The Kimberly Brigati Wang Grant for AML Research - that has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

You can help make this a reality by joining Team Kim! Team in Training (TnT), a group endurance event fundraising program for the leukemia and lymphoma society (LLS), helps to get people ready for walking and running half and full marathons, triathlons and other events. Our friend Deanne discovered that we can get a research grant named in Kim's honor if we collectively raise $100,000 on behalf of TnT.

The proposal:

Step 1: Sign up with TnT: I've never signed up with TnT before. As most of you know, I'm a bit of a lone runner, enjoying my own thoughts on a run. But I am so excited to do this because I know how much Kim would've loved this idea and will be signing up for the marathon. Once you do this, email Deanne [deanneme [at] gmail [dot] com] so she can link your individual registration to Team Kim.

Step 1b: Get your official Team Kim Green wristband!

Step 2: Raise money and train: I'm not sure what's harder, raising money for charity (I think the minimum is $1800) or putting the miles into train (a peak weekly mileage of 45 is typical, I once tried to do 70, and guys like Bernat do 100). The struggle will make the experience worthwhile. I'm buying the champagne when we raise >$100,000 and put in collectively enough miles to circle the earth.

Step 3: Run the Nike Women's (Half) Marathon in SF on Oct 19, 2014: So why the Nike in SF? It puts on one of the most amazing race experiences and the lottery is more difficult to get into than the New York Marathon. The lottery chances are very slim and it makes sense - where else do you get to see San Francisco in all its glory, receive a one of a kind finisher's necklace from Tiffany's (Kim loved wearing her medal from last year), drink champagne and receive chocolates from SF Firefighters dress in tuxes? This race is amazing! You will be running the streets of SF and the Golden Gate Bridge with 24,000 of the strongest, most bad ass, inspired women out there and maybe 1000 guys. Though you can also choose to do a separate race in conjunction with TnT and still designate your fundraising to count towards our goal, I would love nothing more than to toe the start line in October with all of you lovelies.

I think that this is one of the coolest ways to remember Kim for the following reasons:

Kim loved to run - Kim was going to run the Nike Women's Half Marathon (which I forgot itself supports LLS, raising $170MM in ten years) in San Francisco, last year before she found out her AML had relapsed in August. I ran it in her stead. I think she would have loved to run it and this is one way we could do that for her. Before relapsing on Day 89 following her stem cell transplant, Kim was most excited thinking about how she could get her Hickman line out on day 100 and begin running again. Kim even confided to me that she would've loved to run a marathon one day.

AML Research - Kim had hope that progress in AML research would help her beat leukemia and was enthusiastically researching clinical trials, participated in every research study she was eligible for and even convinced the head of the hospital to fast track AML clinical trials at Stanford. She was not sanguine about her own possibility but was hopeful that at least others could benefit from the research. This is a direct way to honor her desire to aid research and help others.

Community and friends - Kim loved everyone. Family and friends were her number one priority. She believed in the strength of community, working together and being with one another. By participating in this, not only do we get to meet new faces (as part of TnT) we get to physically come together to honor Kim this Fall, that following the celebration of life, we can still continue the legacy that Kim left behind, that is, to live life fully and in the moment, to breathe to the depth of our souls and do something meaningful and fun together.

In loving memory of

Kimberly B Wang

Remembering Kim

Celebration Pictures

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Kim's Celebration of life

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Love

Kim

Never without a smile

Steven's Dream

Kim was one of the animators who worked on this project