October 21, 2003

Elk River Star News 
Elk River, Minnesota

Letofsky walks for women; Trek around world helps with breast cancer fight

by Jim Boyle
Editor

Polly Letofsky plans to write a book after her five-year, 15,000-mile walk around the world is concluded next year.

If she writes about passing through Elk River — as she did a little over a week ago — she’ll likely mention the Elk River Lions, Broadway Bar and Pizza and the Handke pit.

They link her to a few of the countless endearing memories she has encountered in the first 12,000-some miles of her journey.

GlobalWalk for Breast Cancer, born out of a personal challenge to walk across four continents and around the world, got under way Aug. 1, 1999, in Vail, Colo. It is raising funds for breast cancer research and awareness of the disease’s indiscriminate nature.

“It was a great experience coming into Elk River,” said Letofsky, 41, who was joined in her walk by Rick Steblay, a college classmate at Mankato State who grew up in Elk River.

Steblay, who brought his family along for some of the walk, narrated the tour into Elk River, which included a walk down memory lane for the 1979 Elk River High School graduate when he happened upon the Handke Stadium. He described it as “one of the greatest landmarks in the all of the world he had ever seen,” Letofsky recalled.

A native of South Minneapolis — and Minnesota winters — she imagined for herself skating and sliding in the pit as her friend explained his childhood memories.

Later while journaling, Letofsky wrote, “every kid should have a pit.”

Steblay said when he discovered in 1999 that Letofsky was walking around the world he was not at all surprised. He described her as “always taking on big challenges” and as someone who never wants to be in one place for too long.

Upon arriving in quaint downtown Elk River, Letofsky was shuttled to Broadway Bar and Pizza, where she was treated to dinner and accompanied by the Elk River Lions.

“They were so generous to me,” Letofsky said. “I have very good memories of Elk River.”

Broadway Bar donated $3 for every pizza sold that day. Between that, a $1,000 donation from the Lions and other individual donations about $2,000 was raised, according to Elk River Lion Theresa Brady.

Letofsky is not a breast cancer survivor. She is an adventurer who yearns for challenges in her life. But for her to even consider a voyage around the world, she said it had to be worth something. And selfishly, she needed it to have a purpose to keep her focused.

“I couldn’t just wander around,” she said. “I would lose vision.”

Letofsky has made it her mission to make it clear to women that breast cancer is a threat to them, no matter who they are or what their backgrounds are.

That’s because 80 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no known risk factors. Those who have risk factors only account for one-fifth of the women who are diagnosed with breast cancer.

Letofsky says women must learn to be their own advocates when it comes to their health.

“If you have a lump or any change in your breasts, please go to a doctor and assure it gets tested,” she said. “Don’t just get an opinion.”

She’s adamant about making a point. She has walked through 115-degree heat, lightning storms, hail, floods, an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter Scale and forest fires.

“I was expecting tough times,” she said. “Things haven’t come as a surprise as opposed to (thinking when things happen) ‘here we go.’ ”

Letofsky’s journey through Australia was a turning point. That’s when Lions International got involved and the fund-raising began to take off.

“I was never expecting this to be a grand event,” she said, “because at the end of the day after walking, how much could I really do on my own?”

“Then the Lions started getting involved. That really gave it a boost.”

Brady said Letofsky is an unbelievable woman.

“I’m in awe of her,” she said. “She’s a remarkable person, very low key, very self-sufficient.”

Some of Letofsky’s fondest memories were walking along a “300-some mile stretch of nothing in Australia — no homes, no towns, no nothing.”

The Lions had alerted farmers, truckers, Harley-Davidson riders and U.S. Marines to look out for her.

“I had truckers, big Harley guys in packs (and others) watching over me,” she said. “Truckers, who couldn’t stop, would throw me food and money.”

Other places haven’t produced memories quite as fond, such as India and Greece.

She expected India to be tough.

“I thought I was prepared, but nothing prepares you for it,” she said. “It’s a very difficult culture.”

Letofsky said she will never go back to Greece. How they treat women is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to her reasons, she said.

“It’s a culture of no common sense,” she said. “Some things are different (in different cultures) and you can respect them and even enjoy the differences. But some things you can’t.”

Letofsky described the government in Greece as corrupt.

The trip has given the walker greater confidence, so much so she feels like she could be dumped on Mars and survive.

The key, she said, is to take it step by step, day by day and continuously adapt. Not knowing a language, or her way around in faraway countries has been a tremendous challenge.

“There’s a fear factor,” she said. “But step by step you can sort it out and adapt.”

Women with breast cancer have been moved by Letofsky, who has found the support priceless.

“To know you’re being looked out for, protected ... is priceless,” Letofsky said. “A phone call saying we’re here for you ... gives you backbone and strength.”

Letofsky draws parallels between walking around the world and cancer, including the point at which she will have walked for five years. When a cancer patient is cancer free for five years their chances for survival increase greatly.

“It’s a step-by-step, inch-by-inch process,” she said. “At first it looks overwhelming. They’re is so much to learn and so much to get your head around. Pretty soon you’re looking at how far you’ve come and how much you’ve learned.”

Letofsky is expected to finish her walk about Aug. 1, 2004, where she started in Vail, Colo. She plans to write a book about her travels.

“It’s a given,” she said. “I’m not suggesting anyone would publish it, but it has to be written even if its just for family and friends. The stories have to get out.”

To follow Letofsky, visit www.globalwalk.com. To make donations, call 1-866-760-8223.

News Editor

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