Walkers gear up for grueling 3-day

A pack of local residents dashed around Red Rock Canyon's scenic loop, walking for their lives and the lives of every woman they know. One man and 11 women trekked the loop June 24 in preparation for the biggest walk of their lives -- the Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day.

Henderson resident Dolly Lucia, one of the group's few "3-peaters" (a nickname reserved for return participants) describes the event as "three marathons back to back."

Women from around the country gather for walks of 60 or more miles beginning or ending in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington D.C. and Boulder, Colo. Walks have brought in $35 million for cancer research and treatment in the last three years.

Most of the local walkers are traveling to the Los Angeles walk Oct. 19-21, but a few were going to San Francisco July 27-29.

No matter the venue, the walk is a grueling display of determination. Participants walk 22 to 26 miles a day and then camp in two-man tents along the way. A walker's first step is taken at 6 a.m. and their last around 3:30 p.m.

"The first year, we were beat up and sore because we were not ready. The walk was a breeze last year because we trained," Lucia said.

Lakes residents Ann Marie Steffanus and her husband Raymond made the trek last year, too.

"My wife has breast cancer, when she was on chemo she couldn't walk five feet. But we've trained hard and now she can do this." Raymond Steffanus said.

"I hate to exercise period," Ann Marie Steffanus said. "To walk a mile was a big thing for me. It's all a matter of training. We did the walk in a breeze because of the training. It poured the last day. We were drenched and miserable, but we came in in the top 25 percent."

All the local participants have different reasons for walking. Lucia's mother died of breast cancer in 1998. On the anniversary of her mother's death, she began her first 3-Day walk.

Southwest resident Judy Jacobson runs a support group for women with breast cancer. She heard about the walk and knew she had to go. She learned about the Red Rock practice only the night before, but she still made it up by 5 a.m. for the group walk.

"It is better to train with a group," southwest Las Vegas walker JoAnne Gaynor said. "It's too easy when you're alone to say 'I'm tired, I'm going home.' When you have friends with you, you can't stop."

Gaynor will be doing the San Francisco walk. Her husband's first wife died from breast cancer, and Gaynor is determined to prevent the disease in others.

"I'm doing this so my daughter and my daughter's children won't face this horrible disease," she said.

Summerlin walker Debbie Lapping is a single mom with limited free time, but she still trains with the group on weekends.

Kathy Neuburger and her Home Depot co-worker Debbie Thomas go to every charitable walk they hear about. A bulletin board covered in their walk T-shirts hangs in the home improvement store.

"I love it. This has been just wonderful being a part of all of this -- the energy around and the people we touch. It's enormous the impact you make," Thomas said.

Kathy Neuburger said, "I'm doing this because breast cancer strikes too many. It's not just women with breast cancer, there are men too. There are preventatives and cures, we just have to find them."

Neuburger's 26-year-old daughter Raynie White will be making the journey, too. The youngest local walker hurt her knee on the Red Rock loop practice, but she is still going strong.

"I'll make it. It's a challenge, but I was looking for something that was a challenge," she said.

"I'm going to be a survivor," said a determined southeast Las Vegas walker. With a Jan. 17 diagnosis, Stacy Green has just begun her battle with breast cancer. She didn't have the strength to do the Red Rock practice, but she is bent on making the walk in October.

"I picked up a copy of a coping with cancer magazine. I opened up to the first page and there it was. I thought the 3-Day would be a phenomenal thing to be part of," Green said. "I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing it for all the other women in this country and for my daughter."

All the Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day walks for 2001 are full. Julia Hill found this out too late, but she made the 15-mile trek around Red Rock in preparation for next year. Sign-ups for next year will begin soon.

To make a donation for any of the locals participating in the walks, visit the event Web site at www.breastcancer 3day.org. For general information about the walks, call toll free (888) 332-9286.