PUBLISHED 09/25/2006
The Philanthropist: Bruce Cleland
In 1986, Bruce Cleland's daughter Georgia, then 2, was diagnosed with leukemia.
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| ©Patrik Giardino |
Cleland, a broker on Wall Street and the father of three, was raising money for his local Leukemia and Lymphoma Society chapter when he hit upon the idea of combining his fund-raising goals with his dream of running a marathon. He recruited aspiring runners and secured coaching in exchange for fund-raising. His original team of 38 raised $320,000 in the 1988 New York City Marathon. This year, Team in Training (TNT), which has trained 220,000 participants to complete marathons and other endurance events around the world, passed the $500 million mark. Cleland himself has raised $1 million, the most of any individual. Today, Cleland, 57, speaks at TNT pasta parties throughout the country, and lives in Towson, Maryland, with his family, including Georgia, who is 20 and cancer-free. "A lot of people who join TNT don't have an athletic background," he says, "but they have big hearts and amazing spirits." A bit like the founder himself.
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