Welcome to my Avon Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk (2001) web site! Updated 11/2001
This page will give you an idea of what the experience was like. The photos are my chronicle of the three days.
As I try to give you a synopsis of how it went, I know I am leaving so much out, but please forgive me. The walk was an amazing and very challenging three days. There were four of us walking together, Amy, Carol, Stephanie and myself. Being outside all day for Day Zero registration took it's toll on Carol, Amy's mother, as she suffered heat exhaustion. Thus she was unable to join us for Day One. The first day was 23 miles, from Enumclaw to Auburn. The temperature reached in the low 90's (pretty hot for Seattle) and we had many people sent to the hospital for dehydration and heat exhaustion. The heat took it's toll on Amy's legs, which had developed a nasty case of heat rash. Luckily, most who were hospitalized made it back for the second or third day of walking. Stephanie, my lovely contant companion, and I walked the full 23 miles, but it took about 11 hours. When we got to camp, we found that a local boy scout troop had set up our tents for us. Never in my life have I been so happy to see a tent to sleep in. Most of you know I am NOT a camper, so I must have been pretty tired!
Carol sums up day two best, so I will use her description here: "I joined the group on Day 2, about 6:30 AM. My three co-walkers were still working on their medical problems. We had breakfast and started out,walking only half the day. By then, Amy's heat rash was burning; Stephanie
couldn't walk on her left foot, and Katie had the tops and bottoms of each toe on each foot, bandaged. In addition, an old knee problem was beginning to pain
her as she walked. What a motley crew! Sweaty and smelly, we must have looked like the dregs of a war effort walking back home. It was fun, though. We
met lots of people; were entertained by the traffic control; and fed well at each of the stations. Water and Gatorade became our lives!
Jerry, Richard, Keri and Christopher {Amy's family} met us at the night camp. We
discovered we could go out for dinner. So ... without showers, wearing wide-brimmed straw hats and our walking outfits, Stephanie with her bag of ice in hand
(she had to ice her foot to numbness before walking); Amy with one leg wrapped in gauze (the medic center ran out of gauze, so only one leg got wrapped), we went out for pizza and spaghetti. We were a little surprised to discover that the recommended restaurant was on the upscale side. I'm not sure what the rest of the restaurant patrons thought! Stephanie continued icing her foot under the table. When the ice melted,
she hobbled into the restroom and dumped the water. We all drank up our water then preceded to dump the ice into the baggie, and Stephanie continued
icing her foot. I really still can't believe we did this ... but it does make me laugh! And to think that Richard nor Jerry nor Keri nor Christopher acted like anything was amiss!"
As Carol mentioned, on the second day we made it about 12 miles before taking one of the shuttles back to camp. My feet were in pretty bad shape and I wanted to make it to the third day. Day three took us from Renton through downtown Seattle and into Seattle Center. All along the route there were kids and families with their sprinklers on for us to walk under. Some had fruit and other snacks for us, as well as lemonade and water. In many of the communities we walked through there were people who thanked us and shook our hands because they survived breast cancer or had a family member with cancer. The closing ceremonies were very moving and Pallotta did a great job of honoring the support crew (who rocked), the walkers, survivors and those who have died of breast cancer. It was great to see so many people there to support their moms, sisters and friends.
As physically painful as the walk was, meeting the folks along the route reminded me that one of the reasons I decided to do this is because I CAN. I have the ability to walk, to raise money and help the cause. Not everyone can do that, and what a waste to not use those abilities for something worthwhile.
In the end, we all came out of this physically OK and touched by everyone's efforts to raise money, support us and keep fighting the disease. I am in physical therapy for a few months and have been told not to walk any significant mileage until March 2002, so my knee and foot can heal. It really was a neat experience, and one that I am so happy to share with everyone.
To sum it up, here are some figures from the 3-Day: -Total number of walkers on the Seattle 3-Day: 2,968 (Female:
2,877, Male:
78)
-Total number of crew members= 498
-Number of survivors= 255
-Total going back to the cause announced on Day 1= $4.6 million!
(Final
number still pending)
-Total number of blue, 2-person tents= 1,737
-Total number of Honey Buckets= 1,414
-Number of bottles of Gatorade consumed= 40,896
-Number of bottles of water consumed= 96,786.
Please check out the photos I have posted as links.
Links:
Day One Photos
Day One Photos, continued
Day Two Photos
Day Two Camp Photos
Day Three Photos
Day Three at Seattle Center
Closing Ceremony Photos
My Walk Sponsors
About Me
Seattle Times coverage of the 3-Day
South County Journal article highlighting two walkers
