Meet Your Captains

Here you can learn all about your Captains and support staff, find out what they look like, and get their contact info! Support staff are not assigned to any particular participants, but are here to help the team with anything needed. Please take a look at what they do, why everyone is here & don't hesitate to contact your captains or any of the staff with questions!

Lindsey Rabinowitz – Campaign Manager

Lindsey RabinowitzPhone: 310-846-4710

“The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” – John Bingham

Welcome to the TEAM! Get ready for one of the most fulfilling and amazing experiences of your life. You are a hero, and we THANK YOU so much for joining the campaign to find a cure for blood cancers. I joined TNT as a participant in 2007 and ran the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. Since then I ran the Midnight Mayor’s Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska, Santa Barbara Half Marathon, and the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon as a TNT Mentor and Team Captain. Now I have my dream job of being your Campaign Manager.

I’m so excited to have you on the team! If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call or email me. GO TEAM!

Rouman Ebrahim – Co-Team Captain

Rouman Ebrahim

Hi! My name is Rouman Ebrahim and I want to congratulate you on having the courage to start! I promise you that the next few months are going to be exciting, at times exhausting, and always exhilarating. Think about this: In a few weeks, you will consider a 10-mile run to be an “EASY” run!!! You will meet amazing people. You will make some great friends. You will be a hero by helping people in need. And yes, you will cross the finish line at a marathon or a half-marathon.

Along the way, you will have the support of Team in Training (TNT) staff, coaches, captains, and mentors. As your team captain, please know that I will be available to support you in any way I can. The only thing I ask of you is to never hesitate to ask questions. You will not be bothering me or any of your mentors, captains, or coaches. We are here because we want to answer questions. We want to be of help. Please use us as much as possible.

Five years ago I was where you are now. I went to an info meeting and decided to join. Since then I have ran eight marathons and this will be my thirteenth TNT season. Crossing that first finish line in San Diego on June 6th, 2004 was one of the most unforgettable moments of my life.

The incredible thing was that as great a moment as crossing the finish line was, it was the journey that got me there and the things I learned during that journey that made this an amazing experience. You will learn, as I did, about your body’s strengths and limitations. You will learn that once a limitation is discovered, it is only a matter of time and effort before it is overcome.

Again, please do not hesitate to ask any questions or to ask for help. You WILL get to the finish line. You WILL reach your fundraising goal. The quote on top of this sheet is from one of my heroes — John “the Penguin” Bingham, the co-author of Marathoning for Mortals. The miracle is already done. You’re here. Now we get to have fun!

Lindsey Adelstein – Co-Team Captain

ladelstein

Hello wonderful Summer Team!!! My name is Lindsey Adelstein and I am so excited to be Co-Team Captain for this season. I first got involved with Team In Training for the Summer 2008 season. Joining the team was the best decision I have ever made. When I thought about joining, I was unsure if I should or could do it. Some of you might be thinking the same thing, but I made it and so will you! After being a participant, I was a mentor for 2 seasons and love being part of this amazing team.

I can’t wait to be there to support, encourage, and watch you all as you experience the most amazing moments throughout the season. Anything you need or any questions you have please ask!!! I have been where you are and would love to help you in any way I can. Finishing the San Diego Rock ‘N’ Roll full, Phoenix half, and the Seattle Full Marathons were the coolest things I have ever done, I still get goose bumps thinking of it! I recently took a season off and couldn’t stay away. I am so happy to be back and look forward to getting to know each of you. Congrats on deciding to be apart of this amazing team and society!!!

Virginia Garner – Mission Captain / Honored Teammate

vgarnerPhone: 909-596-4309 (home), 909-519-2630 (cell)

After a year of debilitating treatment and at the edge of death’s doorstep, I was very lucky to participate in a study for a new drug that wound up changing chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) from a terminal disease to a chronic one that is controllable. When I was diagnosed 12 years ago, patients with CML survived for 3-5 years while they endured treatment every day that devastated their bodies. Now, with Gleevec as standard treatment, all I have to do is swallow 5 small yellow pills every day to live a normal life with my family and friends. Now, instead of blood transfusions, staggering fatigue, persistent nausea and infections, I can run/walk marathons. While only 30,000 CML patients were alive at any given time when I was diagnosed, because we are staying alive and not dying, there are presently over 200,000 people surviving and living full lives, an astonishing figure considering that 10 years ago a CML patient’s prognosis was at best five years.

When I found out this miracle was made possible by research funded by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, I signed up for my first marathon with Team in Training 10 years ago so I could return some of the goodness I had received. When I told my husband I had signed him up too, he exclaimed “You signed me up for WHAT????” to which I replied “I have leukemia, are you going to turn me down?” Crossing the finish line not only for myself, but also for others, in that first L.A. Marathon in 2001 was one of the most amazing and triumphant accomplishments of my life. I became addicted to the good feelings I get when I help other patients through working with Team in Training, and now I am signed up to train with you for the Mayor’s Marathon in Anchorage, AK this June, my 10th with Team in Training. I plan to keep on doing this until I can no longer walk! I want to be a part of helping others like me.

As Mission Captain and a leukemia survivor, I desperately want you to know how awesome you are for helping. Most of us know about the research grants, but I will also share with you many other programs that patients (including me) and their families are helped by on a day-to-day basis that you are making possible! I will also keep us all posted on our sweet honored teammate, Tyler and his family.

I am living a miracle every single day and appreciating every moment as it comes. Gleevec has put me in what they call complete molecular remission, meaning that there are no detectable leukemia cells in my bone marrow. If I stop taking my pills, however, the disease will return. I knew I had to wage the battle of my life during that first year after my diagnosis. What I didn’t know is that I had an entire army of people, Team in Training, fighting for me, too. You, my beloved team, are my hope for an even better miracle – a cure. And you are the hope of thousands and thousands of other blood cancer patients who don’t have a magic bullet like Gleevec. If it weren’t for Team in Training, I wouldn’t be alive today and there isn’t a day that I don’t give thanks. It’s like a fellow CML patient once said “I feel that we are sitting on top of a mountain looking over at the other side at that most precious state of being – alive and well and free of fear. I dream of that day.” Know that you are making that dream come closer and closer to coming true!

Caroline Nuttall – Web Captain

cnuttallPhone: 626-429-0875

I joined the Summer 08 SGV Team hoping to do a bit of good in the world, meet some people and get some exercise. I was signed up for the Santa Barbara Half Marathon. Once my event was done I realized how amazing these people are and how vital the cause is. I didn’t want it to end.

I continued training with everyone and ran with them in the final event – a full marathon in Phoenix on Jan 18, 09!!! I returned to mentor for last summer season and still haven’t had enough of this fabulous TEAM. You will hear this a lot…but I never understood how or why people run marathons. Now I know that there are sooo many different reasons and that you will never get tired of finding out why.

I wanted to share my amazing experience with others and help them to reach their goals for themselves, their families and the LLS – while making sure they know how amazing they are!

I’m originally from the U.K. and in my real life I am a web programmer & marketing manager for a small firm in Burbank so am very happy to be returning for my second season as Web Captain. PLEASE remember: This is our TEAM WEBSITE so please let me know if you would like to see anything included of if something doesn’t work for you… and of course ALWAYS let me know if you have a fundraiser coming up!!!!
GO TEAM !

Sandy Papagno – Social Captain

sapagnoPhone: 818/957-6355

Welcome to the Team Everybody!
My name is Sandy and I am thrilled to be your Social Captain for the 2010 Summer Season! This is my fourth season with TNT and I can’t wait to help you celebrate your successes by combining FUN with all of our hard work. We’ll run, sweat, cry (tears of joy), stretch, laugh, party and have the best time together while making a difference in someone’s life…and you will never be the same again!

I’m returning for a second season as Social Captain and it all started when I attended an information session in January of 2007. My heart was so touched by all the survivor stories that I signed up to walk a half Marathon in San Diego. I thought I could probably walk 13+ miles! My Team encouraged and motivated and cheered and ran with me during practices and I RAN a FULL Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska on June 23, 2007.

If I can do this you can too! And I am here to help you get to that finish line! You are in for the time of your life and you WILL accomplish great things for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. You ARE changing someone’s life! People you don’t even know thank you! Cancer survivors you meet along the way will inspire you to persevere!

Let’s train hard together – let’s raise LOTS of money and let’s have some FUN!
Sandy…my cell phone is always on…818/957-6355

Bev Brule – Fundraising Captain

bbruleWelcome to Team in Training. My name is Bev Brule’ and I am ecstatic to be your Fundraising Captain this season! This is my fifth season with the team. Initially I joined the team because of my nephew (Jack) who was diagnosed with Leukemia when he was eleven months old. When I witnessed what his family went through with such grace and dignity, it inspired me to get involved. I am incredibly grateful to report that I now spend quality “Play-date” time with Jack (now age 9) who is a Leukemia SURVIVOR! Jack, his little brother Luke, and his little sister Katelin are three bright rays of sunshine in my life. Today, 73% of children with leukemia and 76% of those with Hodgkin’s disease will live, thanks in large part to research funded by projects like Team in Training. The incredible coaches, support staff and mentees like you keep me coming back for more with TNT. Being on the team gives me a chance to run with some of the best people I have ever known, while helping others race for a cure.