Because Mom Said So

“My daughter and I decided we wanted to have some sort of an adventure. I saw this and thought, ‘All right, this is it.’” That’s how Laura Chastain explained how she and her daughter Anna became two of this year’s Challenge Walk MS rookie participants. They named their team “because Mom Said so”.

Anna carried her mom piggy-back style
when walking got to be too much.

To help raise the $1,500 fundraising minimum each needed to reach, Laura invited people to sign her shirt from Walk MS for $2 a signature. Most people gave more. “It was a hoot! Neighbors and relatives and people at the coffee shop donated, people at the neighborhood festival. Most people gave more than $2, and one person had a very emotional reaction so it became a bonding thing,” Laura said. She also used an online participant page to collect donations.

Laura trained for a year prior to
Challenge Walk MS weekend. She
said leg strengthening exercises
made a huge difference.

Laura, who used to participate in Bike MS: TOYOTA Best Dam Bike Tour but hasn’t been able to since 2011 as her MS advanced, also knew she needed to build up her stamina for the other challenge of Challenge Walk MS – covering 30-50 miles across Door County in three days. “I challenged myself to see if I could gain some leg strength and walk further. Over a year I went from walking ¾ of a mile to walking two to three miles at a time several times a week; twice, I walked five miles! I asked my trainer for leg strengthening ideas and that made a huge difference.”

The training helped Laura cover approximately seven miles each of the three days, and when walking became too much, 19-year-old Anna stepped in, literally carrying her mom piggy-back style during some portions of the route. For their tenacity and tenderness, the mom-and-daughter duo was selected from among the 50 first-time event participants to be recognized as the Challenge Walk MS 2015 Rookies of the Year.