New Page 1

Woman walks around world to raise cancer awareness

As a child, Polly Letofsky imagined herself walking around the world. The Vail woman has turned that reverie into a method of raising awareness of breast cancer - the scourge of several friends and acquaintances.

Letofsky, who covered 14,124 miles on foot through 22 countries in a five-year trek around the globe, will talk about her adventures and what she learned about breast cancer, people and herself at the 11th annual Pink Ribbon Affair in Durango on Wednesday, Oct. 12. She also will speak on Tuesday, Oct. 11, in Cortez.

Thirteen breast cancer organizations worldwide have benefited from GlobalWalk, Letofsky’s crusade that raised an estimated $200,000 in eight currencies.

“When I was about 12 years old and living in Minnesota, I read about a man who had walked around the world,” Letofsky, 43, said in a telephone interview. “It intrigued me because by putting one foot in front of the other I could travel around the world.” The idea stayed with her. But it wasn’t until nine years ago

Polly Letofsky leans on her customized running
stroller in October 2000 outside Melbourne, Australia.
The stroller contained her belongings, including a laptop,
during her five-year GlobalWalk for breast cancer awareness.

Letofsky, working at a Vail hotel, acted on her desire. During a routine mammogram she was assured that she didn’t run the risk of breast cancer because there was no history of it in her mother’s family. Several women who had breast cancer set her straight.

“I decided that night to walk around the world to raise awareness about breast cancer and raise money to fight it,” said the 5-foot-2, 100-pound Letofsky. “I didn’t realize it wouldn’t be a simple task. I had a condo full of goodies, a boyfriend, a 401(k), an IRA and a mortgage.” It took her three years to settle her affairs and lay the groundwork for her trip, which included working four jobs to finance the venture.

Letofsky left Vail on Aug. 1, 1999, heading west and then south pushing a customized running stroller that contained her belongings, including a laptop. She hit Silverton, Durango and Cortez, hoofed it through Arizona and on to Los Angeles. There she hopped a plane to New Zealand, where she walked the length of the two main islands before crossing the Tasman Sea by plane to Melbourne, Australia.

The next stops were in Malaysia, Thailand, Burma and India. In the light of the Sept. 11 attacks, Letofsky cancelled plans to visit Pakistan and Afghanistan. Instead, she flew to Turkey, where she got back on the road, walking through Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland and the Low Countries (Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg) before hopping to England and Ireland. She took a plane to New York City and hit the road for home. She had to sell her condo to finance the last leg of the journey.

“I was surprised by the number of people who were willing to help me,” Letofsky said. “Sometimes I’d arrive somewhere cold; other times a chain of people would refer me to a friend (farther along the line).” Letofsky hit it lucky in a town outside Melbourne when she struck up a conversation with a Lions Club member on a street corner. The Lions passed her from town to town, finally making her walk an international project for the club.

Letofsky was in Malaysia, a Muslim country, when the attacks of Sept. 11 occurred.

“I had to get the news from CNN, and there were some pretty negative headlines,” Letofsky said. “But on ground level where I was, the people were friendly, hospitable and courteous across the board. I was high profile, which made me nervous. But police escorted me and the sometimes 60 to 80 people walking with me.” In spite of the help and the universality of English, Letofsky learned to ask basic questions in nine other languages – Bahasa, Mandarin, Thai, Hindi, Turkish, Greek, Italian, German and French.

“I learned self-reliance even when the situation seemed overwhelming,” Letofsky said. “If you take things step by step they’ll sort themselves out.” As for people in general, Letofsky said, despite cultural differences, people want pretty much the same thing and they rally to worthy causes. About 5,300 breast cancer survivors accompanied Letofsky on various legs of her journey.

Now back in Vail, Letofsky is writing a book about her adventures and raising money for a documentary film that is scheduled to start shooting in Los Angeles in February.