Making the Connection

If you talk with any Team In Training alumni, they will tell you that it was one of the best experiences they've ever had in their life. Whether blood cancer has impacted your life or not prior to joining the Team, you finish the program with a renewed sense of life, valuing what you have more than ever before. Finishing one event is not nearly enough for most TNT participants; how could it be?? You have the most incredible 4 months of your life...and you have an opportunity to do it all over again? It's a no brainer for many TNT participants to sign up for another event, and thus we have grown our alumni network by the thousands for the last 25 years that the program has existed. Participants get involved for a variety of different reasons, but in the end, they are all training for the same end result: a cure for cancer. Cycling coach and TNT Triple Crown Recipient Brian Dubois tells his TNT story, a story for those who are not directly connected to blood cancer at this time, to know that you don't need to wait for trouble to come knocking on your door before you start making a difference to change the lives of others. And it's a story of how it only takes one purple shirt to become a TNT alum for life.

This all started for me in 2008. My family and I had just moved back to Rhode Island from New Hampshire and we met our new neighbors. One of our neighbors have a son who was battling Leukemia. His father was involved with Team in Training and I was curious so I started to ask some questions. Before I knew it I was signed up for the Seacoast Century ride in Hampton Beach New Hampshire.  I chose the century ride because the idea of running turned me off at the time.  I had a great time, and met some incredible people.  I watched what they were doing and started to “wonder” what I could do.  In 2009 and 2010, I participated in the NYC Nautica Triathlon. I wasn't sure how it would go, but swimming came easy to me.  The running was a constant battle, but my teammates kept me moving, and that’s really all it takes.  Through the people I met, I began to realize that anything was possible.  In 2011, I earned my Triple Crown with the COX Providence Half Marathon.  I have since completed a handful of half-ironman distance races, and this past fall, my first marathon.

{Brian, making triathlons look easy!}

But that is only part of the story.  What really keeps me going are the people and their stories.  I do what I can for those who cannot.  There is one story that I have heard over the years that rings in my head like it was yesterday.  It was at the inspiration dinner for the 2010 NYC Nautica Triathlon.  The speaker went by Murph, which was his last name, and he was a survivor.  He shared his story and struggles with a room of over 500 people and the quiet that came over the ballroom was chilling.  He has a daughter who was old enough to start asking questions about her father’s past illness, and he answered them very candidly.  One day his daughter asked him if he could “keep her safe,” and Murph’s answer was no.  As I sat there pondering his answer and thinking about the unbiased nature with which cancer chooses it’s patients, I looked to my right and caught my daughter’s eye.  I then continue to look further right and made eye contact with my wife who was pregnant with our second child at the time.  That is when the immeasurable gravity of Murph’s words hit me.  I felt helpless.  If cancer wants to find it’s way into my life, I cannot stop it.  The helplessness was thankfully short lived.  In a matter of seconds, I realized the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, through Team in Training, is my way to keep my family and others “safe”.  This is what fuels my fire and keeps me involved.  See you out there.  GO TEAM!!!! 

     ~Brian Dubois

{Brian with his daughter Hunter}