Kwan Kew Lai's Team In Training Page
Racing to Save Lives
Welcome to my Team In Training home page.
Why running for charities?
I have always tried to instill in my children a love of helping others. After Hurricane Mitch, from 2001 to 2005, all my children had raised funds and gone down to Honduras with me to build houses with Habitat for Humanity and the South American Missionary. They continue to have this spirit of volunteerism. My daughter, Cara, did BIKE and BUILD a year ago for charities and built houses along the way from Providence, Rhode Island to Seattle, Washington during her summer vacation. My youngest kid, Charles and I just returned from Katrina relief work in Biloxi and he has wasted no time in joining the Habitat chapter of Vassar College and now volunteers on Saturdays.
As a physician I have always wanted to give my time to help others at some point in my life, especially people in the less fortunate parts of the world. After the Tsunami of 2005, I went down to Singarothoupu, India to provide medical relief. I traveled to Sri Lanka on my own and saw the devastation and the massive number of people living in tent villages along the beach. I met a number of selfless people who were devoted to do relief work. That was a turning point for me. While I cannot be like them I decided that I could try in some small ways to provide relief. Since then I had volunteered for a couple of months each time as a mentor in HIV/AIDS care in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Mtwara in Tanzania (poverty and hunger are the norm in this rural area and food was scarce when I was there), and taught in Mkarere University in Kampala in Uganda. There I experienced the true race to save lives.
I have been running regularly since November of 2005 and a few years ago started to do races for fun starting around 5K mostly with my children. While in Kampala in Uganda I ran my first 10K. Last year my children encouraged me to run half marathon which was to take place in May 2007. I started to train on my own in February but when I heard that Tim, my oldest was going for the April 2007 Boston Marathon as a bandit runner, I joined him and we both completed it under rather inclement weather of rain, wind and cold. I did a Marathon before a half Marathon!
This year I had hoped to volunteer abroad in March and April but there are no immediate openings. I decided to run the 112th Boston Marathon to raise funds for the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society. Running for a cause makes running the marathon a lot easier and helping others is the best feeling one will ever have. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I'm completing this endurance event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!
Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance the Society's mission.
You can donate through this web-site or if you prefer, you could write a check to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and send the check to me at 104 School Street, Belmont, MA 02478.
I hope you'll visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for your support!
My Training Progress:
Feb 18: 8 weeks to race day!: I joined the Team in their 9 th week of training but did my 15 miler passinng my alma mater, Wellesley Colege, last weekend with my teammates. Two weekends ago I ran alone along the Mississippi River in balmy Louisiana but running in the freezing cold New England weather and icy side-walks is always a challenge!
March 1: 7 weeks to race day: TNT cancelled run today because of snow so I ran on my own along the Charles River over snowy banks listening to Beethoven, 16 miler. COOL RUNNING!
March 14: 5 more weeks to go, did an 18 miler last week over heart Break Hill!
March 22: 4 more weeks to go, last week we did an 18 miler in the snow, sleet and rain and today a 15 miler in the bright cheery sun, next week will be our 20 miler!
April 5: I ran the Eastern States 20 last Sunday with two of children along the coast of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Today, I ran a 12-miler with my team in Grafton over very hilly terrain, Two weeks to Marathon and we are winding down on our training,
April 16: Last week before the big day. We ran together for the last time last weekend, a meer 8 mile run. Its carb loading time this week to prepare for the big date with the finish line.
