Peggy’s pink purpose

Before the breast cancer battle cry “fight like a girl” became trendy, Peggy Honeycutt lived out the lifestyle.

It led her to an early stage 1 detection of breast cancer in October 2009, and, six intense chemo rounds later, it also led her to sign up for the 60-mile Susan G. Komen 3-Day walk in Washington, D.C. in October 2010.

 “I had just snuck in under the deadline of when I would be eligible to walk,” said Honeycutt, adding that event regulations require cancer survivors to be chemo-free at least six months prior to the event. 

Although Honeycutt, a lifelong Vestavia Hills resident, led an active lifestyle, she demurred when her daughter, Catherine, first presented her the idea. 

“I thought, ‘They must be kidding. They really expect people to walk a full 60 miles?’” she said. “But the more I thought about it, I totally agreed with my daughter. I still remember the day Betty Ford came out with her diagnosis. She was the first person I knew who had spoken out about having breast cancer. Prior to that, it was not discussed. I knew I could do this three-day.”

While Peggy focused on her recovery, Honeycutt’s daughters, Heather and Catherine, along with their sister-in-law, Kristin Barton Honeycutt, set the wheels in motion for the 3-Day, which carries a price tag of $2,300 per person. Their efforts resulted in a combined $10,000 for their group, nearly $3,000 over and above their required goal.

 “We pulled off the biggest garage sale I have ever seen,” said Honeycutt, describing the girls’ efforts to amass as many donations as they could, which then resulted in $2,100 in proceeds for the three-day fund.

As she regained her strength, Honeycutt and her daughters trained for hours at Wald Park. 

A mere six weeks later, on a cool Friday morning, they began the real deal, on a route that took them from the heart of the city into Maryland to end up on the National Mall that Sunday, complete with pink camping tents and Harry Potter — all audiobooks of the series — loaded onto their iPods.

 “They had this huge rally at the end, where the survivors walk in, surrounding the podium, where we each lift one shoe in the air,” said Honeycutt, describing one of the event’s most poignant memories. “We completed the race, and we are survivors. It was such a powerful thing.”

In a pay-it-forward act of service, Honeycutt opted to serve as a 3-Day supporter this past year in Atlanta, serving food to 1,800 people. 

This year, on Oct. 12, you will find her at Linn Park, participating in North Alabama’s own Race for the Cure, as an advocate, a survivor, a mother, and a daughter, but above all, as a fighter.