By Mary Brienza, Staff Writer
Kendall Park resident Laura Creighton, 47, went on a 1,000 walk from Paris, France to Naples, Italy without ever leaving New Jersey by using her imagination and then used that walk as a way to raise money to combat multiple sclerosis.
Ms. Creighton said in telephone interview this week, that she will walk a mile on that walk’s “victory lap” for each dollar donated through the website http://tiny.cc/curingMultipleSclerosis , which is a National Multiple Sclerosis Society site affiliated with the Chesapeake Challenge 51-kilometer MS walk for a cure taking place June 11-12.
She said she would also donate the profits from her online Amazon.com used bookshop to the cause as well.
Ms. Creighton said she has been doing the MS walk for a couple years, and that she is on a team.
Multiple sclerosis is a neurological disease that affects the central nervous system by damaging the myelin surrounding the nerves in the brain, optic nerves or spine which can affect the messages coming from the brain and spinal cord, which reduces bodily functions, according to the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America website.
”Small donations are fine, of course, but I’m hoping to find a wise-guy out there that will think a $1,000 donation will make me regret my promise,” Ms. Creighton said. “I probably would, but it would be well worth it.”
During the fundraiser, how much money raised will determine how many miles she will walk, she said. She said she just started fundraising and has raised $37 so far and did not think of fundraising until she had hit the end of the 1,000-mile walk.
Ms. Creighton said she started the walk with her friend, Princeton resident Dena Hoffman, who later had to drop out when she was preparing to become pregnant. Ms. Hoffman is currently expecting twin girls, Ms. Creighton said.
Ms. Creighton said she met Ms. Hoffman while working for the Dow Jones marketing department, and that they have been friends for about 20 years.
They go on vacations together, but were unable to go on a trip this year, so they invented a vacation, Ms. Creighton said.
”(We created a) vacation in our heads,” Ms. Creighton said.
Ms. Creighton said the idea was thought up on a beach, and the walk was started on August 1. She said she wanted to walk somewhere more exciting than New Jersey, and used Google maps for every mile walked.
She said she finished the 1,000 miles on April 14 and during the victory lap she added another 23 miles which takes her “just passed Mt. Vesuvius.”
She said that the amount of miles during the walk depended on the weather and that on a nice day she would walk between five and 10 miles and that in the winter she walked between two and 2.5 miles in a day.
During the walk, she said she learned a lot about geography and history, and ate cuisine from the areas she covered using recipes she found online. She mostly used Google applications during the walk, she said.
She said she blogged about her imaginary trip and put her progress in posts on Facebook.
Posting her status and updates on the walk kept her going, she said.
She also said she wants to raise more money, is really hoping for a $1,000 donation, is looking online for another trek to go on and is hoping to inspire more people as well.
”(There has to be) more coach potatoes I can lure off the couch,” Ms. Creighton said.

