Good news inspires walk 'for the cure'

Peggy Harding spent much of the summer walking laps around Lake Arlington, working up to as much as five hours a day on weekends which equaled 30 to 40 miles.

Her rigorous training appears to have paid off: she was among the first to finish the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk earlier this month, which raised money for Susan B. Komen for the Cure, which leads the global movement to eradicate breast cancer.

Harding says her own surgical biopsy turned out well, but it prompted her to think about what she could do to help eliminate the disease. The magnitude of the walk, including the $86 million raised nationwide last year, convinced her to participate.

In all, 2,200 walkers took part in the Chicago event, which was held earlier this month. Walkers trekked more than 60 miles in all, from Schiller Park to Chicago's Montrose Harbor, by way of Mount Prospect, Arlington Heights and Des Plaines.

Both of the weekend event nights were spent camping out at Oakton Community College in Des Plaines, including one night when walkers were evacuated in the middle of the night at relocated to the college's gym due to a thunderstorm.

"The highlights were the people," says Harding, who works as an engineer with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. "The walk took place during some very hot, muggy summer weather, yet there were no complaints by the participants.

"Some walkers started as late as 8 a.m. and finished as late as 7:30 p.m.," she adds of the 20 miles logged each day. "When they arrived, and a flag was raised that signaled that all participants were in, a cheer went up."

In Arlington Heights they walked north on Arthur Avenue, crossed underneath the Metra railroad tracks, headed west along Northwest Highway. Then walkers headed north again past Recreation Park to Olive-Mary Stitt School, where they took a lunch break, before heading east past Thomas Middle School and Hersey High School toward Oakton Street.

Many of the participants wore pictures of loved ones who had battled the disease, and Harding found herself moved by those.

"Everyone was trying to make a difference," she says, "to help find a cure and to support those going through the process."

Harding reports that her recovery took about a week -- with minimal blisters thanks to her Lake Arlington training.

What's more, she wants to do it again.

"I'm already thinking about next year," she quips.