Local Team Finishes 60-Mile Susan G. Komen Walk for the Cure

They got soaked in a downpour, then sweated profusely in hot, humid weather while walking 60 miles over three days. Yet members of the Stow-based team Saving Our Boobs say they enjoyed participating in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure last weekend.

Team captain Jenifer Patton and teammates Gretchen Gies, Nancy Rutherford and Sue Kemmerline, all of Stow, and Barbara Tidman of North Canton contributed more than $13,500 of the $2.5 million raised for breast cancer research. They were among more than 950 walkers participating in the Cleveland event.

“It’s just amazing and such a great experience. It’s such a positive environment,” said Gies, an event veteran. “It was fun this year because I got to see the three other ladies – Sue, Barb and Nancy – experience their first time.”

“Each year that I’ve done this, I’ve just thoroughly enjoyed the people that are there – the crew members, the walkers, even the supporters that come out that live in the cities we walk through,” Gies said.

Patton said the weather cooperated for the opening ceremony Friday morning at the Port Authority in Cleveland. Just a few miles into the 60-mile walk, though, it got ugly.

“As we started walking through Cleveland, it started pouring. About five miles in it finally stopped. Because of that, a lot of people had a lot of blister issues. When Gretchen changed her socks at Pit (Stop) 3, her feet were like prunes,” Patton said.

“The (medics) said a lot more people experienced blisters this year,” Gies said. She gained that knowledge first-hand because by the end of Day 2, she had to seek medical attention.

“The second day was really tough. That night I got checked out. They ended up lancing five (blisters) and wrapping them for me,” she said. “It caused aggravation, but I still wanted to walk through that finish line. We took it slow and steady the next day.”

Kemmerline said she ended up with three blisters, “but that’s about it. I was pretty lucky.”

All three women said laughing is a big part of the event.

“People just come out of the woodwork and they make it so fun for you. They play with lots of boob and breast jokes and that makes it fun and enjoyable,” Gies said. “When it’s 90 degrees and humid and you’re aching and you see someone standing there with a funny shirt on or they’re saying something funny, it gives you a little pep in your step.”

After seeing how the event played out, Kemmerline is considering switching from walker to one of the hundreds of volunteer crew member for next year’s Cleveland 3-Day for the Cure.

“They (crew members) all just seemed to have a lot of fun. The safety people were all dressed as pirates and told pirate jokes. Every day, the lunch-time crew wore costumes and decorated everything in ‘70s style and made signs like ‘make love, not war,’” she said.

Even people along the route were funny while being generous with the walkers.

“A house in Rocky River set up the Ta-Ta Tavern, which had chairs to sit down on and water bottles and buckets of ice out for us,” Patton said. “There was a father and three kids from Concord … in a mini-van with a speaker hooked up. They kept appearing along the route playing music to encourage us and keep us going, and his kids would be out there dancing. It was very supportive.”

Kemmerline said it was obvious that people who live in the communities the route winds through “embrace the (Susan G. Komen) foundation and the event itself tremendously.”

“People in the neighborhoods we walked through set up tents and have ice chests filled with water, popsicles, candy. People thank you for walking, including little kids. It was really phenomenal,” she said.

The women agree the closing ceremony is an inspirational highlight of the three-day event.

“It’s all a build-up to the end and celebrating with everyone is such a great time. Everybody is so happy and excited that they conquered that 60 miles and they’re still smiling,” Gies said. “When you hear that $2.5 million was raised, it makes you realize you’re just one person, but when all those people come together you can achieve so much.”

Even though the walk is over, fund-raising for the Cleveland event continues through the end of August. To donate to the Stow-based walkers, visit the Saving Our Boobs team page and click on any of the members' names to reach a donation link.