Marathon team honors leukemia patient

UNITED, WE RUN--Sue Ricigliano; Debbie Wagner, with her son, Tony; and Ann Stoutenburg, a research coordinator with the Department of Medicine's GI Unit, (left to right) make up "Tony's Team," a group formed to run a marathon in Tony's honor as part of the Leukemia Society's Team in Training program.

A s the dawning of a new millennium draws ever nearer, preparations that people are making range from planning a special New Year's Eve celebration to stockpiling survival supplies. But for Ann Stoutenburg, research coordinator with the Department of Medicine's GI Unit, millennial preparations include getting in shape for the run of her life--and the life a certain little boy.

On January 9, 2000, she will join a team from Western New York to run the Disney World Marathon in honor of 6-year-old Tony Wagner. Stoutenburg, together with friends Sue Ricigliano and Debbie Wagner (Tony's mom), will be running the marathon as part of the Leukemia Society's Team in Training program.

Team in Training is a national signature campaign that the Leukemia Society of America developed several years ago to raise funds for leukemia research and patient aid. The program trains people from beginners to experts to run or walk a 26.2-mile marathon in honor of a leukemia patient. Each participant is asked to raise a minimum amount of money; Stoutenburg, Ricigliano, and Wagner (known collectively as "Tony's Team") have committed to raising $9,000.

Tony Wagner was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) in March of 1998. In August of last year he became the first patient at Strong Memorial Hospital to receive an umbilical-cord blood transplant. His leukemia is now in remission, and he's looking forward to entering first grade in September.

Stoutenburg, Ricigliano, and Wagner started running together last fall. They set their sights on trying a marathon as a way to show support for all that Tony went through with his treatment. "Tony puts our everyday struggles into perspective. Whenever we feel too tired to train or feel like we're not going to reach our fund-raising goal, we just think about the challenges and struggles that Tony faces every day," they say. "To us, each mile of the marathon that we run represents the long road of treatment and recovery that leukemia patients must endure. Each step of the marathon is one step closer to finding a cure."

To support Tony's Team, checks, made payable to the Leukemia Society, can be sent via intramural mail to Stoutenburg at Box 646 or call her at x5-3894.