By Matt Crownover
Chronicle staff

     Four Tonasket residents are running with a purpose - to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
     Leon Alden, Lisa Spear, Mary Pat Villalva and Michelle Hardesty have been training to run the Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon and Half Marathon June 21 in Anchorage, Alaska.
     The idea came about at Whistler's Family Restaurant, Tonasket, where Villalva works as a waitress. Alden introduced Villalva to the idea and she was all for it, they recalled.
     "I've enjoyed running since I was in high school," said Villalva, who has run one marathon in the past, the Newport Marathon in Newport, Ore., in 2001. "So when Leon told me about it, I was ecstatic."
     Villalva then ran the idea by Spear, who is the preschool teacher of Villalva’s 5-year-old daughter, Kelli. Spear expressed interest and was able to recruit Hardesty, who also has a child in Spear's class.
     "Two of the reasons I want to do this is because I want to be able to help donate money to help leukemia patients and also I want to challenge myself," said Hardesty, who grew up in Oroville before moving to Moscow, Idaho, to attend the University of Idaho.
     The four have been training since February with Team in Training, which began in 1988 when Bruce Cleland formed a team that raised money and trained to run the New York City Marathon in honor of Cleland's daughter, Georgia, a leukemia survivor.
     Team in Training is the world's largest endurance sports training program and since 1988, more than 360,000 participants have helped raise more than $850 million for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma research and patient services.
     To participate in the marathon, the four need to raise $1,400 apiece. The majority of their donations have come from family members and friends thus far.
     The event has a close impact on Villalva, whose sister-in-law's sister, Michelle Harrison, was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia.
     "My heart broke when I found out about her, I just felt so bad," she said. "So I just felt like it (the marathon) was perfect timing."
     Alden, who is volunteer pastor at the Tonasket Community Church, also has seen the effect of the disease. Years back, Alden said he witnessed a 16-year-old student in his Sunday school class "bleed out" with complications related to leukemia.
     Alden is the veteran marathoner in the foursome. The upcoming marathon will be his ninth, all of which came after his 60th birthday. He began with the Royal Victoria Marathon in Victoria, B.C., in 2000.
     His last marathon was the San Diego Rock n' Roll Marathon in 2006.
     "I subscribed to Runners World magazine and just decided one day that I was going to go for it," Alden said of his first marathon.
     Training consists of running four weekdays individually and as a group on Saturdays.
     According to Spear, the group takes longer runs around town on Saturdays.
     Alden said the group is focusing on building endurance to avoid potential complications on race day.
     "The goal is to get happily and safely across the finish line," he said.
     Being a preschool teacher, Spear said her intent is to help the lives of kids.
     "Leukemia is a disease that affects children and that's my main purpose, to help kids who have a different childhood," she said.
     All four are running with a purpose, especially Alden, who said he doesn't see an end in the near future.
     "I enjoy running and as long as the body holds up, I'm going to continue to do so," he said. "What keeps me going is the cause."