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Reschke, page 2
by abby debruine

Adopting the mantra of “I may not be rich or have a medical degree, but I care about people and can walk,” Reschke’s “Walk to Heal” journey covered more than 1,200 miles and took almost three months to complete. All the money he raised was to go directly to the UW-Madison Comprehensive Cancer Center, the only comprehensive cancer center in the state. Reschke specifically requested the money go toward the center’s new Interdisciplinary Research Complex.

“The walk was my way of saying goodbye to Kelly,” he recalls. “He taught me things that I don’t think I would have learned from anyone else. He taught me about work ethics and about being a good person at the same time. I don’t think I’d be the person I am if I’d never met him.”

For a year-and-a-half, Reschke planned, organized and trained for the walk. He ran at least 10 miles a day, and spent his weekends riding his bike around Lake Mendota. Hours after work, Reschke would bike around town, visit various businesses and try to get sponsorships. He came up with a budget and mapped out his journey down to the amount of dried fruit and nuts he put in baggies to be staged in the 11 boxes he positioned at various stopping points along his route across the state. After Reschke drafted a purpose of intent detailing the walk, he approached his immediate supervisor, Terry Frink, about applying for a 12-week leave of absence from his job as a courier at the hospital.

“It takes a lot of guts to undertake something like that,” Frink says. “I didn't hesitate for a moment in approving it. If someone is going to make that big of a commitment, I could never stand in his way.”

At 6:30 a.m. April 29, 2005, Reschke departed from the UW-Madison Comprehensive Cancer Center to begin his journey. Attached to one of the zippers of his 45-pound pack were 17 multicolored bracelets representing the various forms of cancer.

Though Reschke had the company of the occasional co-walker throughout the trip, his rigorous schedule of 30 miles a day often left the once-zealous walkers in his dusty wake.

“I set up the walk to be difficult so people would pledge,” Reschke says of his grueling schedule. “People with cancer have an even tougher road to travel. This walk was not a camping trip. It was my job for almost three months.”

Walking on county highways and state trails, Reschke often didn't know where he’d spend his nights. There’d be many times when a spent Reschke would have no other choice than to camp where his feet gave out beneath him.

“I slept on construction sites, on baseballs fields, you name it,” he remembers. “But there were a lot of times, especially in the small towns, where people that I met along the way insisted I stay with them for the night.”

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curb magazine 2005: balance for wisconsin's young professionals