The New Year’s resolutions back in January may already seem, for many of us, dimly remembered episodes of wishful thinking. For two-year Hoboken resident Brenda Gorski, however, the commitment she made to herself and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society this January remains a reality. On June 3, after hopefully raising $4,000 for cancer research, she will run in San Diego’s Suzuki Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon.
Gorski, a technical trainer with the New York-based e-commerce software company Interworld, has been running four to five times a week since signing up with the Society’s Team In Training program this past January in preparation for the 26-mile run. Although she has always been a runner, this will be her first marathon.
“This is something I’ve always wanted to do,” said Gorski recently. “It gives me something really positive to focus on.”
The program combines altruism with the opportunity to train and compete as an athlete, Gorski explained. Team In Training volunteers promise to raise a set amount of funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society before entering one of several participating races.
Along with covering the costs of lodging and transportation to and from the event, the nationwide program provides volunteers with several months of professional coaching and support. Gorski is one of several Hoboken residents involved with the Northern New Jersey Chapter, which organizes weekly team runs lead by regional mentors and coaches throughout the spring.
“Although there’s certainly a lot in it for me, the fact that I can give something back by raising money is also really a great thing,” she explained. “I’m strong and healthy and have been pretty much always; it’s good to put that to good use.”
Family, friends and co-workers have donated the first $1,000 dollars of Gorski’s promised four, but such personal avenues of fund raising are now nearly exhausted. A possible fund-raising event, currently in the brainstorming stage, may involve local businesses and restaurants.
“Hoboken itself is a small town, but it’s like New York – you don’t know your neighbors,” she said of her fund-raising slowdown. “I’m starting little by little now to solicit businesses in Hoboken, but I’ve never done that before, so it feels a bit awkward at the moment.”
Team In Training’s personalization of the fund-raising endeavor through “Honored Patients” attracted Gorski to the program. Each regional chapter runs for one or more specific patients of leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma or Hodgkin’s disease. Volunteers get to know their patient through photos, bios, and correspondence and wear the patient’s name on a wristband during the race.
Gorski has also agreed to wear similar wristbands commemorating particular donors’ own “Honored Patients.”
More than 4,000 of the 16,500 runners in last year’s third annual Suzuki Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in San Diego, Calif., raised $12.5 million for their “Honored Patients.” In addition to the discipline of charitable athleticism, the beat of more than 40 rock bands helped push competitors through each wearying mile of the aptly named event. Although this year’s performers have yet to be named, past rockers include Chicago, Hootie and the Blowfish, Huey Lewis and the News, and Pat Benatar.
The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society will use these funds to research cures for leukemia and other blood-related cancers and to help support patients and their families. According to the Society’s web site, more than 60,000 Americans died from such diseases last year. Leukemia research partially funded by the Society has developed bone marrow transplantation and chemotherapy, treatments now used for most forms of cancer.
Team In Training groups attend marathons throughout the year in a variety of locales including Chicago, Dublin, Maui, and Anchorage. Walking is often an option, and similar programs are available for cyclists and in-line skaters. For more information, visit the Team In Training web site at www.teamintraining.org or contact the Northern New Jersey Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at (973) 376-9559.
To donate money or offer fund-raising ideas to Brenda Gorski and other Hoboken participants, e-mail Brenda Gorski at bjgorski@yahoo.com.