The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS’s) roots stretch back to 1949, when the de Villiers family experienced the devastation of leukemia with the death of their 16-year-old son, Robert Roesler de Villiers.

Family members and friends declared war on the disease by creating The Robert Roesler de Villiers Foundation, funding research to find a cure. The foundation later became The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Its mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

Team In Training (TNT) began in 1988, when Bruce Cleland of Rye, New York formed a team that raised funds and trained to run the New York City Marathon in honor of Cleland’s daughter Georgia, a leukemia survivor.

The team of 38 runners raised $322,000 for LLS’s Westchester/Hudson Valley Chapter.  Because of the pioneering efforts of Cleland and the Westchester/Hudson Valley Chapter, Team In Training was born and has grown into the world’s largest endurance sports training program.  Cleland was honored by Runner’s World magazine in 2004 as one of their “Heroes of Running” for his role in establishing TNT.

Join the more than 40,000 runners, walkers, cyclists, hikers and triathletes who will participate in the world’s major marathons, triathlons, hiking adventures and century rides this year on behalf of LLS.

Only Team In Training has trained nearly half a million runners, walkers, triathletes, cyclists and hikers and raised over $1 billion to fund lifesaving research. If you sign up, you’ll be training with our huge network of certified coaches who will have weekly group runs with you and your team. You’ll even have mentors for fundraising support as well as your own website for online fundraising.

If you’re interested in joining Team in Training, click here to fill out the organization’s online Tell Me More form for more information.