LITTLE FALLS - The Friends United for a Cure team planning to walk 60 miles in the Breast Cancer 3-Day event has been following a training schedule with help from the Little Falls community.
Members of the team - most live in the Little Falls area - are being helped as friends and supporters become walking buddies as they put on training miles for the Aug. 15 event in Boston.
Beyond a recommended walking plan to prepare the body for the workout of walking 60 miles in three days, team members made a point to get fitted for shoes at a store that specializes in marathons. It made a difference when the team members who walked last year saw the blisters and the women who - after the first 20 miles - couldn't even put their sneakers back on.
On the fundraising side, teams participating in the Breast Cancer 3-Day must commit to raise a minimum of $2,200. If they don't get that money in donations, it will come out of their own pockets.
The team decided to raise even more and is shooting for $20,000 by the Aug. 15 start date. Last year, team members raised $13,700.
Team members pay the airfare and travel expenses. Accommodations come from the mobile tent cities where more than 2,000 expected participants stay during the walk. The walkers even put up their own tents at the end of the day. Shower trailers and food are provided to walkers in what participants call a well-organized event that takes walkers through large cities.
"The people who tend to be the most upbeat about breast cancer are those who are going through it," said team member Susy Prosapio. "Otherwise you just feel, God it's an ugly, awful disease. It's not fair. It's all those things. But this is something you can do about it."
RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.
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