September 22, 2004
Cancer battle makes strides
Local women walk 60 miles and raise more than $6,000
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
The heat, sweat and dust did not dent.
Three days, 60 miles and just under 2,000 walkers comprised the Breast Cancer 3-Day 2004 in the Twin Cities.
Two area residents, Connie Youker and Ceil Kadrovach, participated in the walk, which wound through Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., on the weekend of September 10-12.
Combined, the pair raised more than $6,300 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The money will help fund breast cancer research to find a cure for a disease that affects one in eight women.
"It really hits home," Kadrovach said of breast cancer, who has had family members battle the disease. "Personally, I would rather put my money toward the research to put a stop to breast cancer than have remembrance runs."
Kadrovach had been eager to participate in a walking event for this cause. She had previously tried to recruit co-workers at the Traverse City State Bank, where she works in human resources, for the past two years. When her friend Barbara Towler of Minneapolis, a breast cancer survivor, signed on for this walk, Kadrovach joined right up.
Youker, an old friend with whom Kadrovach reconnected just a year ago, decided to participate as well. A fourth woman, Pam Eisele of Minneapolis completed their small team.
The two Traverse City walkers began an intense training regimen in March, downloading a recommended schedule and following it closely. Both already athletic - Kadrovach an on-again, off-again runner and Youker a walker - they racked up hundreds of miles during training.
Throughout the spring and summer, they put in hours a day walking on their own and met on Tuesdays and Saturdays for longer workouts. They caught up on the intervening 20 years in their lives since they had last been friends and co-workers at Tom's Food Markets.
"It was well worth the effort, we were already in pretty good shape and the training helped keep it that way," said Youker, adding that they never visited the medical tent during the three-day event.
The training evolved into a social event as friends occasionally joined them for part of their longer, 20-mile practices around town. Another woman training for a Breast Cancer 3-Day 2004 in Detroit walked with them earlier in the summer.
"I really looked forward to it," said Kadrovach of the training.
The Breast Cancer 3-Day 2004 walks ban cell phones and headphones along the route because of safety considerations.
"You had to communicate the old-fashioned way," Youker said. "We decided the last few weeks we shouldn't talk because we'd run out of things to talk about during the walk."
Each walker in a Breast Cancer 3-Day event must raise a minimum of $2,000 to participate. Youker and Kadrovach started their fundraising late but still managed to exceed that amount. Kadrovach had 31 donations and one creative idea she had to raise money was selling bracelets and watches crafted by her daughter.
Youker received 75 donations and also offered donors a chance to have the name of a loved one embroidered on a shirt she would take on the walk. She raised more than $3,600 and counting.
"The walking seemed the easy part when I heard I had to raise that money," recalled Youker, adding she had support from "a lot of generous people."
Participants had meals provided along the route and camped during the two nights of the walk. This was not roughing it - the camps included showers, a meal tent, entertainment and a medical tent. Trucks moved the two-person tents and equipment for the 1,956 walkers from one stop to the next.
Youker decorated her tent with a huge National Cherry Festival banner to make it easily identifiable, as the organizers requested.
The walk ended at the State Capital in St. Paul with a moving ceremony celebrating survivors, walkers, volunteers and women who had died of breast cancer.
"It was incredible, I said it was more like a retreat," said Youker, particularly emphasizing the positive nature of the event. "It was amazing, for three days of walking, two days of camping, waiting in lines for showers, food, the porta-johns and everything, there were no negative comments."
"They told us, 'No whining, whining causes blisters," she added, recounting how many people along the route came to support the walkers with signs, candy and cheers. "Every time I saw that, I said, 'What feet?'¡"