THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 30, 1995 TAG: 9503280082
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
WHEN SUSAN ROSS received a brochure in the mail about the upcoming Toronto Marathon, she said at first she just looked at it and laughed.
``But I held on to it,'' she 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 be walking in the marathon to raise money for the Leukemia Society of America. Most of the members, who are representing the society's Virginia chapter, are from the Peninsula. Three are from the Southside, and she is the only walker from Norfolk.
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 on 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.
``I know what's Cara's been going through,'' she said. Cara is progressing well, however, and is scheduled for her last chemotherapy session in April.
But Ross lost her grandfather and a good friend to the disease.
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 out of 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 at 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 15 1/2 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 that they could do together. She and her husband, Michael, are originally from Buffalo, N.Y., but came to the area when Michael, who is a carpenter, was in the Navy. They have two children: a son Jason, who is 15, and a daughter, Sara, 11.
When she first 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 six-, eight- 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 that people really realize how taxing long-distance walking can be until they try it.
``A lot of people can't keep up with me,'' she said. MEMO: If you know someone whom you feel is deserving of a Thumbs Up! feature,
call Vicki Lewis at 446-2286. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Norfolk resident Susan Ross is training to participate in the
Toronto Marathon to raise money for the Leukemia Society of
America.
Graphic
IF YOU WANT TO HELP
If you would like to sponsor Susan Ross in the Toronto Marathon,
send donations to the Leukemia Society, 2101 Executive Drive, Box
21, Hampton, Va. 23666. Checks should be made to the Leukemia
Society, but mention Susan's name so she will get credit for the
donation.
Amy Carlini, a program coordinator with the Virginia Chapter of
the Leukemia Society, is putting together another team in training
to participate in a marathon in Portland, Ore., on Oct. 1. For
information, call 1-800-866-4483.
by CNB