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Courtesy Photo
Kim McMillion, right, and Angela Druin participated in this month's walk to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer. |
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EDITOR"S NOTE: We asked readers to write about their experiences in the recent Susan G. Komen for the Cure 3-Day 60-Mile Walk. Following are the two we received:My interest in participating in the Breast Cancer 3-Day in Washington began with wanting to help find a cure for a disease that affects everyone. I personally have not been affected by the disease, but chances are in my lifetime someone I know will be. My journey started by telling my good friend and soon to be teammate Kim McMillion that I had put the Breast Cancer 3-Day on my "bucket list." We went on the 3-Day website and signed up for an orientation meeting, received all the details and signed up. The minimum amount to participate in the walk is $2,300. We started by sending out e-mails and letters with very little response. Eventually, we had a bake sale, a bike wash and our big moneymaker was a "guest bartender" event. Our friends, family and local businesses donated money, beautiful baskets and great items to be auctioned at the event. Raising the minimum amount was very difficult in a weak economy. Our training was minimal at best. Kim and I both lead demanding lives. Kim is a wife, mother of two, a photographer and on the board of BAAA. I am a full-time student and have a part-time job. It was difficult to find time to walk long distances. Oct. 9 came very quickly. We arrived in Washington at 4:30 a.m. We made it through the first day of 20 miles -- sore, tired and weary. Returning to camp we found out we had to get our gear and set up a bright pink tent. We waited in line for the port-a-potty-style bathrooms, showers on the back of 18 wheelers, meals sitting on the ground and in a mess tent. We made it through the second day with rain, twice as sore and tired as the first day. The third day we were tired and sore, but determined to make it across the finish line. Sixty miles of horn honking, cheering and many thanks later we participated in the closing ceremony in front of the Lincoln Memorial, proud we had survived the Breast Cancer 3-Day so someone could survive breast cancer.
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