Greetings from Opening Ceremonies
Oct. 8th, 2010 06:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jayfurrIt's a bit after 6 am and I'm at Opening Ceremonies for the 2010 Susan G. Komen 3-Day For The Cure.
Unlike other 3-Day events that I've participated in, Opening Ceremonies here in DC are not smack in the middle of an immense suburban parking lot or field. Instead, the teeming thousands of pink-clad, bunny-ear-wearing walkers are all milling around in the pre-dawn darkness on the wide sidewalks outside the Washington Nationals baseball stadium. We're not holding opening inside the stadium -- the stage and everything are set up on the southeast corner of the stadium periphery, outside, where we can't do anything silly like spray-painting our names in pink on the visitors' dugout.
I've actually been here at opening for far longer than is reasonable, or even sane. My hotel last night was all the way up north of DC in Silver Spring and everyone's been telling me how bad DC traffic can be, even early in the morning. I figured, well, it's 28 miles to opening ... if traffic is really that bad, maybe I should allot over an hour to get here.
Sigh. I got here in a half hour and even the crew wasn't here yet. There was a handful of route safety crew wandering around and the long-term parking inside the stadium parking garage wasn't even open. So I drove around for a half hour, peering at the US Capitol and Mall and surrounding area and saw a zillion police cars with their lights on, stationed at every intersection within a half mile of the Capitol. I guess terrorists never sleep, and neither do DC's Finest.
Finally, about 4:30, they moved the traffic cones from the entrance to the parking garage, I paid my $25, and drove up to the long-term parking zone on the third level. I was very pleased to hear that the garage will be locked securely all weekend -- my business clothes are in a garment bag in the trunk of my car and I was really not 100% sanguine about leaving them there all weekend. Now, having seen the sturdy gates and such that'll be between my tacky pink neckties and such and the criminal element, I'm much happier.
I dropped off my gear bag, got a plastic badge sleeve for my event credential, and ... um, still had close to two hours until opening ceremonies get underway. So I've been roaming around with a glassy-eyed smile on my face, saying a lot of "How you doin'" to crew and walkers alike. I've run into a few people who evidently know me from other events, people who merrily shout out "Hey there, Jay!" as they hurry by, intent on their duties. And I've run into and talked with a few people I actually recall knowing, like the legendary Mollie Simpkins, who's here at the DC 3-Day as captain of the Grab and Go B crew, and Kristine Davis, here as part of the Check-In/Check-Out crew. I've taken quite a few photos and I'd upload one or two of them here, but stupid ol' me carefully packed my USB cable in my gear bag, so photos will have to wait until I pass a Radio Shack or CVS or something on the route or until I get to camp.
I'm looking forward to the walk today. We really will go right through the heart of all the touristy/Federal stuff downtown on our way northwest toward Bethesda. People from out of town who hoped to see a lot of DC tourist attractions shouldn't be disappointed.
Unlike other 3-Day events that I've participated in, Opening Ceremonies here in DC are not smack in the middle of an immense suburban parking lot or field. Instead, the teeming thousands of pink-clad, bunny-ear-wearing walkers are all milling around in the pre-dawn darkness on the wide sidewalks outside the Washington Nationals baseball stadium. We're not holding opening inside the stadium -- the stage and everything are set up on the southeast corner of the stadium periphery, outside, where we can't do anything silly like spray-painting our names in pink on the visitors' dugout.
I've actually been here at opening for far longer than is reasonable, or even sane. My hotel last night was all the way up north of DC in Silver Spring and everyone's been telling me how bad DC traffic can be, even early in the morning. I figured, well, it's 28 miles to opening ... if traffic is really that bad, maybe I should allot over an hour to get here.
Sigh. I got here in a half hour and even the crew wasn't here yet. There was a handful of route safety crew wandering around and the long-term parking inside the stadium parking garage wasn't even open. So I drove around for a half hour, peering at the US Capitol and Mall and surrounding area and saw a zillion police cars with their lights on, stationed at every intersection within a half mile of the Capitol. I guess terrorists never sleep, and neither do DC's Finest.
Finally, about 4:30, they moved the traffic cones from the entrance to the parking garage, I paid my $25, and drove up to the long-term parking zone on the third level. I was very pleased to hear that the garage will be locked securely all weekend -- my business clothes are in a garment bag in the trunk of my car and I was really not 100% sanguine about leaving them there all weekend. Now, having seen the sturdy gates and such that'll be between my tacky pink neckties and such and the criminal element, I'm much happier.
I dropped off my gear bag, got a plastic badge sleeve for my event credential, and ... um, still had close to two hours until opening ceremonies get underway. So I've been roaming around with a glassy-eyed smile on my face, saying a lot of "How you doin'" to crew and walkers alike. I've run into a few people who evidently know me from other events, people who merrily shout out "Hey there, Jay!" as they hurry by, intent on their duties. And I've run into and talked with a few people I actually recall knowing, like the legendary Mollie Simpkins, who's here at the DC 3-Day as captain of the Grab and Go B crew, and Kristine Davis, here as part of the Check-In/Check-Out crew. I've taken quite a few photos and I'd upload one or two of them here, but stupid ol' me carefully packed my USB cable in my gear bag, so photos will have to wait until I pass a Radio Shack or CVS or something on the route or until I get to camp.
I'm looking forward to the walk today. We really will go right through the heart of all the touristy/Federal stuff downtown on our way northwest toward Bethesda. People from out of town who hoped to see a lot of DC tourist attractions shouldn't be disappointed.
