Several Cochrane women were among the 1,200 walkers who braved sizzling temperatures to take part in a gruelling two-day trek July 25 and 26.

The fifth Weekend to End Breast Cancer event in Calgary raised $3 million for breast and gynaecological cancer research and care in Alberta.

The Lug Those Jugs team raised $23,00 for breast cancer research. Pictured are Sharon Wilkins, Rayine Patron, Alyssa Patron, Janice Borsa, Susan Stewart and Donna Mckernon. (Photo courtesy Janice Borsa)

For Cochrane’s Janice Borsa, it was the third time she’d raised the minimum $2,000 to be eligible to walk the 60-km event which took her around Calgary neighbourhoods. A few years ago after she and friend Ralyne Patron had each lost their mothers to cancer, they decided to form the team Lug Those Jugs.

Before long, others who’d been affected by the disease joined them. This year the team raised a total of $23,000.

The six women walked the entire course together though they admitted the heat made the jaunt extremely uncomfortable.

“It was smokin’ hot,” said Borsa. “Saturday was a really tough day. By the end of it you know just about everything in each other’s lives.”

Walkers slept in a “tent city” at the end of the first day where volunteers fed, hydrated, massaged and entertained them all before they embarked on the second leg of the trek.

“It was excruciating,” said Susan Stewart, another member of Lug Those Jugs, and a first-time participant who registered in April after losing good friend, Terry Thoma to cancer.

“I wanted a physical challenge, and I’m always talking about donating and raising money, but I never do it. This time I did.”

But Stewart admitted asking co-workers, family and friends for donations wasn’t easy.

“I found it a bit difficult and I’m not sure I could do it again,” she said.

Stewart did train for the walk, however, and said though she’s never been physically active and is not a member of a gym, she grew to enjoy her two-hour training walks with friends.

“We’ve talked about trying to keep that up,” she said. “And if we could fundraise as a group, I would help with that.”

Another Cochrane woman, Lorna Callaway, has walked the 60-km course twice before, but this year decided to get involved in a different way. As a member of the Boobs R Us team, she worked as a crew member, a job she said was a lot more work than she’d anticipated.

“I don’t actually think I’m any less tired than the walkers,” she laughed. “And I missed the adrenaline rush as you cross the finish line.”
Callaway helped serve lunch to the weary, sweaty walkers.

“Holy bananas, those people looked like they were going to drop,” she said. “They were so hot! We made sure they were fed and hydrated.”

She added it’s not surprising most women don’t give up, regardless of the scorching conditions.

“I think this cause truly touches women,” she said. “All of us have had, or know someone who has had a scare or a diagnosis. It’s the fear factor.”

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