Paper: Columbian, The (Vancouver, WA)
Title: CANCER SURVIVORS TEAM UP FOR RELAY
Date: August 23, 1995

Ellen Klineline and Patricia Lichtenstein didn't meet their Portland to Coast teammates at the office or a health club the 12 team members share a much more personal bond.


All are breast cancer survivors, and are participating on a relay team sponsored by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The Portland to Coast Relay, a 126-mile walk that begins in downtown Portland and finishes in Seaside, starts Friday. It is part of the 195-mile Hood to Coast Relay, which goes from Timberline Lodge at Mount Hood to Seaside.


Klineline and Lichtenstein, both of Vancouver, said they are doing the walk to raise awareness of breast cancer.


"We'd like to show other women that a diagnosis of breast cancer doesn't have to be terminal," Lichtenstein said. "I haven't really ever announced that I have been through it ... and I think it's time. People can look at me and see there is a need for (breast cancer) research and funds."


Lichtenstein, 60, works as a controller for Royal Oaks Country Club. The mother of three daughters, she found a lump in her breast 11 years ago. After undergoing a modified mastectomy and nine months of chemotherapy, the cancer went into remission.


During her illness, Lichtenstein didn't turn to support groups for help.


"I went through it myself; I was my own support," she said. "But now that I have been meeting and talking with the other women, I've been enjoying it immensely ... there's a real bond there."


Klineline, 77, has been involved with breast cancer support groups for patients and survivors since her mastectomy six years ago. With the help of anti-estrogen drugs, she too has been healthy since the surgery.


Klineline, who worked as a houseparent at the Washington School for the Blind for 17 years, said the activities have allowed her to meet several friends.


"It certainly has opened doors for me," she said. "And helping people, understanding what they have gone through ... I've tried to comfort them.


"It's terribly hard on the younger women (in the groups) because they feel like they're losing their femininity ... we've cried right along with them," she added.


Jack, her husband of 54 years, her daughter and two sons will all be at the coast to greet her.


The race is a first for both women, and each will walk two legs of the 126-mile course.


Five hundred teams will be competing in the Portland to Coast walking and running in relays. There also is a breast cancer survivor team competing in the running event. The Susan G. Komen Foundation fronted the money for both squads to sign up, about $ 1,300, and the team members have collected donations to repay the foundation, plus give an additional donation.


Klineline, who works out on her treadmill for an hour a day in addition to walking, says she is excited.


"I have a 75-year-old friend who is also doing the race, and she said to me, You know we're crazy for doing this!'" Klineline said. "But isn't that what life is all about?"


HOOD TO COAST: The relay, the largest relay in the world with 750 12-member teams, also begins Friday. More than sixty Clark County teams will participate in the race. Here are a few of them:


TEAM TRAPPERS: While many Vancouver educators will be spending their last summer weekend relaxing at home and bracing themselves for the first day of school on Monday, five Fort Vancouver High School faculty members have different plans.


Running as part of the "Road Scholars" team in the Hood to Coast relay are assistant principals Maggie Hanson and Greg Watt, English teacher Janet Gillingham, social studies instructor Rick Boyd and video production teacher Andy Berhow.


Trapper graduate Laurie Miller Lopez also is on the squad, and driver Doug Hicks is the husband of Sam Gilroy Hicks, a former Fort teacher.


After finishing, the team has Sunday to return to Vancouver, recover and be up early the next morning to greet the students.


"We hope to be in great shape for the first day of school," Hanson said with a laugh. "We're hoping to be able to function and do everything."


Other Clark County members of the squad are Leonard Bleth, Vancouver attorney Steve Busick and his son Sam, a 1994 Hudson's Bay graduate who now attends the University of Portland.


BOSTON BOUND: Vancouver's Jan Phillips and Marilyn Riley, will compete on Team Bob, a half-Portland, half-Vancouver squad.


Next spring, Phillips, who is co-owner of Spanky's, and Riley, a secretary at Columbia River High School, will participate in the 100th running of the Boston Marathon. They were two of 22 Washingtonians drawn at random to win a spot in the world-famous event.


ALL IN THE FAMILY: Rick and Mary Beaudoin and their son Mario, all of Vancouver, will compete on a squad appropriately titled, "It Runs in the Family."


Rick, who is originally from Dickinson, N.D., is one of 15 children and will be joined by six of his brothers and sisters. Other team members are Mary's sister, Noelle Price of Vancouver; a cousin from Billings, Mont., and one of Rick's brothers-in-law. Two members will bring along newborn babies in the vans, possibly to give them early exposure to the family's favorite pastime. This will be the sixth Hood to Coast race for most of the family members.


Here's a list of most of the Clark County Teams which will participate in the Hood to Coast Relay, a 195-mile course which starts at Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood and finishes at Seaside beginning Friday.


Team Captain Team Name, COMPANY


Battle Ground:Gordon Glockner Sucking Wind


Brush Prairie:


Michael Busch Air Oakley


Larry Cowlishaw Sharp Minds -Tight Butts 2


Kathy Dahistron Lightening Jolts


Bob Davis HP Tig's


Camas:


Stan Hawthorne Morgan's Morfuns


Kathleen Hold Lacamas Leggers


John Rundle Hippocratic Oafs


Ridgefield:


Debbie Dorman Not Ready for Prime Time Runners


Steve Zimmermann Hoovers


Vancouver:


Jeff Angus Red Lion Lemmings


Dorick Beaudoin Beaudoin Family


Gary Bergren Non Compos Mentis


Berry Carson James River


Chris Clark Saints on Fire


Steve Conklin Cats on Glue


Nancy Cook Kyocera


Tom Crowley 11 Hares and a Tortoise


Barbara Dahl Maha Kola Sanni Demonds


Britten De Man Engineering Feets,


Olson Engineering


Bruce Dillon The Weakened Warriors


Ann Donnelly Barakat, Chamberlin & Friends


Michael Downey BOC Oxygen Deficit


Chris Hill Haulin' Grass, Yard Landscape


Chuck Hatch No Limits, Fred Meyer


David Fanning Kolisch Hardbodies Patent Pending


Paul Fitzpatrick Medical Maniacs I, Southwest


Washington Medical Center


Cynthia Gardner Flaming Ashflows


Frank Graham Team Graham, Lifeport Inc.


Mike Haynie Big Dogs Hounds from the Hood


Ken Howell Sun Runners are Strokin'


Woody Howell What the Hell, Johnson Controls


Jennifer Jones Cliff Bar Team


Danny Kaiser Clark County Jail Snails


Keith Ketring Physically Bankrupt, Cubs


Paula Kinnunen Comedy of Errors


Jay Kitchin Malt Balls


Ron Knight Nationwide Ins. Torque Reformers


Melodie Lamb Electra Glide, Clark Utilities


Lori Landahl Team Landahl, SWMC


George Leing Mega-Hurts


Dennis Linhares Lethal Legs


Sean McIntosh Rolling Bones


Dennis McLachlan Killer Wauna Bees


Kirk Miller CF Rightsizer Survivors,


CF Motor Freight


Bill Moyers Joint Suffering


Jake Niesen Team EDS, EDS


Brian Newman The Dead Lemmings Society


Darrel Newton The High Hard Ones


Dean Potter Road Scholars


Jim Redmond HP Rowdy Road Rats,


Hewlett Packard


Steven Rucker Salmon Creek Spawners


Karen Salber Running Down Our Legs


Geoffrey Smith B Heinz


Fred Suter Blue Thunder, USAF


Daniel Wamsley Knot Again


Greg Weber Highway to Hurl


Evelyn West Is T-Rex in the House?


Ralph Willson Keepin' the Faith


Paula Winters Here Today Dead Tomorrow


Sarah Wolf Team Wolf