Chicago Team!

Tonight, I had my first run with some of my new Chicago teammates. It was fun to meet everyone, especially since I won't be able to join them for training until after Alaska.

It was another run from the Big Peach--three miles this time, and I was lucky enough to run with Barb, our coach, who also coached Disney, so I trained with her throughout the fall. It also means she (clearly a blonde with more common sense than myself) can read the maps. In fact, she is so cool, she doesn't need maps! It was a nice, easy run, in spite of the humidity and hills and wouldn't you know that the first person I found myself talking to was Sally Corbett, a PR guru over at Arts at Emory, and someone I worked with frequently at the ASO, though we had never met. I love the small world that is Atlanta, TNT and the performing arts community.

We retired to a local pizza place (not a fan, so I won't mention it by name!) and had great conversation. What never ceases to amaze me about TNT is how all of these really great people--all with families and jobs and busy lives outside of running--devote so much time and energy to TNT. Not just to the running, but to the mission, to the patient heroes, to changing lives. It's also a reminder of one of my favorite quotes:

Never doubt that a group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever had.
-Margaret Mead

TNT started twenty years ago with one man and his friends running the New York City Marathon in honor of his daughter, a leukemia survivor. That small group raised over $300,000 for its local LLS chapter. Now, our chapter can raise that from a single event. But it all started with a small group of people who wanted to make a diffence in the lives of others, much like those I am blessed to know and train with every week.