Wonder Twin Powers, Activate!

GUEST BLOG POST BY: ANGIE VB

We have a lot to be proud of in Fountain Valley, and two of those things are the "Tyson Twins," Julie Tyson Westcott and Angie Tyson Vander Burgh, who will be running in the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon on May 31st, 2009, to help raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). While Julie was training for her first marathon, she heard the words no one wants to hear: "You've got cancer." A friend ran the marathon instead--in her honor--but made a bet with Julie that the next year she would run the marathon with him. After fighting off leukemia, Julie trained, ran the Rock 'n' Roll marathon in 2008, and won the bet! (To see her story, view her 4min YouTube video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtiSEKx7Yfk )

Unfortunately, her cancer returned for a third time last year, but it didn't slow her down. During treatments, she continued to train for three races--a triple header--the Boston Marathon in April which she completed on Team LIVESTRONG for the Lance Armstrong Foundation (with her finish line picture in the Boston Globe newspaper!), the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon on May 31st, and the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon on June 27th. Last year at the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll marathon, I cheered on my twin from the sidelines. This year, I'm running with her to also help raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Our shirts read, "Wonder Twin Powers, Activate!" with the idea that working together as a TEAM to fight cancer is much better than working alone. Both of us are advocates for cancer prevention, early detection and research.

There is too much negative news out there these days, so it was very exciting to see that the Orange County Register reported our "Wonder Twins" story about our teamwork to fight for a cure! There are so many incredible stories for why people are running for LLS, and I'm thankful that the O.C. Register let us tell a little of our own personal story. The story was posted this weekend and will also run in the print newspaper this week. To read the article online, go to: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/julie-marathon-cancer-2425331-angie-training

If you'd like to donate to our Cures Rock! Campaign to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and show your support as we run the San Diego Rock N Roll race next weekend, go to: http://pages.teamintraining.org/sd/rnr09/CuresRock

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To learn about how you can also help save lives one mile at a time, go to the Team in Training web site at: http://www.teamintraining.org/ OR http://www.livestrongchallenge.org/

CURES ROCK! (Cancer does not.) Join with us, and help kick cancer to the curb!

Pictures:

Pic #1: Twins, Angie and Julie, showing off a "Cures Rock Star!" award from Team in Training for raising at least $1000 over their minimum fundraising requirement. Julie worked with LLS San Diego Chapter to create the program, which has raised thousands of dollars in additional fundraising. Julie received the LLS Volunteer Recognition Award for her efforts.

Pic #2: Julie and Angie at the top of the infamous "Heartbreak Hill" near Boston College at the 2009 Boston Marathon. Angie cheered from the sidelines, but donned her running shoes to run her twin up the hill around the 21 mile marker.

Pic #3: Julie and Angie at the Boston Marathon finish line.

Pic #4: Angie and Julie painted the back of their Team in Training shirts to reflect their "Wonder Twin Powers, Activate!" theme and belief that teamwork is key to finding a cure to cancer.