Local realtor prepares for charity walk

By Kerin Magill
Special to the Coastal Point

	Coastal Point • SUBMITTED Ann Raskauskas is preparing for a 60-mile walk to raise money for breast cancer research.

Ann Raskauskas of Bethany Beach is in the final weeks of preparing for the journey of her life — the 60-mile Avon 3-Day Walk for Breast Cancer, in Seattle, Wash., Aug. 25-27. The walk is a fund-raiser for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund. Walkers are asked to raise a minimum of $2,200, but Raskauskas has upped her personal ante to $10,000.

Raskauskas said she was inspired to prepare for the walk after reading a magazine article about it. The timing seemed right, somehow: it was winter, and New Year’s resolutions about getting in shape were at the forefront of Raskauskas’ mind. In addition, her dad had just been telling her she should visit Seattle.

Now that the trip is only a few weeks away, Raskauskas is anxious to get to the West Coast. “I’m really excited,” she said. But the preparation for the walk has been a wonderful adventure, as well.

The sole walker from Delaware, Raskauskas said she has received incredible support from the community since she began raising funds for the event. So far, she has about $7,000 in donations, plus another $1,000 pledged to be contributed when she completes the walk.

Raskauskas and friends raised about $2,000 at a special event at Mickey’s Crab House last winter. Now that she’s closing in on her goal, she said she’s actually hoping to surpass it.

The cause of breast cancer research is one that Raskauskas, 42, can personally relate to. Although she has been spared from the disease, she did have two “scares” — biopsies that turned out not to be cancerous. She said she has known several women in their 20s and 30s who have battled the disease, and that family members have had breast cancer and cancer in general.

So after she read about the three-day walk, “I slept on it and decided to go for it,” Raskauskas said. The support from Avon she’s gotten since signing up has been “just wonderful,” Raskauskas said. “They give you a whole schedule,” for training, as well as nutritional tips, stretching exercises and suggestions for appropriate shoes.

The program recommends walking three or four days a week, as well as two days of “cross-training,” according to Raskauskas. The training isn’t so strenuous as to be intimidating, she said. “You don’t have to be any kind of tri-athlete,” she said.

Raskauskas said she did have to change the prepared schedule a bit because of her work schedule — instead of doing her heavy walking on weekends, she does it on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. This past Tuesday, she walked 12 miles.

During the winter, when the sand was relatively flat, she enjoyed walking on the beach. But now that the beach is angled a bit more, she said, she doesn’t want to risk an injury so close to the event, so she sticks mostly to walking paths in Sea Colony and Bethany West.

Raskauskas said the training is definitely working. “Week by week, you can see your stamina building up.”

And each time she walks wearing her T-shirt from the Avon event, she said, people come up and talk to her, walk with her, and give her donations.

“Literally every day, I get donations,” she said — either through the mail, through her link on the event Web site, or by people walking up to her on the street or dropping by her office at Tidewater Realty in Bethany Beach. Raskauskas said she’s been joined on her walks by people of all ages on her walks — from an infant to a 92-year-old — and for distances ranging from 50 feet to 14 miles.

As far as donations, the smallest was “a couple of dollars” — winnings from a lottery ticket someone gave her. “That was probably also my most unusual donation,” she said. And the largest? Five hundred dollars – from a business competitor.

Those interested in adding to Raskauskas’ total or otherwise offering support can do so in three ways. She can be reached at her office, 539-7500, or by e-mail at annrask@aol.com.

Contributions can be dropped of or mailed to her office at Tidewater Realty, P.O. Box 539, Bethany Beach 19930, or can be made by visiting the event Web site, www.the3day.org. Under the “Donate” menu, click on “Seattle.” Then type in Raskauskas’ name and follow the directions. Checks should be made out to Avon 3-Day.