Team in Training

Team in Training, also known by the acronym TNT, is an endurance sports training program. The program provides training to run or walk a full marathon or half marathon or participate in a triathlon, a century (100-mile) bike ride or, in Anchorage or the San Francisco Bay Area, a cross-country ski marathon (25K, 40K or 50K). Team members raise funds to help support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in exchange for a life changing experience, certified coaches, training clinics (specific sports, equipment, nutrition, stretching), personal fundraising Web site, support from staff and teammates, a fundraising mentor, event fees, and lodging and airfare to more than 60 accredited events in the US and abroad. The Society uses at least 74 cents of every dollar raised for cancer programs, funding research to find cures to leukemia, Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, and myeloma - the blood cancers - as well as assistance with the often overwhelming burdens faced by patients and their families currently fighting blood cancers.

Since 1988, more than 340,000 volunteer participants have helped raise more than US$800 million for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which says that TNT is the oldest and largest endurance sports training program in the world. Team in Training says that it is "about ordinary people who want to do something extraordinary for a day, helping extraordinary people who just want to feel ordinary for a day." TNT has chapters in population centers across the United States. In 2008, the year of their twentieth anniversary, TNT will train more than 30,000 runners, walkers, cyclists, triathletes and skiers who will participate in major marathons, triathlons, century rides and cross-country ski races all over the world.

A day or two before an event, volunteers for Team in Training usually travel together on a plane to a specific destination. The night before an event such as a marathon or a half-marathon the volunteers celebrate with a pasta party which recognizes "honored teammates" and individuals who have raised large amounts of money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Some sites of events in which TNT participates include San Diego (Rock and Roll marathon and half-marathon), Orlando, Florida (Disney marathon and half-marathon), Austin, Texas (Capital of Texas Triathlon - Olympic Distance) Dallas, Texas (White Rock marathon and half-marathon), Lake Tahoe, Nevada (America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride), Tucson, Arizona (El Tour de Tucson century ride), and Anchorage, Alaska (Tour of Anchorage cross country ski marathon and the Mayor’s Midnight Sun running marathon and half-marathon).

History of TNT

In 1988 the program was founded by Bruce Cleland, a resident of Rye, New York whose daughter Georgia is a leukemia survivor. (Georgia was diagnosed with leukemia at age 2.) He organized a team of 38 runners who trained as a group to run the New York City Marathon coached by New Zealand runner Rod Dixon. The runners referred to themselves as the “team in training.” Together they raised over US$322,000 in the process. (Cleland would later be honored by "Runner's World" magazine in 2004 for his role in starting TNT.)

In 1989 the Society’s Westchester Chapter recruits some of the original team members to take on the New York City Marathon for a second time. A team of 75 people from Westchester, New Jersey, and Long Island participate.

In 1990 Former Olympian Marty Liquori, a world record holder in the mile and the 5,000-meter run comes on board as national spokesperson of Team in Training. Six months later he is diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

In 1991 the Society’s Mid-America Chapter, in Kansas City, MO, recruits a coach and flies 21 participants to the New York City Marathon. This marks the first time that a TNT team travels, now one of the core components of the program.

In 1993, the Society’s new CEO, Dwayne Howell, convenes a task force to select a national campaign with the capacity to raise a lot of money quickly. The group must choose between TNT, which has by now spread to approximately 20 chapters, or another program; TNT wins.

In 1994 some chapters on the West Coast begin sending marathon teams to Honolulu, HI. Anchorage, AK, and Washington D.C. are added the following year.

In 1996 walking is added to the program, and the signature purple TNT singlet is born. TNT goes from being a single season event to a year-round program.

In 1997 the century (100-mile) cycling program is added.

In 1998 TNT and Elite Racing join forces and launch the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in San Diego on June 21. Moe than 5,700 TNT participants raise $15.6 million.

In 1999 the triathlon is added, making TNT a four-sport campaign. Approximately 24,000 TNT participants raise $61 million.

In 2002 TNT introduces online fundraising and personal Web pages.

In 2004 the Society and Nike launch the Nike Women’s Marathon, A Race to Benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, in San Francisco, raising $10 million. It becomes an annual event.

In 2008, TNT has had more than 360,000 volunteer participants raise over $850 million to support blood cancer research and patient services for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. [cite web |url=http://20th.teamintraining.org/history/ |title=History of TNT]

Benefits of TNT

Most of the funds raised for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society go to research and patient care. funds are used to offset the cost of a patient’s chemotherapy drug prescription co-payment, register a person to be a bone marrow donor, provide bone marrow typing for a family member of a patient with leukemia, provide a patient with transportation for traveling to and from a cancer center, provide patient aid to a person with cancer for a year, or help the Society fund research efforts to find a cure.

Team in Training athletes following training plans designed by noted coaches such as Dave Scott, Arnie Baker, and Jack Daniels. [http://www.teamintraining.org/firsttimehere/themissionandhistory/nationalspokespeople/]

Criticism

Charity running in general has been criticized for several reasons. Some of the more common complaints are:

* The increased cost a race must incur to accommodate charity runners, which is then passed down to race entry fees.
* Inexperienced participants in races displaying a lack of "Runner's Etiquette", such as walking five abreast and obstructing other runners.
* The lack of dedication a charity runner has to the sport. For instance, they may focus all attention on their one fundraiser marathon and never run again.cite web
author = Robert Preer
title = Run for the money
publisher = Boston Globe
accessdate = 2008-07-05
url = http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2004/04/18/run_for_the_money/?page=1]

A few of the more vocal critics of charity runners in the running community are "New England Runner" columnist Tom Derderian and Jim Hage of the "Washington Post". Some critics also observe that the fund-raising requirements are very challenging, and that participants may be better off by joining a local running club trainng program and then separately conducting charitable activities without the strict fund-raising requirements.Fact|date=October 2008 Some fundraisers solicit their subordinates or employees, creating resentment directed toward the charity due to less than voluntary contributions.Fact|date=October 2008 Some fundraisers may partially achieve their fundraising goals and then are required to pay for the trip to the sporting event, and the charities do not disclose the percentage of successful participants in their recruiting materials.Fact|date=October 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.teamintraining.org Team in Training official website]
* [http://www.teamintraining.org/20th Team In Training 20th Anniversary Site]