Three local women will walk 60 miles in three days, taking more
than a few strides against cancer.
Three local women will walk 60 miles in three days, taking more than a few strides against cancer.
The Pink Ladies Pledge Team, which includes sisters Kimberly and Christina Alonzo and their mother, Susan Alonzo, walks together in two to three hour weekend training sessions in preparation for the Bay Area Breast Cancer 3-Day event, Oct. 2 through 4. The team had a goal of raising $6,900 and was already 50 percent of the way there by Monday, with $3,458.18 in the bank. This was well above the $2,300 that organizing agencies – which include Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund – asked for.
The walk – in which participants are asked to cover 20 miles each day – holds special significance for the Alonzos. Christina Alonzo found a lump in her breast when she was 22 years old. Christina Alonzo went through many tests before doctors told her it wasn’t cancerous.
“That worrying before you know is scary,” said Susan Alonzo.
Two of Susan Alonzo’s fellow office workers at Gavilan College have been diagnosed with breast cancer. One colleague, who was in remission, has recently been diagnosed a second time with the cancer.
“All you can do is say it’s going to be OK, but you don’t know it’s going to be OK,” she said.
On weekdays, Susan Alonzo trains on a treadmill, using inclines to prepare for San Francisco’s hills.
Even the team’s summer vacations couldn’t interrupt their training regimen. Susan Alonzo took a trip to Italy, but used it as an opportunity to tune up for the event.
“In Italy, I walked a lot,” she said. “That’s what we did over there.”
Back in America, the team has been holding a variety of fundraisers, including garage sales and a raffle where 50 percent of the money goes towards the winner’s jackpot and 50 percent of the money is a donation towards finding a cure for cancer.
In the end, after all the fundraisers and walks, the goal is simple – to cure breast cancer, Susan Alonzo said.
“I don’t want my kids to get it. I don’t want my grandkids to get it. I don’t want anyone to get it,” she said.
To donate:
Go to the team’s donation page.
