THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 9, 1995 TAG: 9504050068
SECTION: REAL LIFE PAGE: K4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Vicki Lewis
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
WHEN SUSAN ROSS received a brochure in the mail about the upcoming Toronto Marathon, she said she just looked at it and laughed.
``But I held on to it,'' the Norfolk woman said, ``Then later I thought, `I can do it.' ''
Ross, who has been long-distance walking for about a year and a half, is now part of a 17-member ``Team in Training'' that will walk in the marathon to raise money for the Leukemia Society of America.
When Ross, 38, and the other team members are walking in the marathon, they'll have more than just the glory of finishing as their inspiration. Each member is walking ``in honor'' of someone locally who is fighting leukemia.
Ross is walking in honor of Cara Tinsley, an 8-year-old from Virginia Beach who has been in chemotherapy for two years.
Ross, who has met Cara, has seen firsthand what cancer can do. She is a nurse at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters and has worked in the cancer unit.
Ross has lost lost her grandfather and a good friend to cancer.
``I know what Cara's been going through,'' she said. Cara, who is progressing well, is scheduled for her last chemotherapy session this month.
The marathon, which draws people from all over the world, will take place May 7 through the downtown streets of Toronto in Ontario, Canada. The team will fly from Norfolk on May 6 and return on May 8.
The walkers will start the marathon in the early morning darkness to get a leg up on the runners. In this way, most of the participants will be crossing the finish line about the same time.
Amy Carlini, a program coordinator with the Virginia Chapter of the Leukemia Society, will be accompanying the walkers.
``I'll be chasing people around collecting water bottles,'' Carlini said, adding that she'll be using the Toronto subway system to go from mile marker to mile marker.
Carlini also has arranged a joint pasta party with the Tennessee Chapter the night before the race.
Ross hopes to complete the marathon in seven hours, or about 16 minutes per mile.
As part of the team, Ross is committed to raising $2,500 for the Leukemia Society. She is trying to do this through parties, raffles, sponsorships and donations from ``everybody that we send Christmas cards to.''
Ross first started walking to lose weight and to engage her family in an activity they could do together. She and her husband, Michael, are originally from Buffalo, N.Y., but came to the area when Michael, who is now a carpenter, was in the Navy. They have two children: a son, Jason, 15, and a daughter, Sara, 11.
When she decided to enter the marathon, she said she told her family that during training, ``Our house is going to be messier, and you'll have to do your own laundry.''
As part of her training for the marathon, she regularly takes 6-, 8- and 10-mile walks through Seashore State Park in Virginia Beach. For company, and safety's sake, she enlists the company of Jason and his friend, Brian White.
``I pay them $3 apiece, but it's a beautiful walk, and it's good for them,'' she said.
She never has walked a full 26 miles, the length of a marathon, but she said she is working on building up her distance. To do that, she is walking about 20 miles a week.
Ross said she doesn't think people realize how taxing long-distance walking can be.
``A lot of people can't keep up with me,'' she said. by CNB