When I run, I am cheered on and called a hero by strangers as I pass them in my purple t-shirt.

The first time this happened, I was so surprised I almost stopped in my tracks. When it happened a second, third, and fourth time (and every time I ran) it hit me. The purple Team In Training t-shirt I'm wearing makes me a part of something huge. I am a member of Team In Training: the world's largest sports endurance training program and the largest fundraising campaign of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

I am a Team In Training runner and I'll eat those hills for breakfast, tear through those speed workouts, and take on those grueling long runs because I know what those with blood cancer have had to endure.

Those for whom I am running didn't have a choice when it came to cancer, didn't have a choice when it came to treatment. But I did. I chose to become one of a team of 400,000 that have taken on this challenge in the last 20 years and one of the many who have helped raise over $1 billion.

Being a Team In Training runner means I am running for a cause greater than myself. I'm running to save lives by raising funds for blood cancer research and patient services. The funds I raise will allow researchers to learn more about leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma, which take the lives of six people each hour. I am helping the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society run an information resource center for patients and their families, and provide assistance to help patients with significant financial needs. Because I run with Team In Training, a patient didn't have to pay for a taxi ride after undergoing treatment today.

Our efforts help find cures for patients like two-year-old Aliza who has already undergone ten lumbar punctures in her spine, 20 blood & platelet transfusions, and 96 days in the hospital. Our work supports research for the creation of medications like Gleevac, an oral therapy with limited side effects that has been shown to normalize blood cell counts in nearly all patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia.

On October 24, my teammates and I will join thousands of runners in Prospect Park, Brooklyn for the Nike+ Human Race. A constant supporter of our mission, Nike has generously welcomed our team to their training runs and let us speak about our program and invite their runners to join Team In Training. On the day of the Nike+ Human Race, we'll all be Team In Training runners since a portion of each athlete's registration is being given to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and regardless of our finish times, we'll all cross the finish line together, cheered on by supporters and survivors.

I'm doing more than just putting one foot in front of the other, accomplishing more than just covering a finite number of miles, achieving more than just a good workout. I'm a Team In Training athlete, and the run I complete today will help save lives tomorrow.