New London — They've walked mostly on asphalt, but at times on concrete sidewalks and grass, down narrow roads and alongside heavy traffic. They've slept on wood floors, rugs, cots and couch pillows.

On Sunday they woke around 6:30 a.m. at the Islamic Center of New London on Fort Street in Groton, just across the Thames River from their final destination. They ate a simple but satisfying breakfast of pita, Za'tar, a traditional Middle Eastern crispy cracker like bread with spices similar to oregano, a sauce made mostly of chickpeas, and olives. They then headed over the Gold Star bridge to the finish. 

Two weeks ago, Glennys Ulschak and Vic Marolda of New London and Nick Evento of Waterford began a 200-mile walk from New London to Newtown and back in honor of those killed in the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

During their walk, they stopped at six playgrounds dedicated to victims of the tragedy, the last of which was in Mystic in honor of Grace McDonnell, one of the 20 first graders who died that day. At each playground, they left a small stone with the word "peace" engraved on it.

The playgrounds each incorporate the victims' artwork, including Grace's.

"Her little picture is a peace sign," said Marolda's wife, Janet, who walked the last three of the 14 days. "I said, 'Look at this, guys, it's the last one, and it's a peace sign.' That's so amazing to me since this whole thing has been about a peace walk. It so personalized it."

[naviga:iframe width="100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GgnKKb2kaq8" height="240" frameborder="0"] [/naviga:iframe]

Several others joined the group of three during the walk, bringing renewed energy each time.

A friend of Ulschak, one of the three who completed the entire 200 miles, came all the way from Tennessee to join the group for part of the walk.

"Sandy Hook has not only gripped so many people in the Northeast, it really has gripped the nation. Few were untouched by it because of all of the family connections in our circles," said Ulschak.

Starting on May 17, they averaged about 15 miles per day, or around 100 miles per week.

Each day as they walked, they'd wave to all those who passed by whether by car or on foot. They passed gorgeous yards, rolling farms, beautiful fields set back in the distance. They've seen hawks flying, and the budding of spring flowers like irises and rhododendrons. Recently, they stopped at a driveway in Waterford that had a peace sign engraved in it and took a picture around it.

Each night they'd sleep in the congregation of a different faith. While they asked for simple meals, each host went above and beyond. The most elegant of the meals was a Shabbat Dinner at Beth Jacob Synagogue in Norwich.

The group affectionately called Ed Walker of Mystic their sherpa as he drove his 1992 Toyota Spirit with 123,000 miles on it from stop to stop filled with their bags.

"I'm having mixed feelings because we've been together as a group for a long time and we've gotten to know each other and friendly banter, great friendships that will last for a long time. So there's sadness," said Evento, whose idea it was to walk. "But my bed will feel so nice."

Evento and the others reached their final destination, All Souls Unitarian Universalist Congregation, where several of the walkers are members, around 9:40 a.m. Sunday.

The Rev. Carolyn Patierno of All Souls blessed the walkers upon their return during the congregation's usual Sunday morning worship service.

The walk from the Islamic Center to All Souls was just 4 miles, but for some, it felt different from the other 196 that they'd walked.

Marolda said the group had traveled to different communities and met "just wonderful people," who originally "were afraid of us coming."

"They weren't sure if this was a good thing: 'Well, who are these people coming in?' It was always a positive experience at the end. The comments were, 'We were really glad this happened,' " Marolda said after crossing the narrow pedestrian sidewalk on the southbound span of the Gold Star Memorial Bridge and reaching Cole Street in New London.

In fact, Marolda had the same reaction initially.

"When I first said yes to support my friend Nick, I said, 'Oh gosh, what did I just do?' At the end of it I'm better for it," he said.

None of the walkers has a direct connection to the tragedy at Sandy Hook.

Evento, a retired high school history teacher, said the events affected him most as a parent.

"But it did impact me as a teacher. Would I be willing to take a bullet for my students? And I would hope I would say yes," he said.

"As a parent of two kids and four grandkids, I just, I just, part of me, tears come down my face each time I think of when those parents went to go to the firehouse at Sandy Hook, was my child going to be there? Just to think that my child might not be there. It's just unthinkable," he added.

Tony Rose of North Stonington walked for the last three days of the trip.

"It's one of those things where it's very frustrating, you don't know what to do," Rose said. "My children are grown now, but I can remember them at that age and how do you live with that?"

Rose, a retired environmental police officer with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said he initially had a lot more anger than Evento "as far as, you know, guns and stuff. I'm retired law enforcement and I think there are too many guns in general."

Evento helped him look at it from a different angle, Rose said, of "let's just push peace instead of always looking at the bad side of it."

j.bergman@theday.com

Twitter: @JuliaSBergman