Dedicated woman walking

Allison Duvall will walk 60 miles in three days this October when she participates in the “The 3 Day” walk against breast cancer for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in Atlanta. “I want to do anything I can to help end breast cancer,” Duvall said. Allison Duvall wanted to do something memorable when she heard her best friend, Jan Petty, had been diagnosed with breast cancer. So she’s going to walk 60 miles to help raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

“I’m going to Atlanta for my first trip for a walk like this,” Duvall said. “I’m raising money now to go on the trip in October. I’ve sent letters to family and friends. There are many mission groups at my church, First Baptist of Gaffney, who are supporting me and I’ve even been baking and selling my homemade bread.”

Duvall is not a breast cancer patient and has never had the disease. She doesn’t have any close relatives who suffer from the disease, either. Her love for her friends and fellow church members is the only inspiration for her walk — which is 2 1/2 times the distance of a marathon.

“Thankfully, that 60 miles is going to be broken up into three days,” Duvall laughed. “We’ll walk 20 miles, in stages, each day from Oct. 20 through Oct. 22. I walk a lot anyway, and when I heard Jan was sick I wanted to do something more than just send cards and help take care of her. And then the Lord just laid it on my heart that this was something I should do.”

The March of Dimes WalkAmerica in Gaffney is a huge walk-a-thon event and The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life will be back in Gaffney this year to help fight the dreaded disease. But Duvall felt that “The 3 Day” was a whole different event. And in many ways, it is.

“They only have a certain number of these in big cities each year,” she said. “Atlanta was the closest to me so for my first trip I wanted to try something I knew that wasn’t too far away. And this event specifically raises money for the fight against just breast cancer through the Susan Komen group.”

In addition to raising money, Duvall has dedicated herself to training for the labor of love.

“I’ve gotten to walking 10 miles in one day,” she said. “I spend a lot of time walking at my gym, Your Best Body, and I can walk around my house easily. When the weather is nice, it is a great place to exercise because we don’t have much traffic. And the terrain is hilly so that helps.”

Two other members of Gaffney First Baptist will be attending a 3 Day event this year.

“I’ve spoken with Dawn Barnhill and Malagni Mardis about forming our own team, but we aren’t sure which city they’re going to yet,” Duvall said. “If anyone else wants to help me out with this, they can contact me through the church.”