctorate in supply chain management at Whitman, will run the half-marathon the day before.

And Kim Faust-Frantz, a second-year graduate student in the School of Education, is less than two weeks away from the triathlon Sept. 25.

That most of those in the program have never run (or biked or swam) great lengths before isn’t a concern. Since the society, and thus TNT, came to CNY in 1994, Brendan Jackson, a former distance runner and coach at LeMoyne College, has catered a training program for everyone running a marathon or half-marathon.

Participants run, cross train and stretch in small groups five days a week. Every Sunday, Jackson hosts a group run, in which each runner travels only as far as his or her training requires that day.

Since TNT mandates runners join at least three months before their event, Jackson can gradually increase everyone’s mileage. That time frame allows runners to accomplish what at first seems like a daunting task. For many, the underlying cause serves as the motivating factor itself.

‘It feels like someone is depending on you,’ Lutz said.

Besides Feehan, who is running for his father, Sarhangi will honor her best friend’s aunt and Lutz will honor the husband of her family’s real estate agent. Kravitz and Faust-Frantz didn’t enter with a specific person in mind, but their letter-writing campaigns produced many names and stories.

In addition to the letter-writing campaign, which generally serves as every runner’s primary source of fundraising, TNT also helps each runner start a personal website. From there, some find more creative ways to raise funds.

Faust-Frantz is hosting an ‘Ultimate Dodgeball’ tournament in the Women’s Building the night of Sept. 20. Tickets are $30 per team, with all proceeds benefiting the society. Kravitz and Sarhangi plan to have one of the local bars sponsor a night this fall.

The months of grueling work culminate in the celebration of race day.

At the San Diego Marathon last summer, roughly 5,000 of the 20,000 runners were TNT members, and a similar ratio is usually found each year at the Walt Disney World events. Since each TNT runner and its support group wear the same purple shirts, each is showered with encouragement from thousands during the race.

‘That’s such a big boost on race day to see somebody every mile cheering for you,’ Feehan said. ‘You’re hardly even thinking about the mileage. The race goes by quickly.’

Because he was only a month removed from his transplant, Feehan’s father didn’t see his son race last summer. But he plans to be there in January.

‘That’s going to make it extra special – just to have him watching,’ Feehan said.

Matt Houck, CNY’s TNT Campaign Manager, said there is still time to join for any of Walt Disney World’s January events. There are also plenty of marathons, half-marathons, triathlons and century bike races across the nation to choose from in the future.

Houck said the difficulty of fundraising is why the number of students involved in TNT is usually low, but he is excited by the recent surge in SU student involvement. Last year, SU seniors Emily Abessinio and Julianna Bialek ran the Disney Marathon.

For most, a first glance at a brochure, like Feehan, or an initial informational meeting, like Sarhangi, is all it takes for somebody to commit.

‘They talked a lot about people who have suffered and the whole network of people through Team in Training around the nation who have helped them,’ Sarhangi said. ‘It was incredibly inspiring. You have people without any athletic background getting into shape and running farther than they ever have to support a great cause.’

Ethan Ramsey is an Asst. Sports Editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear every Tuesday. To be directed to further information on Team in Training or to contact an SU runner, e-mail Ethan at egramsey@gmail.com.

Published on September 11, 2005 at 12:00 pm