Rhiannon Harrell and Leslie Cox walked 60 miles last week. For three days, they walked, despite rain, mud, tired feet and blisters.

But their own struggles don’t matter. As Harrell says, “Blisters don’t need chemo.”

Harrell and Cox participated in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure walk in Washington -- one of 14 treks taking place throughout the country this year to raise awareness for breast cancer, as well as money to fund research for a cure. Each walker must raise at least $2,300. Cox and Harrell hosted a charity kickball tournament earlier this year and have another fundraiser at Picasso Pizza scheduled later this month to help them raise the remainder of the funds.

This was the second year Cox and Harrell, who walk under the team name “The Tough Tatas,” have completed the 60-mile journey. They walked last year in Atlanta, in memory of Harrell’s aunt, who died of breast cancer in 2005 after a 12-year battle.

“It was such an emotional experience, seeing all the survivors,” Cox said of the Atlanta walk. “Rhiannon and I decided we would walk every year.”

Walkers follow a pre-mapped route, traveling between 15 and 22 miles per day, and camping out each night. Cox, Harrell and the other D.C. walkers traveled through Georgetown and Bethesda, past the White House and downtown D.C. and ended their walk at the Washington monument.

“It’s a line of miles and miles of pink,” Harrell said.

Community cheering stations and pit stops for food and drinks keep the walkers motivated. But Cox said she also enjoyed talking to people she met in between cheering stations, who asked her what the walk was for.

“I told them we’re walking for breast cancer,” she said. “One woman came up to me and said ‘Thank you so much.’ She was a three-year survivor.”

The weather wasn’t always cooperative -- it rained during the first day of the D.C. walk, Cox said -- but the people on the walk made the experience worth it. After a long day of walking, participants would gather at the campgrounds for dinner, a camp show or a Glee sing-a-long.

“Everyone hangs out together,” she said. “It’s 2,500 men and women dressed in pink from head to toe. Men wearing pink bikinis, women in pink wigs.”

Several of the walkers were survivors of breast cancer, Harrell said.

“It affects so many people. There are people walking that are the same age as you, in their 20’s. It doesn’t pick an age group,” she said.

For people planning on participating in future walks, Cox offered this advice: Train and break in a good pair of walking shoes.

“Definitely train by walking. You can’t just do zumba or go to the gym,” she said.

Then go to the walk with an open mind, she said, ready to meet new people and walk, no matter the weather.

“You’re there to change how people view breast cancer,” she said. “It’s all about making people more aware.”

Sara Pauff, 706-320-4469