“I did the Marine Corps Marathon this last October for Team in Training. I ran in honor of my cousin Byron,” explained Esther Lofgren, 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist in Rowing, at Tuesday morning’s LLS/Nike Team In Training Women’s Half Marathon training kickoff at the athletic brand’s 
Georgetown store.
Lofgren, a Team in Training alumni, served as the keynote speaker for the event, which brought together some of DC’s top female business leaders serving on LLS’s Nike Host Committee. Over the next few months, the group will raise funds and awareness for the LLS mission to find cures and ensure access to treatments for blood cancer patients; They have set a goal of raising $1 million collectively.
“My sport at the Olympics was not at all running. It was rowing,” said Lofgren. “But I told him that I wanted to be there for him in whatever way that I could. I was going to rally his friends together and run this marathon.”
“As an athlete, you don’t usually find yourself without motivation to train, and this was one of the most motivating things. You have a purpose… It was so motivating to have something like this to run for.”
A dozen or so teams, like Team Nadine (Accenture), Team Tyler, Team Out for Blood and others have already registered and are accepting members. New teams are also still being formed and Nike is offering group runs with schedules available on its local Facebook page.
