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Oct. 11--ATHENS -- Exercise motivated one. Laziness motivated another. And God motivated a third.
That motivation has evolved into three pairs of feet walking for more than exercise, health and spirituality.
They are walking for hope against a disease that takes 40,000 lives a year.
Leigh Morrill, 26, was an athlete at Athens High and majored in physical education at Athens State University. When she read in a magazine about the Breast Cancer 3-Day, a 60-mile walk, she thought, "Maybe I can do that."
So in 2001, Morrill participated in the Atlanta walk and started incorporating walking into her exercise regimen.
The next year, Morrill persuaded her sister, Amy Abernathy, 24, to participate in the New York walk.
"Of all people, I would have been the least likely person to join her," Abernathy said. "I used to be active, but I had gotten lazy."
She didn't stay lazy and began training with her sister for New York and then Atlanta in 2003.
Since participants walk in teams during 3-Day events, the sisters recruited their aunt, Holly Abernathy, 33, to join them.
"I felt the Lord was calling me to do it," Holly Abernathy said. "I thought I could stand up and do something on behalf of somebody else."
Together, their team is called Feet of Hope.
Proceeds from these 3-Day walks go to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, which funds innovative research and community outreach programs.
Morrill and Amy Abernathy said their great-aunt and one of their aunts battled breast cancer.
"They caught our aunts early on, and she's (the aunt) still living," Morrill said.
The trio said that since participating in the walks, they diligently do self-breast exams and make their friends and family more aware of how to catch the disease early.
That makes the humid summer days, shin splints, blisters and fainting spells worth it.
"There were days in the summer it is so hot when we're walking, I thought we would melt into the pavement," Amy Abernathy said.
The women try to drink plenty of water and Gatorade, and eat big meals on training days.
"When I'm getting up at 5 a.m. on a Saturday to train, my husband thinks I'm nuts," Morrill said.
But Holly Abernathy added the husbands and family will "be there when we cross the finish line."
She said she forgets the bad days "of suffering through sweat" when she's walking in an event and can "hear people cheering us on."
The three will walk in Atlanta on Oct. 20-22. They will walk 25 miles the first day and camp, walk 20 miles the second day and camp, and then walk the last 15 miles the third day.
The 3-Day organization provides camping supplies and sets up participants' campsites.
"It's three days of wearing no makeup, and everybody's sweating," Morrill said. "No one cares about how they look. It's like living in Utopia for three days."
Helping out Feet of Hope
The team Feet of Hope, which includes two Athens sisters and their aunt, is trying to raise $15,000 for the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk in Atlanta on Oct. 20-22.
You can make donations in honor or memory of someone, and the team will wear their names on the back of their T-shirts.
To make donations, go online to the team Web site at the3day.org/atlanta06/feetofhope.
You can also make donations at Abernathy's Monogramming and Awards at 1102 S. Jefferson St., Athens.
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Copyright (c) 2006, The Decatur Daily, Ala.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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