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closeWhen the hills test her, when the water scares her, when the road stretches too far before her, Pam Pottle falls back on these words: “We do it because we can, and others can’t.” That’s been the mantra for the Bellingham first-grade teacher and the other athletes in her Team in Training group, whose members tackled the Lake Padden Triathlon on Saturday to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. There were 36 of them from the Bellingham and Seattle area. Together, they raised $92,000 for the society. “Every dollar we raise is one dollar closer to the cure for blood-related cancer,” Pottle says.
About two weeks out from the next round of Team in Training informational meetings, the 48-year-old athlete talks about why she keeps signing back up for the program and how someone who isn’t a “typical” triathlete just completed her fourth triathlon.
Training history: Pottle became involved with Team in Training in June 2001.
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IF YOU GO The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training program will have informational meetings July 17 and 23 in Bellingham. Both meetings will run from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Room C at St. Luke’s Community Center, 3333 Squalicum Parkway.
Details: Call (888) 345- 4572, see www.teamintraining.org, or send an email to tntwa@lls.org.
She has since completed six full marathons, one halfmarathon and four Olympic-distance triathlons. Such triathlons are made up of a 1-mile swim, 25-mile bike ride and 6.2-mile run. Or, as Pottle jokes of her own abilities: “I call it a ‘wog,’ a walk and a jog.”
She also has served as a mentor since her second event. Mentors provide emotional support and fund-raising ideas to participants. Pottle prefers to call herself “head cheerleader.”
“Anything our participants need, we’re there to support them,” she says.
What is the program about? Team in Training is billed as the world’s largest endurance sports training program. Participants train to run or walk marathons, halfmarathons, triathlons or 100-mile bike rides in different parts of the United States and overseas. They receive personal training and coaching in exchange for raising money for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma research, and patient services.
The triathletes who competed at Lake Padden committed to raising a minimum of $1,800 each, for example.
Since 1988, more than 360,000 athletes have helped raise more than $850 million for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Why she does it: The first event, Pottle says, was for herself.
Since then, she’s done it for people like Sue Thees, a fivetime cancer survivor who lives on Camano Island. And survivor Kelsey Melvin, a Bellingham girl who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia — a cancer more commonly found in adults — just before her first birthday.
“One more thing we learn is that cancer doesn’t discriminate,” Pottle says of Melvin’s battle with cancer.
The girl, whose cancer was cured, is going into the fourth grade.
So when the training and the races push Pottle to her limit, she thinks about these “honored teammates,” as they’re known to Team in Training participants, to find the inspiration she needs.
“When these survivors share their stories, they’re so incredibly inspiring and heart-wrenching that it helps you refocus, to remember that this is so much bigger than yourself,” Pottle says. “Remember the reason, it’s not about you.’”
But the events are fun, right? Sure. Pottle loves the camaraderie, loves cheering on other Team in Training participants, and being cheered on in turn.
She loves the sense of accomplishment, even though she doesn’t fit her idea of what a triathlete looks like.
“I’m shorter in stature. I’m muscular. I’m kind of plump; it’s the bottom line,” Pottle says, laughing. “I’m a back-of-thepacker. I’m one of the slower folks.” No matter.
“Through my training I’m strong. I’m a strong woman who has turned into a triathlete,” she says.
And a marathoner, who’s supported others along the way.
With a little help … One of them is Thees, the five-time cancer survivor who was first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease at age 19.
Now 51, she’s also fought off a second bout with Hodgkin’s, precancerous cells in her thyroid, breast cancer and a kidney tumor.
Since joining Team in Training in January 2007, Thees has completed two triathlons — Lake Padden on Saturday and the Kings Trail in 2007, which Pottle also did.
Daunted by the thought of swimming a mile out in open water for the Kings Trail Triathlon in Maui, the two women decided to swim next to each other the whole way, stroke by stroke.
“Pam’s just the most amazing,” Thees says. “It’s like having your own personal cheerleader, all the time. She’s an energetic, amazing person.”
For her part, Pottle says she finds inspiration to race through others.
“I don’t know that I would have the discipline by myself. Together, we can achieve so much more. That really is important to me as an athlete.”
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