3 Day Walk - Final Day

Sunday morning arrived and we were lucky enough to "fall back" and get a little extra sleep. It wasn't much because we had to get up, pack up our stuff, get checked out of the hotel and catch a shuttle bus to the start of the walk. Route opened at 6:50 a.m. cause the sun was up! We headed over to camp about 6:45 to get in line for the shuttle.



Day three - we made it! Woo Hoo! It is a short day, just 16.2 miles today to get to the holding area, then another 1/2 mile or so to the real finish line.

Smiles all around. Megan's leg still hurts pretty good, but she is going to walk every mile even if it means she has to drag her leg behind her. She is one determined chick.

This mother/daughter team is raring to go! 16.2 miles! No problem. That is like Day Two without the last five horrible miles. We have got this!

Me and Martha are ready to go. The bus driver has on the heaters full blast and we are getting ready to start stripping out of some clothes. Can I just take a moment here to say that I should never, ever go without mascara. Jeez, do I even have any eyelashes or eyebrows? Scary.

There was a group of girls on the bus that were loudly bragging about staying at the DoubleTree and how they had margaritas and someone came to their room to massage their feet and they soaked them in Epsom Salt. People on the bus were staring daggers through them. I thought there might be a lynching. Our crew was very, very quiet about our hotel stay. It seemed almost mean to bring that up to girls who had spent the night camping in frigid temps. I think one of them may have gotten pushed under a bus. Just saying.

Do you think Callie will like this picture? It just cracks me up. She is trying to stretch and get a little loose before we start walking. It was painful people.

This picture just makes me laugh too. Connie was loading up on snacks in all her little zippered pouches and we of course had to load her down even more for a picture. No worries about going hungry on this walk. They feed you well and often. Did I already say that one girl whose story I read said "We ate like it was our job." Well we did too! We were good at our job too!

We were off. We walked through some spectacular neighborhoods. Crazy beautiful houses. Bigger than you were ever need. Just obscene. But we were sure gawking like we were looking for famous people. It was a lovely distraction.

The beginning of a giant cheering station. Dallas was out in force on Day Three!

DONUTS! Oh yeah! That will be good for another couple of miles!

Pink Fire Truck honking like crazy.

Megan putting one foot in front of the other. Martha, Connie and Brittany were a little bit ahead of us, but we kept meeting up at pit stops!

Pit Stop 2. Sitting down felt so good. Standing up, not so good. Standing up and getting started again was hands down the hardest part of the whole day.

Made it to the lunch stop about five minutes after it opened. We were so far ahead in the pack. It just felt so good to walk fast and know that we were going to get off of our feet sooner rather than later!

Karate Kid stretching it out again!

Callie and Megan take a picture in front of Hooters. Hooters was an awesome sponsor for them. Held a car wash for them and the corporation gave them over $1,000 match.

Karen's feet hindered her walking quite a bit, so she along with Brittany's husband Rick took on the task of getting our cars to the finish line. It was a logistics nightmare and had they not so generously taken care of this, we would have all had to pile into one car and drive 16 miles back to the DoubleTree before we could head home. Their kindness meant we could all walk a short distance to our cars and get on the road to the house. Never loved them more than when we pulled out of Closing Ceremonies within minutes and were on our way home. It was an awesome blessing!!

The last cheering station in Historic West End. As packed as it seems I am pretty sure it was bigger last year. I think the problem was that we were so early!!! The cheering stations were open for three hours and we were through them within 15 minutes of them opening. We were like a horse to the barn. Get out of the way. No lolly gagging, just one foot in front of the other.

Well maybe we lolly gagged for just a second to eat an ice pop! What an awesome yummy treat some complete stranger handed us. Funny how we were just taking random food and drink from anyone. Wouldn't consider doing that on a regular day, and Halloween just FORGET ABOUT IT. But a 3 Day 60 Mile walk with 2800 walkers, give me a Bloody Mary, a bottled water, candy, donuts, ice pops, orange slices, banana - not a problem.

We walked through Pioneer Park and really felt like we were getting so close.

Callie and Megan doing the stop light stretch. I heard someone say it was only one mile from here! We got behind two girls who had music strapped to their backs and we were moving. The music made it easier and before we knew it....

We were at the entrance to Fair Park! The finish line!!! We are going to make it!!!

It was maybe about 2:00 in the afternoon when we entered the holding area. It was a new location this year and was set up inside. We walked in to get our victory shirts! They told me I was number 365 to finish for the day. That is just crazy! Out of 2800 walkers? For real???

While I have this picture up I want you to notice how big the building is. By the time it got to be 3:30 in the afternoon or so, there was a huge line of walkers that made a lane for the new finishers to walk through. Walkers had to be in holding by 4:00. As each new finisher walked by you heard "Way to go ladies! Congratulations! Welcome to the end! You Made It!! You Did It!! There was so much clapping, hollering, congratulating going on it was unbelievable. It was a different experience this year for me. Last year, we were one of the late arrivers and were some of the ones that walked through the huge long line of people. This year, we finished early and were able to cheer on those who were finishing. Both were equally as awesome, just different experiences. This year, you could tell the people who had really struggled. Those that were limping and had tears rolling down their face as they made their way to get their shirts. Some were just overwhelmed with emotions. Some were carrying big bouquets of flowers their loved ones had given them. Some were carrying their children who had met them at the finish line. Many were walking with their teammates beaming with pride about conquering this distance. It was really quite moving.

Yes, three cheers for us!!! Three cheers for sitting down!!! Three cheers for all that hard work and the deep, deep satisfaction of a job well done. AAAAHHH!!

Megan's leg held up...barely. Callie still had a little pep left in her.

Connie and Brittany already talking about doing it again next year!

We are INVINCIBLE!!! Oh yes we are!

Team photo!! What a great group of gals! So lucky to know and love them all!

We had almost 2 1/2 hours to kill before Closing Ceremonies started. Martha catches a cat nap (exactly 16 minutes!) laying on the hard concrete floor. That girl can seriously sleep anywhere, anytime.

Megan also catches a quick little rest before we have to haul ourselves a little further to closing ceremonies.

We all start gathering outside on the plaza to march to closing ceremonies. It was a huge crowd. Matching shirts. Linking arms in rows of ten. Music blasting. Big crowds on either side of the sidewalk.

Once the walkers get around the stage area, the crew marches in. The crew is just amazing. All volunteers with such generous and kind hearts. There were 425 of them and when they walked in the place went crazy with applause of gratitude. Would not have been able to, nor would I have wanted to try to do it without the amazing support of these folks. We clapped for them, they cheered for us, one big love fest!

Then my absolute favorite part! All the walkers take off a shoe and raise it high in the air when the survivors walk in. We did this for you!!! We walked to find a cure so that you can beat this disease!!! Was it hard? You bet. Would we do it again if it meant we could wipe out this terrible disease? In a red hot second. Yeah, I cried even though I knew it was coming.

Then a few of the survivors bring in the 3 Day camp flag and raise it for the final time. It was so awesome. Dallas, TX 3 Day Walk for the Cure raised over $7,000,000!!! Woo Hoo!!!

Candy Coburn comes on stage and belts out a Pink Warrior song and the survivors went wild. The rest of us were kind of done. That was great, but where's the car? Is it far? Can we go now? Would you believe it if I told you I had to pee? There is not a port-a-potty in sight. How are we going to fight this crowd and get out of here?

Karen shows us where the cars are parked and as soon as possible, we are weaving, bobbing, excuse me, pardon me, can I get through, heading this way, grab my hand, don't get separated, making our way through the mob and on to our car. Sweet relief to sit down.

Goodbyes shouted out! It was awesome!! Loved it!! Call me when you get home!!!

Another year - another walk - another sensational experience! Congratulations to all my girls. So proud of my team and the hard work they put in and the money they raised for this amazing cause! Your captain thinks that 3 Days 4 Hope ROCKS!!!

3 Day Walk - Day Two

I will start this by telling you right up front that Day Two was hard. It was 21.3 miles and it was hard. It started off good. Initial assessment upon waking up was that we were all a little stiff, a little sore, but nothing too terrible. With the exception of Karen, whose feet just never gave her a chance. Blisters don't tend to clear up in 8 hours of sleep. She was hurting. Megan's leg was sore, but also walkable. Brittany was hurting behind her knee as well, but up and out the door we went.

We had a wonderful free breakfast at the DoubleTree and then bundled up and headed over to camp to get started on our walk.



Brittany sporting her totally cute sock legwarmers! It was so easy to spot her in the crowd!

Callie threw together another winning outfit. I think her unitard was the only piece of clothing she wore that was actually hers. How in the world that girl can pull off an outfit like this and still look cute is beyond me!

We are short on walker on Day Two. Our sweet team mate Martha had a very important Super Bowl she had to attend for her youngest son. He was heartbroken that she was going to miss it - and we momma's are not into breaking our kids hearts. So instead, she drove three hours to see his game and drove three hours back to walk with us on Day Three. Such a stellar example of a selfless mom who tries to do it all for everyone. I love Martha.

Sun is up and we are on the course by about 7:45 a.m.! See the guy in the pink bra with no shirt on - totally makes me freeze just looking at him. He did say he had handwarmers in his bra, but I am telling you he still had to be FREEZING!

We walked with some pretty wonderful people. I recall on this early part of Day Two we talked with a couple of mother/daughter teams that camped out and they said they could not get warm all night and maybe slept about thirty minutes. In our group we were lock lipped about our lovely stay at the DoubleTree with hot showers, yummy beds and HEAT!!

Brittany finds her sweet hubby Rick at our first Pit Stop! It was so sweet to see her running over to him.

At the next cheering station, Connie and Brittany are blessed with a surprise visit from their family that lived in Dallas! Such a nice surprise!

On this day, when we were struggling a bit there were some hills, bridges and lots of crazy crooked, broken, twisted, uneven sidewalks to deal with. This pedestrian bridge over a major highway was a doozy.

But lo and behold, two sweet, sweet men set up a little table with Bloody Mary's!! The real deal! Fully loaded, with all the chopped up veggies, olives, pickles you heart could desire. I love me a Bloody Mary and could have put away 16 of these little dixie cups! I settled for one and it was just the boost I needed at that very moment. Funny how that happens.

Quick picture of the rows of port a potties. I don't know how they do it, but they keep these potties pretty darn clean and sparkly. Not nearly as bad as you imagine they might be! Especially since we were continually at the front of the pack! Sometimes I think we were the first users! The funny part is you always hesitate when you are done. Like you know there is an extra step of flushing that you don't do so you pause inside after you are done - it feels unfinished. Really hard to walk out of the door without flushing.

At this pit stop Megan's leg is really hurting so she gets in line for Medical attention. The medical folks are working sun up to sun down around here.

Megan shows him where it hurts and he wraps her knee up tight in an ace bandage and tells her to ice it and take ibuprofen at her earliest convenience. Thinks she has torn a muscle at the back of her calf. YIKES.

The neighborhoods on this day were decked out and we had lots of impromptu cheering stations. It really does give the walkers a boost, so if you ever have the opportunity to cheer for some walkers go out and give them a holler! We appreciate it more than you can imagine.

We made it to lunch. Let me tell you the last couple miles before lunch I was doing a tremendous amount of whining. It seemed like we would never get there and one tiny little dixie cup of Bloody Mary hardly numbs the nerves enough!

Brittany and Connie holding up pretty good.

Megan's knee hurts, but the ace bandage is helping.

See!

This is Callie's foot covered in tons of vaseline and sock remnants! She didn't walk more than 3 miles before the walk and she didn't get one blister. It was a small vaseline miracle!

She was pooped and sore, but a quick little catnap at lunch seemed to help.

Velma and Shaggy in the Scooby Sweep Van. Warming up a little bit and we start shedding some layers.

We came up on this young girl carrying the Mother flag.

Her mom died in August of this year. She was walking for a cure. Gives me chill bumps just to type these words. I also remember a story from last year, not sure if it was on our walk or in another city but these two young girls walked with a pair of shoes thrown over their shoulder. It was their mom's shoes. She had been training with them and died just a few weeks before the walk, so they carried her shoes with them the entire 60 miles.

About five miles from camp Megan has to take off her ace bandage - too tight. We ask her if she needs a sweep van, but she presses on. Bound and determined to tough it out.

Assume the stop light position, Brittany. You just had to stretch - it felt so good.

Caught Megan doing the stop light stretch.

At the last pit stop of the day we walked through a little Rose Garden. We did stop and smell the roses, although the lovely scent was not hardly enough to take our mind off of the "OMG - my feet are killing me" thoughts that were running through our minds.

Karen finds a wall to try a new stretch. She will be so excited to see this picture I am sure!

This cardboard doctor was at lots of stops and was offering Free Breast Exams. I didn't see anyone take him up on it, but he certainly had his picture taken a number of times.

Finally, back to camp. It was hard. Really, really hard. Could not wait to sit down! We finished about 5:00 p.m. so that was a full 9 hours of walking. Dang.

We snapped this picture and walked right through camp and to our hotel. We did not pass go, we did not collect $200. We ordered pizza once we got to the hotel because it sounded so dang yummy to everyone. Showers were taken and fresh comfy clothes were put on. There was some ibuprofen popped and some feet rubbed and pampered.

By the time it was time to head back to camp for the show we had Martha back and we had smiles on our faces. Martha's son won the Super Bowl, so she was so happy to have been there to see it and share it with him. She came back and went into super caretaker mode for the rest of her fallen team mates. She met the pizza guy, got ice, fixed us drinks, basically did it all.

Picture in the lobby. This little old man was taking our picture and kept telling us to squish in, he couldn't get us all in the picture. One of us was whispering behind our smile "Take two steps back" - we all laughed and squished in more.

The big tent was packed for the dance party. Those of us from last year knew what was coming.

They got all the boy walkers up on the stage and told them to get us started. Our host Jenne poked a little fun at them and then we were off!

The girls get in on the action and we all started moving. So surprising how much better we felt when the music and dancing started.

Connie and Brittany getting it with the line dancing.

Karen's blisters hurt a little less in this party atmosphere!

Go Martha, Go Martha, Go Martha!!

Me and Callie on stage. It is a wonder I didn't pee my pants as hard as I was laughing.

After we danced, got hot and sweaty and loosened up we strolled back through the 3 Day city on the way back to the hotel. We stopped and shopped at the 3 Day store. I got in line to buy a coffee mug, but didn't have my credit card with me. Embarrassing. My teammates of course came to the rescue. Connie and Martha almost leg wrestled to pay for it for me. They are just the best.

Callie bought everyone a 3 Day picture frame. Can't wait to get a picture in it!

We laughted a lot, but my funny line of the evening came after shopping:

Me: Megan, what did you buy?

Megan: A hoodie, a koozie and a shirt. I almost bought a pair of pink 3 Day shoelaces, but then I remembered that I am never going to wear tennis shoes ever again and I put them back.

Cracked me up.

We hobbled back to the hotel for a good nights sleep! Tomorrow is the last day. Can't wait!