Catonsville neighbors walk 60 miles to raise money for breast cancer research

When Barb Miller and Natalie Powell said their 60-mile walk in Philadelphia Oct. 14-16 had a lot of highs and lows, they weren't referring to hilly terrain.

The Catonsville neighbors were alluding to their joy when meeting breast cancer survivors and pain when hearing of the disease's victims as they walked with 2,200 others in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure.

"(You're) walking with survivors who just finished chemotherapy," Miller said. "They just have a different energy. They're not just trying to walk 60 miles. They're fighting for their lives."

"You can be so high because somebody will have their scarf on. They're just in remission," Powell said. "It's like, 'Yes. We did it. We helped save you.'

"Then you'll see someone else walk by and they'll say they're walking "In remembrance of' … .

"We've got to still keep going."

Despite never having been diagnosed or having an immediate family member diagnosed with breast cancer, Miller, 42, and Powell, 35, have done the 60-mile event three consecutive years.

"How can we not support this cause? A cure has to be found," said Miller, a mother of three, all boys.

According to the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 203,000 women in the United States were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, the most recent year the data was available.

That same year more than 40,000 women died of breast cancer, the CDC's website stated.

"The writing's on the wall," said Powell, a mother of two girls and a boy. "It's Russian roulette. You never know. Whatever we can to stop it, (we'll do). "

When it came time to walk, Miller and Powell each left their children with their husbands, David and Fred, respectively.

Their feet readied from previous years of walking, the pair marched all but four miles of the course.

At that point, a van had to pick them up due to lightning in the area, Miller said.

While walking nearly 60 miles over three days and sleeping in tents at night can take a toll on the body, it's one Miller and Powell feel is worth it.

"Sometimes, it's just the energy of the group that keeps you going," Miller said. "The little pain of the walk is nothing compared to someone fighting for their life and going through chemo."

"At the end of each day, everybody in camp is doing the same lovely shuffle," Powell said. "We all look at each other and we laugh. For what we're doing, I'll wobble for a couple of days."

The Susan G. Komen Philadelphia 3-Day for the Cure raised $5.9 million, according to a release from the organization.

In order to participate in the walk, each participant must raise $2,300.

Last year, the event occurred in 15 cities in the United States and raised more than $87 million, the Susan G. Komen website said.

Since its inception in 2003, the walks have raised nearly $600 million, the release stated.

Three quarters of the money raised have gone to researching how to decrease the incidence and mortality rates of breast cancer with the remainder to community-based breast health programs, the release stated.

Miller and Powell participated in teams of four, eight and four over the past three years, Miller said.

Over those three years, their teams have raised more than $50,000, Miller said.

This year, the team, which also consisted of northern Virginia residents Alice McGinty and Alison Willison, raised more than $10,000.

Most of the money they raised came from donations from family and friends, they said.

"This year, we went a little out of the box," Miller said.

She and Powell organized a fundraising two-hour Zumba class, a Latin-style dance workout.

With instructors donating their time and an organization offering a sound system, the July event attracted 40 people and raised $600.

"It was fairly easy this year because everyone knows about it," Powell said of raising money. "It's one of the most prevalent cancers out there."