Leader Publications

Miranda Passig is willing to walk 60 miles with strangers and camp in a pink tent if it helps find a cure for breast cancer.

Passig, who bids farewell to her 20s next week, also meets her Portage teammates for the 2012 Susan G. Komen Michigan 3-Day in the Detroit area Aug. 17-19.

The Buchanan native married Levi Passig in 2005. She has dropped 20 pounds training since January and committed to raise $2,300, of which she has reached $585 of her goal.

She expects to travel 600 miles training — outside or on her treadmill. Sometimes, she walks in the neighborhood around Niles High School. Or, she strolls the river trail. Camping isn’t alien to her except for the idea of ending a 20-mile hike without “a soft bed to lay down in afterwards.”

Passig, of Hickory Street in Niles, has been known to log four miles a shift managing at Home Depot in Mishawaka for 10 years, but was never serious about athletic pursuits until deciding to quit “procrastinating” about the Komen 3-Day and “embark on a physical and emotional journey. This gave me more motivation to go out and walk four days a week. Now, if I don’t walk a couple of days, I need to.”

Unlike many participants, Passig isn’t motivated by a personal connection.

“It’s a cause I believe in,” she said, “but, fortunately, I haven’t had anyone close to me have breast cancer, but so many women are affected by it.”

“I understand breast cancer knows no boundaries, so committing to raising $2,300 and walking 60 miles in three days is an important step in ridding the world of the disease,” she said.  I’ve always had a strong interest in women’s issues and breast cancer is a horrible disease for anyone to have to go through. Every 15 minutes a woman dies of breast cancer, or about 112 women every day. Men can develop breast cancer as well, with about 400 men dying of breast cancer per year. We all need to work together to find a cure and to help provide treatment to those who need it. That is why I committed to walking 60 miles in three days to raise money for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day.”

Approximately 425,000 women around the world died of breast cancer in 2010.

Passig also enjoys scrapbooking, photography and blogging about books she reads.

To help her reach her goal of a world without breast cancer, donate by visiting http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/2012/MichiganEvent2012?px=6509132&pg=personal&fr_id=1765 .