While the majority of Iowa State students are enduring summer classes, working part-time jobs or enjoying the summer sun, a small group of students are training and raising money to run a marathon this fall to support leukemia patients.

Team In Training, an endurance program sponsored by the Leukemia Society of America, charges members of their group to train in honor of a local leukemia patient while raising funds to support research for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma.

The program provides a professional coach experienced in running marathons, nutritional advice, a training schedule and the support of other team members throughout the six months of training, said Jodi Mace, senior in journalism and mass communication.

“I wouldn’t have the faintest idea of how to train for a marathon without Team In Training,” she said.

Katie Kastner, senior in zoology, also is participating in the Team In Training program. She said she is excited to accomplish her longtime goal of finishing a marathon.

The team began training in May. Participants have training guidelines to follow during the week, and the team runs each Saturday, Kastner said.

“Right now, I’m running about four to six miles during the week and around 14 miles each time I go to a training run on a Saturday,” she said.

Kastner said running with a group of people helps her to finish.

The Mid-America team, which includes the Ames and Des Moines area, will run in the Canadian International Marathon in Toronto on Oct. 17. Each participant must raise $3,000 in order to participate. The team trains in honor of two Des Moines leukemia patients.

Mace said she has sent letters to friends and family asking for their support of the Leukemia Society of America.

“I have raised money through individual donations, and I hope to have a fund raiser in the fall,” she said.

The Leukemia Society prides itself in having 70 to 75 percent of all funds raised go directly to research and local patients, Kastner said.

Both Mace and Kastner got involved with Team In Training after receiving brochures in the mail. After attending an informational session, Mace said she was thrilled to fight for a worthwhile cause while satisfying her own personal ambitions.

“I have always dreamed of running a marathon, and I knew this was what I wanted to do,” she said. “Being a part of Team In Training gives me the chance to combine my passion for running with raising money for such a good cause.”

Kastner said once she raises the money and completes her training, there will be no turning back. Considering 97 percent of Team In Training members finish a marathon, she feels she has a standard to live up to.

The training and the fund raising help keep the runners focused on their ultimate goal of completing the race and helping leukemia patients.

“I think the race will be one of the most memorable and exciting times of my life,” Mace said. “Running 26.2 miles in Toronto, Canada with thousands of other people is definitely not something you do on a day-to-day basis.”

The team of about 35 central Iowans flies out of Des Moines on Oct. 15 and returns on Oct. 18. Representing the Leukemia Society’s Team In Training, they will be adding to the $75 million that the effort has raised since it began in 1988.

Mace said running a marathon is a celebration of human spirit, physical ability and mental endurance.

“For Team In Training members like myself, it is also a celebration of life,” she said.