Letter from Tom Zayko received January 31st, 2010

Hi Chris,

I have just registered for the Lava Man Tri on June 20th. This will be my second Lava Man race (yes, I was one of the 160 brave souls who finished in the rain last year)!

In the summer of 2008, I decided to enter my first triathlon at age 64. My motivation was due to my brother-in-law, Lance, who was at the time dying from mesothelioma, a lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Lance was a very active person all his life, but by the summer of 2008, he could not even walk across a room unaided. So I decided to enter the NJ State Triathon at Mercer County Park, and participate as best as I could, since Lance could not.

Since that first triathlon I have completed three more. For 2010 I plan to compete in at least three more, including the the Lava Man on June 20th. I dedicate each tri to Lance and frequently think of him as I compete, particularly when I feel I can't finish.

Since June 20th is Father's Day, Lance's two children and Lance's wife will be coming down from Florida to cheer me on (and my two daughters, Maggie and Kate) who will be entering their first triathlon. The three of us will be participating in Lance's honor, and each of us will be emailing our friends to tell them about our entry in the Lava Man, and to ask for a contribution to be passed on to the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF).

MARF is a national non-profit dedicated to ending the suffering caused by mesothelioma by funding meso research, by educating patients, and by advocating for federal mesothelioma funding. Since mesothelioma affects "only" 3,000 Americans each year, mesothelioma is not as well known as other forms of cancer, and therefore the small "market" does not provide enough profit potential for pharmaceutical companies to undertake the financial risk to develop effective medications. Needless to say, private contributions play a key part in the success of MARF's purpose.

So on behalf of Lance Ruble, I want to ask you whether there a possibility that MARF can be included as part of your Multisport Charities? You probably receive dozens of compelling requests similar to mine, but I wanted to reach out to you and ask. I appreciate your consideration and look forward to your response.

PS. If you need more information on MARF, the official website is www.curemeso.org

Thanks,
Tom

Letter from Tom's daughters

Hi Chris,

Thanks so much for getting back to us. We are so grateful that you are willing to include mesothelioma on the site. We are trying to bring more awareness to this disease- and by posting this information you are really helping us in a much broader way. Our Uncle would have loved what Jersey Shore Multi-Sports is all about and would have gotten such a kick out of watching us participate. We are most definitely doing this in his honor.
His daughter Leigh has created a website below that you can use as a link. We will be adding more information about the LavaMan triathlon over the next week.
this website speaks of Lance and shares personal information while providing info about the disease.

http://mesotheliomamission.com/

The MARF website is:
http://www.curemeso.org

We are very much looking forward to our Family Triathlon and appreciate your support!

See you in June,
Kate & Maggie Zayko

2/12

Chris:   This is Tom Zayko's niece, Erica Ruble.  I just want to extend my deepest gratitude to you for supporting mesothelioma research in honor of my dad, Lance S. Ruble.  Our family is committed to a life long contribution to fighting this disease.  Your support helps bring awareness to an orphan disease and your contribution helps us to search for a cure.    Our family thanks you for your generous spirit and is looking forward to meeting you in June.   Best Regards, ~Erica Ruble