Supporting Breast Cancer Research and Keeping a Promise to a Friend

KANDAHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Supporting a good cause and keeping a promise to a friend is all the motivation San Diego native Lt. Cmdr. Michael Bates needed to walk and run 60 miles in Afghanistan.

Shadowing the San Diego 2009 Breast Cancer 3 Day 60 Mile walk, Bates completed the distance in Afghanistan to support his friend Jennifer Schultz and breast cancer research. The walk was an opportunity for men and women to make a personal difference by fundraising, training and wholly dedicating an entire weekend to the fight against breast cancer.

"[Schultz] signed up for this but she was nervous about walking 60 miles and was wondering if she did the right thing," said Bates. "I told her if she kept it up and did her training I would do it with her but here in Afghanistan. When she left at 6:30 a.m., I left at 7:00 p.m., so we both started at the same time."

Bates, who is the current operations officer for the 30th Naval Construction Regiment, manages all ongoing military engineer construction in southern Afghanistan. After each workday, he needed to complete the distance over the same three days as his friend, running or walking 26 miles the first day, 20 miles the second and 14 miles the third.

"I didn't want to walk until four or five in the morning so I decided I've got to run some of this," said Bates. "I ended up running 13 miles and walking the rest the first night. It was pretty hard. I was worn out."

For the following two days Bates ran and walked the distances.

"The second day I [already] had blisters on my feet but I did it anyway. My heels were bleeding afterwards and I had bigger blisters," said Bates before starting to laugh. "It was hard to walk so I went to see Doc."

He was told by the regimental doctor not to run.

"I needed to finish it. So he taped up my feet and got me ready to go," said Bates. "The last night I went out and did the last 14 miles. I felt horrible, but [I also felt] fantastic that I com¬pleted something I started."

On the second day, Bates called his wife and explained to her his struggles.

"My mother passed away from breast cancer when I was 14 years old," said Bates. "[My wife] asked me if I was thinking about my mom. I hadn't until that point but after that, I did. But my main motivation was my very dear friend. I made a promise to her and I intended to keep it. Those were definitely my two motivations."