Bobbi Grizzard, a 19-year breast cancer survivor, braved blisters, calluses and painful toes to complete the 60-mile Breast Cancer 3-day in Seattle last week. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe walked 20 miles a day for three days,\u201d Grizzard said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard while you\u2019re doing it, yet very fulfilling. It\u2019s a really great event to be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marian Aldan-Pierce, Clarie Kosack, Pamela Brown, Roberta Guerrero, Corinne Loprinzi, Rebecca Pierce, Rhoda Smith and Kazuyo Tojo made up the other members of the team, called Saipan Sweet Feet. Except for Grizzard and Brown, all the women are still in the U.S. mainland.<\/p>\n
The team raised more than $30,000 for breast cancer research, with each member raising a minimum of $2,200 to participate in the event, Grizzard said. By herself, Grizzard said she was able to raise more than $6,000 through small donations of $20 to $50. <\/p>\n
This was Grizzard\u2019s second time to participate in the Breast Cancer 3-day. She first participated last year in Phoenix. Because Pierce has a home in Seattle, the group decided to take part in that city\u2019s event, which was held Sept. 12-14. <\/p>\n
The walk took the women through many parts of Seattle, including the downtown area and Pike\u2019s Peak. <\/p>\n
Each day the women would walk for about 10 hours, stopping to munch on fruit, peanuts and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before continuing on. During their lunch break, they would take off their shoes and socks and \u201clet their feet breath,\u201d Grizzard said. <\/p>\n
She added that all the women had foot issues at one time or another.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had one toe hurting pretty bad,\u201d she said. \u201cI had one blister last year. But it\u2019s OK. You live through it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Guerrero had to be taken to a medical tent and was \u201cred carded,\u201d meaning she was told she could not walk and had to take a bus back to the tent site. But it didn\u2019t matter, Grizzard said, because Guerrero was still able to cheer others on. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe greeted everyone,\u201d Grizzard said. \u201cShe probably met more people than we met by walking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grizzard said the group did stand out in one way. Many people came up to them asking why Saipan was written on their shirts<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are now googling Saipan,\u201d she said. \u201cSo we\u2019re sort of ambassadors.\u201d<\/p>\n
The women chose not to spend the nights in tents, instead allowing themselves the comforts of a nearby hotel. There they were able to soak their feet in ice water and rest up for the next day. <\/p>\n
\u201cAll you want to do is go back to your room, soak your feet, eat, have some wine, and go to bed,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Gearing up for the event was a task in and of itself, Grizzard said. She began walking in January, slowly extending her distance a little each week. The Komen organization gives recommendations to walkers, but Grizzard said she didn\u2019t follow the schedule. But because she walks on a daily basis, she was prepared. In fact, she\u2019s already planning for next year\u2019s walk. <\/p>\n
Grizzard, Kosack and Tojo wore pink shirts, signifying them as cancer survivors. Grizzard said she is amazed by the advancement in technology since her mastectomy in 1989.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the 19 years since I was diagnosed, the advancements made are absolutely amazing,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m constantly blown away by the things that are available today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Seattle walk raised $8.5 million. Fourteen cities have hosted or are hosting walks this year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bobbi Grizzard, a 19-year breast cancer survivor, braved blisters, calluses and painful toes to complete the 60-mile Breast Cancer 3-day in Seattle last week. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126477\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}