training for a power walking marathon: a decade later

By Debra Brunner

Blog – number 1

It has been ten years since my last power walking marathon, and I am gearing up once again for the challenge ahead. My journey into power walking began on May 17, 2009, when I walked the Moonwalk through London with my daughter, Sam. This overnight marathon, done in our custom-designed bras and pink attire, was in support of breast cancer awareness. Training for it wasn’t always fun and games—at times, it felt like a scene straight out of Run Fat Boy Run (if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it!). But we pushed through and completed all 26.2 miles. And what happened? I caught the bug… Sam, not so much!

By 2011, I put my walking experience to the test with my own power walking marathon to support a neglected Jewish community in Polotsk, Belarus, which I had twinned with Finchley Reform Synagogue. This time, I set myself an even bigger challenge—four marathons in a week. Three in the UK and one in Belarus, where I walked alongside members of the Polotsk community. One of my London marathons saw members of Finchley Reform Synagogue joining me in training, including my son Jacob and his friends (who walked in Tiger onesies), who were playing lead roles as active youth members at Finchley Reform synagogue at the time. I can’t believe they are now all grown up and married!

In 2013, I officially registered The Together Plan charity with the Charities Commission for England and Wales to expand our work in Eastern Europe. The following year, I returned to power walking, training for another marathon on June 1, this time accompanied by wonderful friends from Finchley Reform Synagogue. By then, The Together Plan was gaining traction, and in 2015, I walked two more marathons—one in London on May 17 and another in Minsk, Belarus, on June 9.

The Minsk marathon was deeply meaningful. We started at Yama, a memorial marking the site where 5,000 Jews were massacred in the Minsk Ghetto on March 2-3, 1942. We laid flowers in remembrance of the 100,000 Jews who perished in the ghetto before walking through the vast, Stalinist-designed avenues of Minsk, built for military parades. The marathon ended at the Trostenets Death Camp Memorial, where the Nazis operated one of the deadliest extermination sites in 1942-1943. For the last few miles, we were joined by elderly survivors of the Minsk Ghetto and the then British Ambassador to Belarus, Bruce Bucknell. A week after our walk, the official opening of the Trostenets Memorial took place. Our efforts even made it onto Belarusian TV – click here to watch.

Now, ten years on, and The Together Plan is twelve years old. This summer, we will complete a historically significant memorial in Brest-Litovsk, Belarus. This ground breaking memorial, designed by US landscape artist Brad Goldberg, will incorporate 1,250 salvaged Jewish gravestones and will ensure that the destroyed Brest-Litovsk Jewish cemetery is once again recognised on the world map. The memorial will honour not only the lost Jewish community of the past but also the small, resilient Jewish community that exists there today.

To help complete this project, we are launching a final fundraising push to raise £40,000 by the summer. And so, I am stepping back into my power walking shoes – well in actual fact a brand new pair (more on that in the next blog). This campaign is open to everyone—you can sign up to walk anywhere, setting your own distance, on a route and date of your choosing. Simply register, set up your fundraising page, and ask friends and family to sponsor you. Then, complete your walk between April 18 and June 8. Click here to register.

On June 8, I will be walking a full marathon in London, marking the end of the campaign. My colleagues in Minsk will be in Brest, walking through the streets of the city and posting about significant Jewish sites as they go. Their journey will conclude at the site of the new memorial. Walking alongside me on June 8th will be members of the Chipping BNI business network, where I occupy the charity seat. They have already set up their team page and are also beginning their training journey. I am looking forward to the weeks ahead as we all work together to pull this challenge off. If you’d like to join me in London on June 8, register now, and we’ll send you a training schedule.

I have my new trainers and training socks, and I am ready to get going! I’ll be blogging throughout my training to share my progress—so stay tuned. Whether you choose to walk, donate, or cheer us on from afar, every step will help us reach our goal.

Click here to support my team sponsor page.

Or if you want to register to walk – wherever you are in the world (setting your own challenge date between April 18th and June 8th, your own distance and own pace) – join in and register here. And if you are in the USA – you can register through Jewish Tapestry Project here.

As for me – well my training starts on Sunday – wish me luck!