Marble Falls team makes 60-mile trek for breast cancer awareness

DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR

MARBLE FALLS — A 60-mile walk over three days is changing lives.

When the members of Team Treasured Chests of the Highland Lakes stepped onto the Susan G. Komen 3-Day course in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex Nov. 7, they found themselves among a mass of people, all with a common goal.

And it wasn’t to cover the next 60 miles as fast as possible.

“It was an amazing and uplifting experience,” said Wendy Bingham, a member of Team Treasured Chests. “You heard so many stories and met so many incredible people. It’s really just hard to sum up in a few words.”

More than 1,500 people, all making up several teams, participated in the event, which raises money for breast cancer research, treatment and prevention. The teams walk 60 miles over a three-day period. Along the way, they get to talk with other participants, hear stories, enjoy lots of support and even have fun (despite some aching muscles and a few blisters.)

The six-woman Team Treasured Chests included Bingham, Katy Batch, Julie Conrad, Kathy Wright and Judy Miller, but the heart of the group probably was Patty McAlpin.

“We were there because of Patty and for her,” Bingham explained.

McAlpin, a counselor at Marble Falls Middle School, is a breast cancer survivor — or more accurately — thriver. She fought the disease last year and eventually beat it back into remission. During her cancer treatments, she learned of the 3-Day event and mentioned to her sister that it was something she would like to do. But she wasn’t at a healthy enough point to participate in the 2013 event. So her sister, who lives in the Dallas area, organized a team and participated in McAlpin’s honor.

With her health stronger this year, McAlpin decided it was her turn to join the walk. So with her five friends, she formed Team Treasured Chests and began fundraising and training. The group needed to raise at least $13,800 to participate in the 3-Day event, a goal they not only met but exceeded. When the Marble Falls team joined with McAlpin’s sister’s group, the two combined were one of the top fundraisers at the Dallas-Fort Worth walk.

McAlpin still marvels at the support she found from her friends.

“As a recent survivor, I felt the need to walk to show cancer that I won, but my teammates didn’t have the same personal vendetta,” McAlpin said. “I am amazed and humbled that they joined me not only for the 60-mile walk but also for the months of training and fundraising. We all are experiencing sore muscles and pains, and some of us have blisters, but none of that requires chemo.”

The event drew more than 1,100 walkers and raised about $3.1 million.

Bingham said the entire event felt like a celebration as some teams dressed up in elaborate costumes. The course often took walkers through the city, by schools and into neighborhoods.

“The event has a great support system with people there to help you and take care of things you needed,” Bingham said. “But even then, you’d walk through a neighborhood, and there would be people cheering you on or handing out water or other things to you.

“When we walked by a school, a lot of the kids were out there and they’d be high-fiving us,” Bingham said. “It was just an incredible and such a motivational experience.”

The walk drew people who had been personally touched by cancer or who just wanted to do something to stop the disease. Some participants, such as McAlpin, had won their battles with cancer, while others were still in the midst of it. Bingham recalled seeing one team pushing a woman in a wheelchair. The woman would get up and walk for a bit but then settle back into the chair when she needed to.

“That’s the power of this event,” Bingham said. “It really brought people together.”

McAlpin agreed.

“We laughed and cried; we experienced times of reflection and times of silliness,” McAlpin said. “We were cheered on by strangers throughout the day, young and old, with signs of encouragement — some were funny (‘You’ve Trained Longer Than Kim Kardashian Was Married’), some were nice reminders of why we were walking (‘Every Blister Saves A Sister’) and some made us stop and think.”

In the end, it was just about putting one foot in front of the other to find a cure for breast cancer, which they were reminded of when they saw a little girl holding a sign that read: “Please Find A Cure Before I Get Boobs.”

With seven walks held throughout the year across the country, members of Team Treasured Chests haven’t ruled out participating next year, but maybe in a different city. San Diego does sound nice.

Go to www.the3day.org to learn more, find out how you can participate or join a team.

daniel@thepicayune.com