Duo treks 39 miles in Avon Walk.
By John Tredrea
Hopewell Valley Central High School alumnae Katelyn and Megan DiMuzio trekked the equivalent of a marathon and a half on April 26 and 27, raising $5,000 in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.
The walk started and ended at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The first day’s walk, which was 26 miles long, ended at a middle school in Rockville, Md. After sleeping in a tent in the middle of the softball field the night of the 26th, the DiMuzio sisters hiked 13 more miles to get back to the National Mall.
There were over 1,200 marchers, 147 of them breast cancer survivors, Katelyn said. "It was a very emotional weekend, especially for the survivors who participated," she said. "Every three minutes, the Avon crew handed out a sash to one of the participants, indicating how frequently this disease strikes."
The walk began at 7:30 a.m. on the 26th. "We walked through much of Washington, D.C., passing by George Washington University and Georgetown," Katelyn said. "We wove through many neighborhoods, finally completing our day’s journey at Tilden Middle School in Rockville, Md."
When they woke at about 7 a.m. on the 27th, the sisters could feel all of the 26 miles they had walked the previous day. "It was quite difficult to start moving again," Megan said. "We had blisters, sore feet and muscle aches everywhere. But we had committed ourselves to finishing. That afternoon, we arrived at the National Mall the same place where opening ceremonies had taken place to thousands of people cheering us on. It was a beautiful day, unlike the rainy day we’d had the day before. It couldn’t have been more perfect. It was a very memorable weekend. It didn’t matter how much it hurt to do the walk."
Katelyn said: "My sister and I signed up to participate in this crusade because we feel something has to be done. Breast cancer is too prevalent in our society for us to sit back and watch it take more lives."
She added: "The Avon Foundation did a wonderful job organizing the event, ensuring that everyone was well-hydrated, well-fed and as well-rested as possible."
Katelyn and Megan grew up in Pennington and graduated from Hopewell Valley Central High School in 1995 and 1998 respectively. Katelyn works for Jasna Polana in Lawrence, Megan for American Express in New York City. Their parents, Tom and Carol DiMuzio, now live in Hopewell Township.

