She just keeps going and going

After a day in the heat, the last thing someone would want to do is walk home. But for Alice Everard, a 73-year-old mail carrier in Winter Springs, walking home is good training for what's to come.

Walking the four miles it takes to get to and from work along State Road 434 in Winter Springs is nothing compared to the 39.3 miles Everard will be walking when she participates in the two-day Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in New York City this October — her first ever marathon.

Joined by one of her daughters and granddaughters, Everard will round out three generations participating in the walk for a cause close to her heart.

"Someone got cancer; someone close to me," she said. "My daughter, who heard about the walk from her sister-in-law, told me about it and I wanted to do it… It's kind of a personal goal for me, as well as doing some good for others."

Soft-spoken Everard said she has lost loved ones to cancer — her husband, his 30-year-old sister and her two sisters. Her daughter has breast cancer right now.

"They have definitely improved on the things they can do for you that they couldn't do then," Everard said of the new technology and research that wasn't around to save her family members, but that the walk will raise money.

Walking up to about 18 miles, the farthest she said she's walked so far, Everard said she isn't too worried about not being able to do it, even at her age.

She nonchalantly said that she isn't too worried about unforeseen challenges either and that the cramped plane ride to New York might be the toughest part of the whole trip.

Naomi Bowen, Everard's co-worker at the Winter Springs Post Office for 20 years, said she thinks her longtime friend is an inspiration.

"I turned 50 this year and when I turn 73, I want to be able to say that I could do what she's doing," Bowen said. "There are a lot seniors who are content to sit at home and waste away, but not her.

"She is the energizer bunny at the WSPO. I'd like to bottle what she has going for her."

Everard is a mother to five children, three boys and two girls, and is a grandmother and great-grandmother to a dozen.

Bowen calls Everard a "remarkable woman" in saying that she also is a major breadwinner in her household, which contains four generations — herself, one of her sons, his two daughters and his daughter's 4-year-old.

"I thought her story should be shared," Bowen said. "For her to be taking this on at 73, starting out with the whole shebang, it makes you look at yourself and see what you can accomplish."

It seems Everard's daughter, Mary Brockman, who is participating with her in the marathon, isn't worried about her mother not being able to handle the challenges a marathon at her age might bring.

"There's 10 of us and she's by far the oldest," Brockman said. "She is the only one who started training. I think that she is definitely an inspiration because she is so determined to do it. She's stubborn that way, so the only thing I have to worry about is her training in the Florida heat and reminding her to stay hydrated."

Everard said besides having arthritis in her right foot, which she said acts up a bit, that her training isn't hurting her body too badly because she takes it easy and walks slowly.

She jokes that she does everything wrong when it comes to training, like drinking coke instead of water while walking and not stretching before and after her exercise. She's also not dieting or cutting back on her love of sweets.

"I just get up and walk," she said.

In fact, the only training Everard is doing is walking, usually on Sundays or days when she has time. She's been a mail carrier for 41 years. Although walking isn't as much a part of the job as it used to be, she said she still enjoys doing it.

"Walking is a nice way to think and lose [yourself] in," she said. "Everybody can do it. If I had to run in this marathon, I'd say forget it."

Wanna help?

The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in New York is taking place Oct. 16-17. All proceeds from the walk, including participant entry fees, goes to research for a cure.

Alice Everard needs to raise $1,800 to participate. With about $108 raised so far, she is looking for generosity in the community. If you'd like to donate, please call Everard at 321-279-6973. To learn more about the walk, visit www.avonwalk.org.