I did it!! And you helped!!

Thank you all so much for your financial contributions, your emotional support and prayers, and for checking in every once in a while to make sure I'm still alive. I could never have done any of this without you all.

Well, I crossed the finish line after a brutally hot and humid 6 1/4 hours. More importantly, that time was actually the climax of four months that changed my life in so many ways. I was born into one amazing family, but lately I have become a part of a couple more – a Team in Training family dedicated to raising funds and awareness for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, as well as a family of endurance athletes nuts enough to run a distance originally made famous because, as the story goes, the first person who did it died shortly thereafter.

This year is the Team in Training program's 20th anniversary, and this season helped bring the total funds raised to $800 MILLION. Wrap your head around that, if you can. That money helped fund research that produced the "miracle drug" Gleevac, which has single-handedly increased survival rates of CNL from 5% to 95%. In just 20 years this disease went from a death sentence to a manageable set-back. As a cancer researcher, I investigate tiny processes within cancer cells, and it is easy to become frustrated with the notion that your work may never translate into a cure. In just 4 months with TNT, however, I get that satisfaction. Being a part of something that tangibly beneficial is truly breathtaking to me. YOU are a part of that now, too.

Special Thanks: My brother, Michael Havens. Last year he came in just shy of being a "corporate sponsor." This year, not only did he personally donate enough to be considered a corporate sponsor, his company MATCHED his donation. WOW. His ridiculously generous donation earned him the opportunity to have a “company” name on the race-day jersey of every Northern Florida TNT participant. He chose to use "For E.J. Havens" as the company name, in honor of our grandfather and my honored patient, who passed away in December after a valiant fight against widely-metastatic esophageal cancer.

My Aunt Muriel Carmichael, who not only made a generous donation, but wrangled friends and coworkers to donate as well. As a matter of fact, my very first donation this season was a friend of hers who didn’t know me from Eve. As time went on, every so often I would get another donation from someone whose name I didn't recognize, and I stopped being confused and just said, "Aww, how sweet, another friend of Aunt Meow's donated!"

And, following the previous note, special thanks to all of my Aunt Muriel's friends who didn’t know me from Eve and didn’t know my grandfather, but dug into their pockets (DEEPLY, in some cases!) to donate. Very very touching.

And last, but not least – as if this weren't long enough already – you can find a recap of the event itself at http://jenhavens.livejournal.com.