Hello Challenge Walkers!

Spring has sprung, which means the flowers are blooming, the trees are budding and another season of MS Challenge Walk training is about to begin.

This month’s theme is training and recruitment. In terms of training, the last two years we have followed the 18-week program, with some minor tweaks. For example, we stuck to the 3 to 4 mile walks prescribed during the week, but we never walked more than 13 miles on the long weekend walks. This was mostly because babysitters are expensive! In addition, we found that the most important thing is consistency—no long gaps in training—vs. pounding out 15 or 20 mile training sessions.

The MS Society provides a 12 and 18 week program on their website. This year we have decided to follow a program that is between the 12 and 18 week program, with other exercise mixed in.

One great way to recruit new members is to bribe them with cash. If that does not work or is simply prohibitive from a budgetary standpoint, you can always tell them your plan to walk and invite them to join you to train for as much or as little as they would like. It is a great way to stay in shape, socialize and simply get some fresh air. Who knows, they may discover it is not as hard as they thought and may decide to sign on for this year or next year.

Another “soft sell” idea is to talk to walkers already committed to the shorter MS Walks throughout the year. Many of these participants may be eager for a new challenge but not aware that they can chose to walk the full 50 miles or a shorter 30 mile route. You might be surprised who accepts the challenge!

- the Egans

“The MS Challenge Walk of 2009 was an incredible culmination of strength, generosity, love, tears and laughter. It gave me the chance to experience the discomfort that might be close to someone who has MS. What a humbling experience it was...one that I will never forget.
I am truly honored to be a LaDorka and call these women my friends.”

-- Adriane Powell, Team LaDorka

How does a woman living in Richmond, VA wind up in Door County, WI walking 50 miles? The same way every LaDorka team member wound up there.

In the spring of 2008, I decided I wanted to do more than a three-mile walk to raise funds for multiple sclerosis. I saw a flyer in the local sub-shop for the 3-day, 50-mile Challenge Walk in Tapahannock, VA. I was fairly excited about this possibility, until I saw that they did the walk in August – one of the hottest months in Virginia. My MS symptoms seem to worsen tenfold in the heat. I knew there was no way I could do this. I tabled the thought and focused on my local three-mile walk.

I had a successful fundraising strategy for the short walks. I had started blogging for fun on MySpace and had built up quite a following. People would help me raise funds, we put together a couple of auctions, and it was as simple as asking people for help. It still didn’t seem like enough.

I looked into Challenge Walks in other parts of the country where the temperatures would be friendlier to me. And there was Door County. In July of 2008, I decided that I would be in Door County, WI for the 2009 Challenge Walk. I didn’t think there was any way possible I could walk all 50 miles, but I was determined to try.

Why Door County? I grew up in Wisconsin. I knew the beauty that Door County held. It was familiar, it was home and the weather would be gorgeous in September.

I had become very close to a small group of women on MySpace, and many of us have since migrated over to Facebook. We were scattered throughout the country. Though some of us were able to meet at times, we always talked about how wonderful it would be for ALL of us to get together.

When I mentioned to a couple of them that I was going to do the Challenge Walk, the response was the same. “I’m in.”

At the beginning, it was me in Virginia, Adriane in Illinois, Tina in Missouri, Donna in Michigan and Kristina in Mississippi. We had a silly name for our group, much like the Yaya Sisterhood. We dubbed ourselves “LaDorkas” for reasons that no longer seem important.

Our small group of five grew. Carla from Georgia, Deonne from Nebraska, Janet from New York, Jennifer from Florida, Kristin from Washington, Patty from Wisconsin, Priscilla from Arizona. When I registered in January of 2009, imagine my surprise to find out that these other women all started registering too. Some registered to walk, some registered to volunteer, but everyone registered to make a difference and help in any way they could.

Many of us had never laid eyes on each other. It didn’t matter. The unconditional love and acceptance of each other was truly an amazing feeling. The majority of the women I had never met face-to-face before, and yet they came. They trained; they spent money on flights, hotels, registration fees; they came to walk, to work and to support a cause near and dear to my heart. We greeted each other one by one at the airport in Milwaukee, and made the drive to Door County, further solidifying our bond.

Together, we raised over $15,000. Not bad for a group of women who met on the internet. We managed to collect donations from 49 of 50 states and several foreign countries. This was important because for us, it signified unity. We were all in this together. Our missing 50th state was Rhode Island. It came late, extremely late, but it came. I remember Day One of the walk as the walking LaDorkas got on the bus. We were happy and excited, looking forward to whatever the day would bring. The volunteering Dorkas had been networking. I’ll never forget Donna walking up to the bus window where we were and yelling, “We got Rhode Island!” Amazing! All 50 states accounted for.

Somewhere along the trail on Day 1, we had talked about being a traveling group. Our big plan by the end of Day 1: We’d do the walk in Cape Cod in 2010. By the end of Day 2, we all knew that we would not be doing a Challenge Walk in Cape Cod. We were making Door County our home.

Through the course of that life-altering weekend, we made many new friends. We heard and shared stories. All of us were moved. Several people were made Honorary LaDorkas. We even had someone from the Great Wolf Lodge Team earn that honor.

This year, due to life situations and financial obligations, we cannot all make it back to Door County. As saddened as we are by this, it’s understood, unavoidable and perfectly OK. Those who are unable to join us are still helping us with fundraising. This year we’re going big. LaDorkas are doing a raffle, where even those who cannot be there are selling tickets. We’re collecting donations to sell in an auction where all proceeds will go toward our fundraising efforts. We’re asking past donors to donate again, possibly more.

We’ve recruited a new LaDorka walker so far and hope to add a few more to our fold. We’re looking into adding some new state representatives this year. North Carolina, Texas and Indiana are on my list of states to add.

We’ve started a website at www.ladorkas.com to try to raise funds, awareness and support for this cause that has brought us all together.

We walk for those who can’t and those who may not be able to tomorrow. Our team shirts are adorned with the slogan, “Hope in our hearts. Strength in our soles.”

If you’re considering walking in 2010, just do it. If you need a team, start one. If you don’t know enough people and want to join us, we’ll accept you with open arms. We hope to see and meet more of you in Door County this September.

From one LaDorka with MS to each of you who will be walking or volunteering, thank you. You really do make a difference – more than you may ever be able to imagine.