By Lisa Merolla, Staff Writer
Four local women are preparing for the longest and most meaningful walk of their lives.
This October in Philadelphia, they are walking 60 miles over three days to raise money and awareness for breast cancer.
The women — Rebecca Smith, Irene Wernke, Amanda Boan and Catherine Myers — are participating in Susan G. Komen’s Breast Cancer 3-Day event. A nationwide program, walks are being held in 14 different cities the weekend of Oct. 17.
Ms. Smith, a 30-year-old Stockton resident, said no one in her family has been a victim of breast cancer. Rather, her team is driven by its desire to do something now before the women are more directly affected.
”Before we have to walk, we’re going to walk,” she said. “It’s kind of like a pre-emptive strike.”
Ms. Smith’s team, named Safe at 2nd, was alarmed by breast cancer statistics, which predict one in eight women will be diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime.
”If you look at your friends and family, that means one of you, statistically, will get it,” Ms. Smith added.
The women realized the cancer was so widespread when they started raising money for the walk. Ms. Wernke, a 23-year-old West Amwell resident, said the more she spoke to people, the more breast cancer stories she heard.
”As soon as I started calling for donations, almost every other person knew someone with breast cancer,” she said. “It’s amazing and disturbing how many people have been affected by it.”
To partake in the event, each walker has to donate a minimum of $2,200. Safe at 2nd is taking various actions to meet that goal.
They began by sending out e-mails to ask for donations. The team also sold pink ribbon items, including bracelets, socks and rubber ducks, during Lambertville’s Shad Festival at the end of April.
Now the women are organizing a silent auction to be held at the Lambertville Station in August.
The money raised is directed towards breast cancer research — 85 percent will go to the Susan G. Komen foundation and 15 percent will be given to the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund.
Since Breast Cancer 3-Day began in 2003, the event has raised more than $220 million.
In addition to raising funds, the Safe at 2nd women are training for the walk, which will average about 20 miles a day. They are using the training schedule provided by the 3-Day program, which recommends four days of walking, two days of exercises such as bike riding and weight lifting and one day of rest.
”We’re slowly building up to it,” Ms. Smith said.
The women have been walking all over the area, including the towpath, the streets of Lambertville and Washington Crossing State Park. Ms. Boan, a 25-year-old Newton, Pa., resident, said the program has been going well.
”Training has been fun; getting together with friends, going to parks and being outside earlier than we normally would have,” she said.
Ms. Boan recently found out her half-sister had breast cancer, and that diagnosis has been one of her motivators for the walk.
”I want to help knock it out before anyone else gets it,” she said.
Ms. Myers, a 25-year-old Lambertville resident, was the one who originally convinced her friends to participate in the 3-Day event. She said the women recently attended a “get started” meeting sponsored by 3-Day, where walkers prepared for the upcoming event.
”They showed a motivational movie,” Ms. Myers said. “After that, I was psyched, ready to go.”
She added she is excited to meet new people at the walk.
The 3-Day event supplies tents for the walkers to sleep in as well as rest stations along the way to provide meals, snacks and restrooms. Cheering stations also are positioned along the route where friends and family members can encourage the walkers.
The walk will conclude with a closing ceremony.
”They don’t tell you what it’s like because they want it to be a surprise for first-time walkers,” Ms. Smith said.
People interested in making a donation to the Safe at 2nd team can go to the Web site — 08.the3day.org — click on the “donate now” link, then search under the women’s names or their group name.
In addition, the group is looking for store and restaurant owners to donate their products for the silent auction in August. Questions for the women can be e-mailed to [email protected].
”To finish on the last day knowing how much money we raised will be huge,” Ms. Wernke said.
