This post is dedicated to Jason Cooney, Tara Hussey, John Gronnel, Vicki Varela and the other survivors who are true intrepid fighters. Also, written in memory of the angels.
Love, one of the most exalted of all emotions, has always been an enigma for the author. Wherever you go, love is the most potent force in this planet. A beautiful thing, that finds itself manifesting in a myriad of ways. The love of a child for its mother, the mother's love for the child, the love between father and son, the love between siblings, the love between friends, the love between a man and a woman, and what not. What exactly is love; and can it be defined, if at all. Well, even the very thought of definition of love sounds so crass and vulgar. However, the exact purpose of this post, is not to delve into love, but to celebrate the true victory of love, which was very evident during the author's first marathon with the TEAM in training.
The TEAM in training, is the largest endurance sports training program in the world. It is a part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, whose mission is to fund research to fight blood cancers and to improve the quality of life of the patients and its families. The unique feature about TNT is that, they accept and train people, of various fitness levels and all shapes and sizes, and get them across the finish line, in return for the fundraising, that goes towards fulfilling the Society's mission. The strong motivation for this otherwise rare and dream-like goal of an endurance event for the participants comes from the heroes battling with these dreaded cancers: both, survivors and angels.
In the moment of gloom, when one of their near and dear ones is fighting with cancer, the patient and their family choose hope over despair, with the hope that the cure can be found so that no child or adult along with its family has to undergo the pain of anything and everything associated with cancer. The author has come across quite a few inspirational people, who train themselves for endurance events, battling their own aches and pains, all for love. Like they say, "26.2 miles is nothing when compared to chemotherapy". The author did the P F Chang's Full Marathon, recently, and out there, was the true picture of USA. It was a purple movement, that didn't really care about the red and the blue; and for that matter, the white, the brown and the black.
So many runners/walkers/runners-walkers/walkers-runners, including survivors, were battling against their bodies to complete the full marathon in honor of their beloved survivors and angels. They were the "elitest of the elite" athletes. Outside the course of the run, and without their purple TNT singlets, you wouldn't even think for once, despite, batting your eyelids so many times, that they are the proud marathoners. That's what love does to you. This is a wonderful victory for love. A true celebration of life. The author considers himself highly blessed to have seen this all in live action. Now he is able to comprehend this enigmatic and wonderful love better. Go TEAM!!!
Love, one of the most exalted of all emotions, has always been an enigma for the author. Wherever you go, love is the most potent force in this planet. A beautiful thing, that finds itself manifesting in a myriad of ways. The love of a child for its mother, the mother's love for the child, the love between father and son, the love between siblings, the love between friends, the love between a man and a woman, and what not. What exactly is love; and can it be defined, if at all. Well, even the very thought of definition of love sounds so crass and vulgar. However, the exact purpose of this post, is not to delve into love, but to celebrate the true victory of love, which was very evident during the author's first marathon with the TEAM in training.
The TEAM in training, is the largest endurance sports training program in the world. It is a part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, whose mission is to fund research to fight blood cancers and to improve the quality of life of the patients and its families. The unique feature about TNT is that, they accept and train people, of various fitness levels and all shapes and sizes, and get them across the finish line, in return for the fundraising, that goes towards fulfilling the Society's mission. The strong motivation for this otherwise rare and dream-like goal of an endurance event for the participants comes from the heroes battling with these dreaded cancers: both, survivors and angels.
In the moment of gloom, when one of their near and dear ones is fighting with cancer, the patient and their family choose hope over despair, with the hope that the cure can be found so that no child or adult along with its family has to undergo the pain of anything and everything associated with cancer. The author has come across quite a few inspirational people, who train themselves for endurance events, battling their own aches and pains, all for love. Like they say, "26.2 miles is nothing when compared to chemotherapy". The author did the P F Chang's Full Marathon, recently, and out there, was the true picture of USA. It was a purple movement, that didn't really care about the red and the blue; and for that matter, the white, the brown and the black.
So many runners/walkers/runners-walkers/walkers-runners, including survivors, were battling against their bodies to complete the full marathon in honor of their beloved survivors and angels. They were the "elitest of the elite" athletes. Outside the course of the run, and without their purple TNT singlets, you wouldn't even think for once, despite, batting your eyelids so many times, that they are the proud marathoners. That's what love does to you. This is a wonderful victory for love. A true celebration of life. The author considers himself highly blessed to have seen this all in live action. Now he is able to comprehend this enigmatic and wonderful love better. Go TEAM!!!
