Time to Join Team in Training, Kids. No Excuses.

It’s that time of year! Once again, the purple-shirted cult members of Team in Training are fanning out across the country and across Facebook and Twitter to recruit new members. And this is the year you will join. You will go to an introductory meeting and be inspired (and maybe cry) by the mission of Team in Training and you will get a purple shirt and you will sign up for a race.

A bunch of us at work sign up every year, and every year we try to get more people to run. This year, the coordinator asked me to write an email to be sent out to all of our coworkers in order to cajole and/or guilt them into running. I thought I’d share a modified version with you all.

So. Here are 10 reasons to join Team in Training.

1. To raise money for Team in Training, which in turn is part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Money raised goes to fight crime. No! Not crime. Cancer. Sorry. This is a very worthy cause and TNT/LLS fundraising efforts have helped to make great strides in the fight against blood cancers.

2. To raise awareness for TNT and the fight against blood cancer. People will see you in that awesome purple shirt and say, “Hey, what’s going on with that awesome purple shirt?” You will then tell them.

3. To get in shape. Let’s face it. You blew your New Year’s resolution on Jan. 24 this year. Again.

4. To get in shape without hurting yourself. One of the best things about TNT (aside from curing cancer) is that with all that fundraising comes professional coaching. Professional coaches, unlike your friend Jerry who ran cross-country in high school, will teach you about breathing, pacing, hydration, nutrition, injury prevention, recovery and taking your time!

5. To meet new people. Does it ever bug you that you’ve had the same boring friends for most of your life? Wouldn’t you like some new ones–perhaps friends who don’t know about that thing you did that one summer after that horrible break-up?

6. A trip to the Hamptons or San Francisco or Dublin or … somewhere. We’re running the Hamptons Half Marathon. As the name implies, it takes place in the Hamptons. Not a bad place to run!

7. You get a racing singlet from TNT before the race. A racing singlet is technical running jargon for “tank-top.”

8. You also might get a technical t-shirt from the race and maybe even a medal. “Technical t-shirt” is technical running jargon for a shirt that doesn’t turn into five pounds of soaked sweat but instead whisks away all that moisture. “Medal” is technical running jargon for a thing you can wear around your neck the night after you finish the race and never again.

9. There’s an after party! (In fact, there are multiple after parties.)

10. You get to brag that you finished a half marathon (or full marathon) and that you did so while doing good for a great organization.

Of course, you may have some objections – or, as my mama calls them, excuses.

Five Possible Excuses:

1. I can’t possibly raise that much money. Balderdash! Of course you can. Team in Training will help you meet those goals. And Facebook and Twitter and other such things have made fundraising so much easier than it used to be. (Just don’t go hitting up my donors. They’re mine! MINE I TELL YOU!)

2. I can’t possibly run that far. Poppycock! Do you have two feet and can walk from your desk to the coffee machine without major pain? Then, in the capable hands of Team in Training, you’ll be able to finish a half marathon. These folks know exactly what they’re doing when it comes to coaching and motivation.

3. I’m too slow. So what? Who cares? It’s not a race. Oh, wait. It is. But you know what I mean. Besides, unless you violate laws of physics and somehow run backward in time, I can guarantee that there will be at least one other person on a Team In Training team who will be slower than you. Heck, the Brooklyn crew typically has a dedicated group of run-walkers (this is highly technical running jargon for people who finish a race by both running and walking).

4. I’m worried about leaving work to make practice on Tuesdays. Practices isn’t until 7 p.m. Even if you practice in Brooklyn and leave a Manhattan office at 6 p.m., that’s typically plenty of time. Besides, if someone gives you the stink-eye for leaving at 6 on a Tuesday, tell them you are going to cure cancer. And this shouldn’t even be an issue in other parts of the country where you just hop in your car and drive to practice!

5. I’m, uh … Yeah, you’re fresh out of excuses.

So get running!