BY MICHELLE KIM

Jennifer Oliver was at the end of her chemotherapy treatments when she first heard about the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk.

“I saw this ad and I said to myself, ‘I have to do this’,” said Oliver, a 51-year-old mother of two. At that point she was exhausted and sick from chemotherapy, with no hair or eyebrows. “I came out of the living room and said to my husband, ‘Honey, I’m doing this’ and he looked at me like I was from Mars.”

The Breast Cancer 3-Day is a strenuous, 60-mile walk held annually in cities across the nation that raises money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

“It’s a commitment,” said Oliver. Participants must each raise $2,200 to enter and usually start training a year in advance.

Now a two-year survivor of breast cancer, Oliver was thrilled to participate in the Boston event this past August with her husband and a friend, Dawn Hanadrahan.

“We had a phenomenal time,” said Oliver. “It was hot. It poured rain. We were camping out with a sea of blue tents.”

To their disappointment, Oliver was unable to join the walk due to a back injury and rain prevented Hanadrahan from finishing. So for next year, they decided to enter again with an even bigger goal in mind. They hope to raise at least $10,000 and want to enter a team of at least four.

They’re holding the first informational meeting Thursday, Oct. 25, 6 p.m. at the Pinardville Athletic Club.

The two women met and bonded over shared stories when Oliver’s husband, Mark, who worked with Hanadrahan at the Pinardville Athletic Club, realized they were both thinking about joining the walk.

Hanadrahan, 42, had experienced a scare at the age of 35 when her first mammogram picked up a noncancerous tumor that was surgically removed, and a second mammogram detected a cyst that was also removed.

“It makes you very acutely aware, especially when you go through something like that your first time,” said Hanadrahan. “I almost didn’t want to go through another (mammogram).”

Before Oliver first felt the lump in her breast two years ago, she admitted she had little awareness about the world of breast cancer.

“I had known people who had breast cancer, but I didn’t know anything about it,” she said. “I knew it was a devastating disease, and that you could die from it. But I didn’t know there are many different types of breast cancer, and there’s different treatments.”

In the coming months, Oliver learned much more and often found herself often overwhelmed, especially at the beginning of her ordeal.

“I would say to Mark, ‘You read it. You tell me what I need to know,’” said Oliver. “So he read everything.”

More importantly, her husband also accompanied her to doctor’s visits and, when she shut down mentally after a certain point, would recall to her what the doctor had said.

Oliver underwent chemotherapy during the holiday season, just as her daughter was ready to give birth to her first child.

Although her battle with breast cancer was a very trying time, it was also in some ways a rewarding experience.

“I think it’s made me a better person,” she said. “It enhanced who I am and made me more grateful and thankful.”

 She also talks to everyone she knows about breast cancer and does regular breast exams every month.

“It’s a very scary disease, but if it’s caught early, the prognosis is very excellent.”

For more information on the meeting Thursday, Oct. 25, at 6 p.m. at the Pinardville Athletic Club on 15 Pershing St., Manchester, call 582-4411.

The 3-Day Walk Web site is www.the3day.org.