It's finally here...
Aug. 19th, 2010 05:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jayfurrIt's finally here: my first Susan G Komen 3-Day For The Cure as a walker.
"Wait," you say, "This is your first 3-Day?"
Technically, yes. As a walker, and under that name, "Susan G. Komen 3-Day For The Cure".
I took part in a Susan G. Komen 3-Day For The Cure earlier this year, in Boston, but I was a member of the crew, providing support services to the legions of pink-clad women and men walking through the July heat. And while I have walked in 3-Day walks before, it was as a participant in the "Breast Cancer 3-Day", an event run by the National Philanthropic Trustin partnership with Susan G. Komen For The Cure. This is my first time ever walking in the new "Susan G. Komen 3-Day For The Cure", which is now 100% run by Susan G. Komen For The Cure directly. So that's a minor distinction, but hey -- it meant that I had to get new t-shirts and stuff if I wanted to be all au courant.
Even if you don't make the distinction vis-a-vis the exact name of the walk, this will still be my first full 3-Day as a walker in almost two years. I walked my legs off in 2009 to get ready for the Philadelphia 3-Day in October, only to have not one, but TWO nor'easter storms hit the city on the same weekend, bringing driving rain and wind and temperatures in the mid-40s. With the safety of the walkers a real concern -- imagine, if you will, a couple thousand hypothermic pink-clad women and men huddling in bus shelters and store entrances, looking for anywhere to get warm -- the organizers called off first the opening day, then the second day of the walk. Many walkers had come packed for seasonably warm, sunny weather, with a light rainjacket or poncho in their gear... but what they'd have needed would have been something closer to the sort of survival gear you see Alaska crab fishermen wearing on "The Deadliest Catch". With the weather slacking up a bit by the third day, the organizers went forward with a severely abbreviated "3-Day", consisting of a 15-mile walk staying carefully away from the swollen rivers and streams and on high ground.
When the news that the event would be severely truncated made its way around the various hotels walkers were staying in, many participants wept openly at the idea of having trained and fund-raised with a sixty-mile endurance walk in mind only to have the event turn into ... well, a moderate-length training walk in absolutely soggy conditions. Then, in classic life-gives-you-lemons-so-make-lemonade spirit, thousands of walkers spent what would have been the first and second days of the walk at local shopping malls, doing dozens of laps indoors while bemused shoppers applauded. When Sunday finally came and we all hit the streets for our one-day 3-Day, spirits were better and the closing ceremony at the Navy Yard was as enthusiastic as any 3-Day closing I've ever attended.
There have already been four 3-Day walks this year: Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, and Michigan. I've been part of a raucously gung-ho community on Twitter, cheering on the walkers and crew heading off to each of those cities, following their walks from afar and reading their blogs with a certain amount of envy. I'm glad to say that it's finally my turn to head off and walk and I'm really looking forward to getting to the land of lutefisk and lefse for this weekend's event.
I'm doing this walk as a solo walker, unaffiliated with any team. My wife Carole is staying behind in Vermont for this walk and the October walk in Washington DC that I'm also signed up for, but she will be joining me in Tampa Bay for the Halloween 2010 3-Day walk down in Floridas's balmy climes.
Now, if only the weather forecast for the Minneapolis/St. Paul area didn't call for a 70% chance of thunderstorms and rain up to 3/4" on Friday. (Saturday ard Sunday are predicted to be warm and sunny, thank heavens.)
Wish us luck!
"Wait," you say, "This is your first 3-Day?"
Technically, yes. As a walker, and under that name, "Susan G. Komen 3-Day For The Cure".
I took part in a Susan G. Komen 3-Day For The Cure earlier this year, in Boston, but I was a member of the crew, providing support services to the legions of pink-clad women and men walking through the July heat. And while I have walked in 3-Day walks before, it was as a participant in the "Breast Cancer 3-Day", an event run by the National Philanthropic Trustin partnership with Susan G. Komen For The Cure. This is my first time ever walking in the new "Susan G. Komen 3-Day For The Cure", which is now 100% run by Susan G. Komen For The Cure directly. So that's a minor distinction, but hey -- it meant that I had to get new t-shirts and stuff if I wanted to be all au courant.
Even if you don't make the distinction vis-a-vis the exact name of the walk, this will still be my first full 3-Day as a walker in almost two years. I walked my legs off in 2009 to get ready for the Philadelphia 3-Day in October, only to have not one, but TWO nor'easter storms hit the city on the same weekend, bringing driving rain and wind and temperatures in the mid-40s. With the safety of the walkers a real concern -- imagine, if you will, a couple thousand hypothermic pink-clad women and men huddling in bus shelters and store entrances, looking for anywhere to get warm -- the organizers called off first the opening day, then the second day of the walk. Many walkers had come packed for seasonably warm, sunny weather, with a light rainjacket or poncho in their gear... but what they'd have needed would have been something closer to the sort of survival gear you see Alaska crab fishermen wearing on "The Deadliest Catch". With the weather slacking up a bit by the third day, the organizers went forward with a severely abbreviated "3-Day", consisting of a 15-mile walk staying carefully away from the swollen rivers and streams and on high ground.
When the news that the event would be severely truncated made its way around the various hotels walkers were staying in, many participants wept openly at the idea of having trained and fund-raised with a sixty-mile endurance walk in mind only to have the event turn into ... well, a moderate-length training walk in absolutely soggy conditions. Then, in classic life-gives-you-lemons-so-make-lemonade spirit, thousands of walkers spent what would have been the first and second days of the walk at local shopping malls, doing dozens of laps indoors while bemused shoppers applauded. When Sunday finally came and we all hit the streets for our one-day 3-Day, spirits were better and the closing ceremony at the Navy Yard was as enthusiastic as any 3-Day closing I've ever attended.
There have already been four 3-Day walks this year: Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, and Michigan. I've been part of a raucously gung-ho community on Twitter, cheering on the walkers and crew heading off to each of those cities, following their walks from afar and reading their blogs with a certain amount of envy. I'm glad to say that it's finally my turn to head off and walk and I'm really looking forward to getting to the land of lutefisk and lefse for this weekend's event.
I'm doing this walk as a solo walker, unaffiliated with any team. My wife Carole is staying behind in Vermont for this walk and the October walk in Washington DC that I'm also signed up for, but she will be joining me in Tampa Bay for the Halloween 2010 3-Day walk down in Floridas's balmy climes.
Now, if only the weather forecast for the Minneapolis/St. Paul area didn't call for a 70% chance of thunderstorms and rain up to 3/4" on Friday. (Saturday ard Sunday are predicted to be warm and sunny, thank heavens.)
Wish us luck!
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Date: 2010-08-19 12:30 pm (UTC)~ Kristen
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Date: 2010-08-19 03:14 pm (UTC)Philly 1-Day
Date: 2010-08-19 02:48 pm (UTC)Wishing you great, DRY weather!!!
Re: Philly 1-Day
Date: 2010-08-19 03:14 pm (UTC)Re: Philly 1-Day
Date: 2010-08-20 03:20 pm (UTC)Above all, you were so positive!!
I was on Camp Services crew for Boston a few weeks ago, and met one of your teammates. She told me how your crew has been running for years as a group. I think that's fantastic. Heck, maybe I will join you some year. :) :) :) Keep up the good fight!
Re: Philly 1-Day
Date: 2010-08-20 04:43 pm (UTC)