Announcing: ROW Team Walk Series!

Breast cancer walks are increasingly common—hosted worldwide, they have helped facilitate awareness and generate much needed funds for breast cancer research and support groups.

But what strikes us most is the sense of community that springs up around these events; it’s a tangible byproduct of aligning like-minded individuals for a common cause or purpose. Community is a critical aspect of our offering at Recovery on Water (ROW), and so we recently decided to harness the power of these walks with an all-new program offering.

Photo by Ashim D’Silva on Unsplash

The ROW Team Walk Series launched earlier this month, and it is making our mission increasingly accessible to a broader and more diverse audience of breast cancer patients and survivors.

ROW believes in the power of team sport to empower women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, and we know with certainty that physical activity can help reduce the risk of recurrence by up to 50 percent. Our mission is built specifically on this idea. At the same time, we recognize that, for many, rowing is simply the means to an end, and the end that many women are seeking is a sense of community support and

familial connection with those who intimately understand the breast cancer journey. Furthermore, we know that rowing may be inaccessible to some women who are still in treatment and may have limited use of their upper extremities.

With the ROW Team Walk Series, we are inviting members to participate in a fitness modality that accommodates some of the physical limitations associated with active breast cancer treatment and that allows for more conversation and greater social engagement. While the latter may strike some as being of lesser importance, it is the social engagement and the physical engagement of team sport that make it such a powerful tool.

Walks are led by current ROW members, and they are currently hosted on Saturday and Monday mornings. Routes can vary at the discretion of the walk leader but meeting points are kept central, and they are based in areas that have been identified as ideal for pedestrian traffic. While participants are encouraged to remain with the group for the duration of the walk, which may range from two to three miles, they are free to depart when needed, depending on their schedule and preferred activity level.

Want to learn more about joining an upcoming walk? Contact programs manager Devlin Murdock for details on the upcoming schedule!