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July 26, 2005 Footsteps toward a cureCulver woman joins 60-mile
Komen walk for breast cancer research
CULVER -- Just days before Cory Barnes' long walk was to start, O'Neal Turner died of lung cancer. O'Neal was 50 years old. For 11 years, he was the director of college advising. His office in the Legion Memorial Building at Culver Academies was right next to hers. She is the director of academic advising. "He lost his battle four days before the walk," Cory said. "I thought about staying home to go to his funeral. "But then I realized that the best place in the world I could be was walking in a cancer walk to fight the disease that killed him." She wrote his name on a slip of paper and stuck it in her waist pack to be with her for the grueling three-day, 60-mile walk through Minnesota's Twin Cities. The walk began June 24 at the Minneapolis Zoo in Apple Valley and ended at the State Capital grounds in St. Paul. It raised $4.5 million for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund. Cory was one of 1,671 walkers in the third annual series of 12 nationwide walks. "Breast cancer was not a cause near and dear to me," Cory said. "It was not one I championed, but my sister-in-law, Lori Henneman of Coon Rapids, Minn., asked me last Christmas to join her in the walk. "I'm always up for a physical challenge," she said, "and I wanted to support Lori, who was walking in honor of her grandmother who had recently died from breast cancer complications." Each walker was asked to raise a minimum entry fee of $2,100. "That was the easiest part," Cory said. She asked friends, co-workers and everyone on her Christmas card list, and she raised a fantastic total of $3,300. Cory, who says that she is "very competitive," works out faithfully six days a week. She enjoys pumping iron and pedaling a bike at the Academy's Steinbrenner Recreational Center. Participants in the walk were sent a training schedule, and she followed the recommended regime religiously. In March, she walked a minimum of six miles every Saturday and Sunday. Starting in mid-April, she began walking around Lake Maxinkuckee every weekend day. Sometimes a friend would join her. "That's a good 10-mile walk," she said. "The folks at Mystic Hills Golf Course were great. I stopped there to replenish my water bottle and use the bathroom. They were always so hospitable." In late May, she upped the ante to twice around the lake. "On Sundays, I'd walk a lap before church, change clothes, go to services and walk another lap afterward." The actual walk began during the early-summer heat. "It was hot, but everything went like a well-oiled machine." Cory walked with a small group. "We didn't want to be in a bunch, stepping on each others heels and we wanted to move quickly." They would leave the camp early, by 6 a.m. Since they walked the 20 miles in six to seven hours, they managed to reach the next stop in the early afternoon and "not have to wait in line for a shower." She said the food was fantastic and that there were pit stops every couple of miles with water, fruit, port-a-potties and snacks, particularly those heavy in salt. "We were told to forget about dieting," she said. "And we were constantly urged to replace electrolytes with Endurance, a special drink that was provided and to avoid salt deprivation. "There were 350 volunteers -- some on their Harleys -- who rode up and down the course to make sure we were all safe and well during the trek." Area Boy Scouts erected the two-person sleeping tents. Most of the walkers turned in by 9 p.m. "It was still daylight," Cory said, "but, believe me, we were ready for sleep." Doctors were on hand to give tips on stretching, avoiding cramps and blister care. Cory estimates that about 95 percent of the walkers suffered with blisters on their feet. But not her. "I didn't have a single blister," Cory said. "Some peoples' feet looked like hamburger, but they continued to walk with the pain." Cory said this was a life-altering event for her. "I cried every day with the realization of what some women, and men, have gone through. "I didn't expect it to be as powerful as it was. Every evening people would give testimony as to why they were walking the walk. Inspirational doesn't begin to describe the emotions you feel." She said the most heart-wrenching story she heard was from a young woman whose breast cancer had metastasized in her liver. Her doctor had ceased all treatment. "She was waiting to die." She had come to thank the walkers for their efforts to raise money to cure the disease that was killing her. "It was too late for her, but not for thousands of others," Cory said. After the first day, she and Lori mutually decided they would do it again, the next time in Chicago. "I've already told my friends to brace themselves. I'll be hitting them up again for donations. I have absolutely no shame in asking for money to fight cancer." A woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every three minutes. Every 13 minutes, the disease claims another life. Her T-shirt reads: Blisters will heal, aches will fade, but the fight continues. And so will I. The slip of paper with O'Neal Turner's name is now in her keepsake box at home. His memory will walk with her again.
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Cory Barnes, at the
door of the Legion Memorial Building on the Culver Academies
campus, is director of academic advising. Cory is the wife of
Mitch Barnes and the mother of three children: Katie, 14; Marin,
11; and Hayes, 9 years old.