WELCOME Thanks for coming to our website! Before we tell you about our next journey. We would like to send a heartfelt thank you to all of our amazing supporters, who donated towards our triathlon fundraiser last holiday season and helped us successfully raise over $11,000 towards cancer research. You guys are awesome! If you would like to read more about last year's race experience, check out our training blog from last year. For quite sometime, Tony and I had felt it in our hearts to make a difference not only our lives, but for the lives of others. Cancer had always been a very important and personal issue that we've been eager to support. So many individuals within our family and friends have been diagnosed with various types of cancer. But as time goes by more and more people within our circle are getting diagnosed and sometimes losing their battle. In 2004, Tony's mom lost her long battle with cancer. What started out as breast cancer, spread to her lymph nodes, brain, and bone and eventually to her lungs. It was a very emotionally challenging time for Tony and his family. As it hit closer to home, it fueled our desire to help find a cure and hopefully save lives. After successfully completing our first olympic distance triathlon with Team In Training, we wanted to continue fundraising and do more to give back. Since, that time both Tony and I have both become active volunteers and part of the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training supporting staff. This past summer I spent several months as team mentor, helping prepare new participants for their first triathlon. This past winter, Tony was training captain and helped organize and lead workouts for the triathlon team. Just as everyone has helped us complete our first triathlon, this time, we wanted to help them get to the finish line! WE ARE DOING IT AGAIN! It's much tougher to fundraise a second time around, but we continue to be even more inspired by the stories and challenges of current cancer patients and honorees. We are doing it again! To do our part and continue to help find a cure, not only are we volunteering our time as supporting staff, but we have also built up the guts to sign for a new challenge. We have decided to train for a long Ironman distance triathlon in order to raise money for leukemia and other cancers. I know it sounds crazy, and I still can't believe we signed up for this! But together we have set some high goals: swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles (all within the 17 hour time limit) in order to raise $16,000 towards cancer research. And if all goes well, by 11:59pm, on August 29, 2010, we will have successfully reached $16,000, completed our training, and we will have just crossed the finish line at Ironman Canada in Penticton, British Columbia. This is huge undertaking physically, mentally and financially and we will definitely your prayers and support for this! In the next couple of months we will be rigorously training and fundraising with fellow teammates from the Bay Area who are all doing this to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. As a team, we hope to raise several hundred thousand dollars this winter - with your help. Some have asked "why we train for a triathlon instead of to just simply raising the funds?" We are not only here to run, bike and swim, but we are here to inspire hope that even if the odds are against you, there can be a cure. The cancer society's Team In Training Program uses long distance sports as a symbol of endurance and hope. And by doing this triathlon we are fundraising and spreading awareness in hopes to help find a cure. We are also running in honor of loved ones. If you or someone close to you has been are affected by cancer, please us know as we would like to compete the triathlon in their honor. During this tough economy, we hope that you can open your hearts and help support this important cause generously. All donations are 100% tax deductible and whatever you can give, small or large, will make a difference. Every bit counts! So please help us achieve our goal of raising over $16,000. We deeply appreciate your help, well wishes and prayers. Please know that we will jump up and down, joyously wave our hands wildly in the air and carry your support across the finish line! Donate Now! =) Tony and Donella (Bernardo) Dimaano