Huntington Teacher to Run NYC Marathon for Charity
There’s nothing like a good cause to get a person motivated, especially someone that is training for the New York City marathon. Huntington music teacher Nicole Lynch has spent many hot summer days covering mile-after-mile as she prepares her body and mind for what annually proves to be a grueling event.
Instead of merely kicking back and taking it easy, Ms. Lynch is training for the Hamptons half-marathon on Sept. 27 and plans to follow that with the New York City marathon on Nov. 2. She’s training as a mentor with Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training and is working to raise money to fund leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma research and patient services.
Mrs. Lynch isn’t a newcomer to long distance running, having completed a marathon with her mother in October 2006 and raising over $8,000 in the process. “That was my first marathon,” she proudly said.
“This season I am running in honor of Gavin Syska,” Mrs. Lynch said. “Gavin was recently diagnosed with ALL leukemia. He is doing well with his treatments and hopes to go back to school in December. Gavin just celebrated his eighth birthday not too long ago.”
In addition to running and raising money this fall, Ms. Lynch will carry the names of special friends and family members given to her who are battling cancer or who have lost their struggle.
“The society not only funds research for new treatments and cures for blood cancers, but they also provide education, services and support to patients and their families,” Mrs. Lynch said. So far she has raised $1,027.40 toward her goal of $2,000, which hopes to realize before the start of school in September.
“After completing the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco with my mom in 2006, I got the itch to do it all over again in New York,” Mrs. Lynch said. “I am hoping to train injury-free this time around, and maybe even improve my time!”
Training for a marathon is tough stuff and so is running the race. It’s often been said that marathoners hit a “wall” at the 19-20 mile mark. The event has more to do with mental toughness than most people realize.
“I have been dragging, or rather pushing, Abigail all over Hauppauge for my week-day runs,” said Mrs. Lynch, including a five mile jaunt one recent hot day. She has also been working with training partners. “We just recently ran ‘cardiac hill’ at Sunken Meadow State Park,” she sad. “Abby was fortunate to be home with Daddy for that run.”
According to its website, “The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training is the world's largest endurance sports training program. The program provides training to run or walk marathons and half marathons or participate in triathlons and century (100-mile) bike rides. Since 1988, more than 360,000 volunteer participants have helped raise more than $850 million.”
To learn more about helping Mrs. Lynch reach her goal, log onto her personal Team in Training webpage at http://pages.teamintraining.org/li/hampton08/nlynch.
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