Posting from Lynne Sotak

To RJ, Megan, Matt R, and Matt B: Not only have I never run before, I have never used a computer. Since joining this team, I like to feel I have mastered them both. This experience for me has been life changing on so many levels. I can now run three miles! I never thought it was possible. Your talented staff has enabled me to accomplish this. The efforts you all have made to get the word out about how exercise and fitness can help to prevent a reoccurrence of this disease is remarkable. That is what makes breakthroughs for this cure happen. Through this experience, I have met so many inspiring women who I now can call my friends. Best of luck with your new business. God bless you all.
(Lynne Sotak--Team Survivor 2010)

Scranton Running Co. Team Survivor

I have logged a lot of miles over the years but never with a group of people with such motivation,enthusiasm,determination and goal driven attitudes as those involved in Team Survivor.Every training night there is a progression and sense of achievement.Thanks in part to RJ and Megan's ability to guide everyone in a manner where there have been no injuries ( only a few talking muscles) and in a short amount of time, running almost 3 miles!We have shared conversations ranging from our own personal breast cancer journeys to the meaning of a Brazillian Blowout.As we travel along the course ,discussions include loving Wendy's Chili (on a 90 degree day)Team Survivor running chant written by Marie Hubal,running in excersie pants without an adequate elastic waistband(thus holding up the pants along Wyoming Ave and down N.Washington)RJ's similarity to Forest Gump with all his followers and the introduction to the comfort of sports bras,and the taste of power bars.May our comradery and new found confidence be contagious to other survivors of any disease.Thank you Scranton Running Co. for this incredible opportunity.Every day we cross a new finish line!

Thank you, SRCo

I am so thankful to have the opportunity to be a part of SRCo's Team Survivor. From strangers to teammates (and friends) in such a short time has been amazing. Thanks to RJ and Megan, the ladies on this team have become a force to be reckoned with. We ran almost the entire Race for the Cure 5k race route tonight and still had the breath to keep on talking and laughing after we were finished. (Some even had the breath to talk the entire way through! -- and they know who they are.) Just kidding! We have become quick friends through these training sessions. What started out as a "Tuesday night" adventure has evolved to Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday. I never would have thought I could do what I have been accomplishing these last three weeks -- thank you so much, RJ and Megan! Your enthusiasm keeps us going -- we hope to make you proud! And thank you, Scranton Running Company for bringing us all together.

Donna Rupp (8-year breast cancer survivor)

Team Survivor: An Introduction

The Scranton Running Company is pleased to introduce our Team Survivor, an incredible group of women with whom we couldn't be happier nor more privileged to know. Each is a breast cancer survivor. Their goals are varied, but the target is the same: Scranton's Race for the Cure on September 11.

Surviving cancer hasn't defined who these women are, but it certainly has contributed a great deal to their current makeup. When we sat down with these women at the outset of this program in mid-July, in many cases goals were hesitantly stated but there was a common theme: they knew they needed to improve their physical condition and commit to a fitness program.

Some of our Pink Ladies just wanted to walk the entire race. Some wanted to run a mile or two of it. Others were simply looking for an excuse to start working out again. The intent was for them to meet once per week with us on Scranton's new Rivertrail for a group workout. This evolved into 3 workouts per week with their coach and inspirational leader, SRCo's RJ Stiltenpole. More than a month into the endeavor, most are running up to two miles at a time. The progress has wildly exceeded anyone's expectations. These women have shown all the while a giddy grit, which has been infectious.

Some of them will be sharing their experiences here, so check back frequently for their inspirational stories along the way to Sep 11.

Godspeed,
SRCo.