Hello fellow golfers! My handicap hasn't been coming down and I've been riding in the cart a little too much, so I thought I better run a marathon. Well, I didn't exactly happen like that, but, too late now, I'm in the middle of training for the San Diego Rock 'n Roll marathon on June 1st, 2003 to raise money for a cure of leukemia and other blood-born cancers.

With the help of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and their Team in Training program I find myself up and out the door at 6:00AM headed for the track or the desert in beautiful Las Cruces, New Mexico to get in my mileage before I wake up. This is a way I can make a difference for the 107,000 individuals who will be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, and myeloma this year. Like Ellie Williamson 7, from here in Las Cruces, who was diagnosed with leukemia two years ago and is currently in remission thanks to continued chemotherapy treatments. Her condition is a motivating force behind my personal mission.

For those who are unfamiliar with these diseases, they result from an acquired (not inherited) genetic injury to the DNA of a single cell, which becomes abnormal (malignant) and multiplies continuously. The accumulation of malignant cells interferes with the body's production of healthy blood cells and makes the body unable to protect itself against infections. The older you get the higher your chances are of acquiring the disease, but it does stricken people of all ages and walks of life.

Thanks to research, the survival rate has improved steadily from 4% in 1960 to almost 80% for some forms of the disease. Please help in making this percentage 100%, and like polio, a thing of the past in the lives of current and future patients.

With this mission, I won't be three-putting as many greens for a while, and fellow golfers will be relieved not to hear me say 'FORE!' as often.

Thank you visiting. Tell a friend. Dudley