Mission Moment - Disney Marathon Participants

A message from Amanda Goble, our Team In Training Campaign Coordinator:

Team In Training is made up of a bunch of individual teams who are all out there training and fundraising for the same cause. We have different teams within a season, and then we have four different seasons year. Essentially we all are one big team and the stories that each of you have the ability to inspire anyone who is involved with this program. The following story is from a couple who did the Disney Marathon, written shortly before they left for Orlando last January:

Every day in our lives has a date attached to it. Let us tell you about a few dates in our lives. There was a Sunday in early January of the year 2005. Sorry, cannot remember the exact date but there we were in Orlando, Florida. That was the day we retired from any more marathons. We did the half that day as proud members of Team in Training, It had been our second stint on the team, having participated a few years earlier at the Rock n Roll marathon in San Diego. We got into this initially to give a little meaning to our lives. We decided to collect donations for a good cause and put a little focus into our lives. The San Diego experience was good. The Orlando one was much better and we were always so thankful to people like Jerry and Robyn who guided us in so many ways. We had friends with kids with leukemia and an aunt who passed away and somehow in our own hearts, we felt like we had represented them well. We were no Prefontaines but thanks to family and friends, our own little team within THE Team had scored a big win for a great cause. And with that, we retired from marathons.

June 16, 2006: It all changed that day. Our brother in law Don D'Esposito was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma. It was a terrible blow in many ways because he was a guy we loved so much and shared much of our growing up with our kids. We all wanted to grow old together. The prognosis on his condition was actually very good and he took on this battle with courage and a fiery spirit. And seeing that, we decided to come out of retirement. A little bit like Rocky and Adrian---one more run at this...in his name. Our plan was to train hard and have him and our sister be there in Orlando to watch us in this final run. He was very proud of us and was always asking us about our times and practices. We wanted to walk a few practices with him but his treatments and chemotherapy pretty much sapped him of the energy he would need.

October 7, 2006: At about 1:00 AM that morning at Delaware County Memorial Hospital, we said good bye to Don D'Esposito. Though he threw everything he could at this terrible disease, we all walked out of that hospital better for having known him, but at a loss for never being able to talk with him, laugh with him and, live with him any longer. There was a three-hour wait at Holy Cross Church for people to pay their final respects for Don. He and our sister are that well loved. Don D'Esposito won't be with us physically in Orlando but he will be there in our hearts. He lives there forever. He is there every mile we have trained and we know he will watch us and cheer us on Race Day. Rocky and Adrian are back for one more run. We intend to make you proud of us.

Each and everyone of you is doing something that you should be incredibly proud of. Thank you for your continued support of TNT!!!