Women lace up tennis shoes to help beat cnacer

Sunday mornings for Angie Cook and her mother Jo Dyke now include a 17-mile walk from Cook's home on Harlem-Grovetown Road, into Grovetown and back.

Instead of driving to the mall on weekends to shop, the two women are lacing up their tennis shoes to train for the 60-mile Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk in Atlanta.

"I was reading about the event online and told my mom about it. We decided that this is something that we really wanted to do," Cook said. "Now on Sundays, we walk into Grovetown, eat lunch and walk back."

Participants from around the country are walking and raising money for the three-day walk Oct. 4-6. Each day of the event, thousands of people will walk 20 miles per day, starting at Lake Lanier and ending in Atlanta. With less than 65 days left before the event, Cook and Dyke are pushing themselves to walk a little farther each week.

"I don't know how much I actually enjoy the training, but so far it has been neat talking to people about the walk. A lot of people said that they couldn't walk that far, (but) they would be willing donate," Cook said.

Dyke, 42, begins her day by getting up at 4 a.m. and working out at the Omni Fitness Center before heading to her job as postmaster of the Keysville Post Office.

"I enjoy getting back into shape," Dyke said. "Walking gives me and my daughter time to have 'girl talk' and we talk about everything."

While Cook doesn't have time to go to the gym, she gets a workout from the 20 children at her day care, Angie's Precious Pollywogs, which she opened last November.

Though no immediate family members have had breast cancer, these two ladies wanted to help raising money for cancer research. Each must raise a minimum of $1,900.

"I like it because it's not a race," Cook said. "Everyone waits to cross the finish line together. It's a group effort. We're walking together to support this cause."

For more information or to make donations, e-mail the team at TwoWomenWalking@yahoo.com.