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When Master Sgt. Ed Litteral runs the 26.2-mile Honolulu Marathon Sunday, thoughts of his six-year-old daughter will spur him to the finish line. HONOLULU MARATHON
Running to
save lives
The father of a child with
Memory spurs team
leukemia joins other volunteers
in raising millions racing for a cure
Traffic advisoryBy Helen Altonn
Star-BulletinKatie has acute lymphocytic leukemia and her dad is helping to raise money for a cure.
"I am running for her life," he said. "I like to think I'm doing it for all kids with leukemia -- and all adults with leukemia, too."
Litteral is acting command sergeant major with the 411th Engineer Battalion at Fort Shafter and one of 1,600 Team in Training runners participating in the marathon.
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society organizes 200 volunteer teams annually to run in more than 40 accredited marathons across the country.
Another 40 teams are organized to cycle a century ride of 100 miles.
Team in Training Honolulu Marathon runners have raised $6 million for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to battle leukemia -- $230,000 for each mile.
Wearing purple singlets, they will be easily identified.About 80 percent are first-time runners, such as Litteral, said Liz Olsen, society spokeswoman in Hawaii.
She said the Hawaii team of 40 members is the largest fielded here in the leukemia program. They have raised about $60,000 in six months for research and patient services.
They'll be running for Katie and four other Hawaii patients, called "honored teammates," Olsen said.
In the 13-year history of Team in Training, she said the volunteers have raised $235 million to fight leukemia and lymphoma.
"They're not in it because they're running professionals or elite trained athletes. They're in it for a cause. It propels them all the way to the finishing line."
Katie must go through two and a half years of chemotherapy to treat the disease, but she is "doing fantastically," Litteral said. "You almost wouldn't know she was as sick as she is if I didn't tell you."
Litteral and his wife, Claire, were stationed here about a year ago, coming from the East Coast. She works with the lunch program at Katie's Pearl Harbor Elementary School. They have two older children in college in Maryland.
"We were here a short while when she (Katie) was diagnosed," he said.
She was being treated for what was believed to be a sinus infection and it got progressively worse, he said.
He was playing Santa Claus at his unit's Christmas party last year and his wife planned to stop by but Katie didn't want to go, he said. "We got her an appointment (with the doctor) the very next day."She was suffering from general malaise because one lung had collapsed and the other had partially collapsed, he said. A mass was growing in her chest.
Chemotherapy was started within hours after she was diagnosed with leukemia, Litteral said. "They said if they didn't shrink the mass in her chest, she would probably die of respiratory failure in her sleep that night.
"The feeling ... it's like taking a baseball bat and smacking you between the eyes."
But the outlook is positive. Because of research discoveries, Katie has a good chance of full recovery.
"We're so close to a cure," said Gretchen Cates, director of the San Diego/Hawaii chapter's Team in Training Program. "We've seen particular success with childhood leukemia."
She said there's an 80 percent chance that children with Katie's type of leukemia will survive, compared with only four percent 30 years ago.
Katie plays like a normal kid now with few limitations, her father said.
Ocean swimming is out, but she can go into a chlorinated pool. She takes ice-skating lessons and loves hula, he said.
Litteral started a little running club in his office and trains with a group at lunch and on Saturdays. He said he "owes lots of people 26 miles of running" because many donors have contributed to the Leukemia Society to support his run.
Residents wanting to join Litteral in the Team in Training program may call 1-800-482-TEAM or visit www.teamintraining.org.
Facts about leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma: About bone marrow
and blood cancers
These are cancers of the blood and bone marrow, characterized by uncontrolled growth of malignant blood cells.
Source: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Louella Blackdeer of Wisconsin took up marathon running to escape the demons in her life, and fell in love with Hawaii while participating in last year's Honolulu Marathon. A runner was killed
by a drunken driver;
now, friends and family
lace up in her honorBy Pat Gee
Star-BulletinThe Native American teen-ager was determined to come back to run in this year's race whether or not her team, the Ho-Chunk Youth Marathon Runners, returned with her. But Blackdeer, 15, was killed by a drunken driver in May, and her team is returning to run in her memory this Sunday.
Louella's mother, Lani Blackdeer, also the team's assistant coach, said the group of 9 runners will pay tribute to the teen-ager and cast a lei out to sea in her memory during their stay. Sheena Kasames will run the race on her sister's behalf.
Team members will be wearing a white tank top with a logo on the front that reads "RADD," which stands for Runners Against Drunk Driving. The Ho-Chunk Nation seal will be on the back of the shirts, she said.
"After she died, it seemed real important to make something good come out of it," said Blackdeer, who came to Honolulu with the team. The team members want to "make a difference in their lives and the lives of others."
Kasames and another sister, Nellie, took up running a month after Louella died so they could run the marathon in her place.
"I kept picturing myself bringing that medal back to Louella," Kasames said. Nellie, who is not participating in the marathon, and Kasames found it hard to train for the sport in freezing weather and because they've never run long distances before.
"It takes a lot to get out there," she said.
She is "very nervous" as she faces her first race; her greatest fear is not finishing because of a physical breakdown.
Although Kasames is skeptical of metaphysical signs of her sister's spirit, her mother pointed out "something magical on the picture" taken of her as she completed her first 20 miles in training. "It was like a cloud right beside me. Mom pointed it out" as Louella's spirit, Kasames recalled.
Blackdeer said the man responsible for killing Louella and three other teen-agers heading home from a prom also died in the head-on collision. He had been convicted twice before for driving drunk and had one citation pending.
"I know he had heard the warnings of driving drunk. Why didn't he listen? Why does this happen over and over again? What can we do?" Blackdeer said.
Her daughter had been struggling with peer pressures and insecurities six years ago, but "her world changed" when she started running.
"She was a natural. She could have made the Olympics," Blackdeer said.
The team was supposed to run in Paris this year, but decided to come here instead because Louella "absolutely loved Hawaii and wanted to go back," Blackdeer said.
Police are advising motorists to avoid the Honolulu Marathon route Sundayand prepare for delays while traffic lanes and streets are closed to make way for runners. Prepare for road delays
"If they're caught (in marathon traffic), they have to be patient," said Capt. Bryan Wauke of the traffic division. Because it's a timed race, officers will have to let the participants through.
However, officers know that drivers also have to reach their destinations, Wauke said. "We'll do our best to get them through."
Traffic will be restricted along the marathon course from 1 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Some bus routes also may be canceled or detoured.
Motorists should expect the following streets to be closed or restricted until all marathon participants have passed:
Star-Bulletin staff