2 area runners hope to raise $8,000 for leukemia-lymphoma research
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Lisa Mick of Fond du Lac, left, and Shannon Buerger of Campbellsport train on their six-mile route in preparation for the Alaska marathon on June 23. The two are trying to raise more than $8,000 for leukemia-lymphoma research and patient care.
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Posted April 26, 2007
2 area runners hope to raise $8,000 for leukemia-lymphoma research
By Dorothy Bliskey
Special to The Reporter
Lisa Mick is working hard to shape up for her third marathon.
The 36-year-old Fond du Lac woman and a friend, Shannon Buerger, 34, of Campbellsport, are running 26 miles in Alaska on June 23 for a good cause. The two hope to raise more than $8,000 for leukemia-lymphoma research. The disease took the life of Mick's father-in-law, Thomas Mick, 16 years ago.
As a wife, mother of two young sons, and sole owner of a landscape business, Mick fits in most of her training on nights and weekends. Her workouts include 14-mile runs/walks through city streets and back roads.
Buerger a single mother of three who works full-time as an administrative assistant in Mayville is running in honor of all children who have lost the battle or who are fighting leukemia-lymphoma.
"Being a mother of three healthy children, I can't imagine what it would be like to have a child with cancer. I am truly blessed," Buerger said. "Why wait to help others until it affects you personally?"
Tom Mick remembered
Mick began raising money for leukemia-lymphoma after she and her husband, James Mick, had their first son in 1997.
"I missed my father-in-law Tom for my son," Mick said. "I know he would have loved being a grandpa He was such a kid himself."
Lisa met Tom Mick while dating her husband James in 1988. Tom died the year after she married his son in 1992.
"Tom was a social worker who placed special needs children in loving, adoptive homes," Mick explained. "He was quiet, loved singing in the St. Patrick Church choir, stamp collecting, card games, golf and was all-time quarterback with the neighborhood kids. I cherish the short time I had with Tom.
"I know my boys would have loved being with their Grandpa Tom," Mick continued. "I don't want others to have to mourn the loss of a loved one if something can be done about it."
Shaping up together
Mick and Buerger spend nearly all their spare time preparing for the marathon as the event draws closer. The training regimen is getting more time consuming and difficult to fit in with their busy work schedules and family commitments. Fundraising efforts also eat up a lot of their time.
Until recently the two were training separately.
"Lisa doesn't work during the winter months, so she would go to the gym while I was at work," Buerger said. "So at night I would venture onto my treadmill to get my miles in. Now that the weather has changed I do 95 percent of my training with Lisa. She is my biggest supporter."
Together the two are running and walking up to five miles every weeknight and 14 miles on weekends. As the marathon draws near, the workout schedule designed by the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society intensifies, taking them away from their families for longer chunks of time. Eventually they will log 21 miles on the weekend.
Buerger credits grandparents who care for her children ages 2, 8 and 10 as instrumental in helping her carry out her marathon mission.
"They are great and I couldn't do it without them," she said.
Mick says her husband James doesn't want her to participate in the marathon every year because of the time it takes away from the family. However, he is her biggest supporter.
"He helps with the fundraising and has taken a few five-mile walks with me when Shannon can't," Mick said. "He doesn't preach when I complain about sore muscles or frustrations with fundraising. He's my biggest and best supporter, and I couldn't do it without his faith or belief in me."
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