Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005Our very first Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005! We showed up on Crew Training day wondering what we were in for. Were we going to be able to do the entire event? What were they going to expect of us? What if we did something wrong? You know…all that standard first-day-on-the-job type of emotions. Then we realized a key factor…they can’t fire us. So, as long as Justin and I showed up and did the type of job we do at everything else (give 100% and expect nothing back in return), we would be fine. Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005 - Crew Training Day We survived the training day. It really was a lot of fun. We learned how to put up tents (we knew how because we’re campers but it had been a while so a refresher is always a good thing). We also learned how to use the radio equipment. It’s important during the Breast Cancer 3 Day walks to be able to communicate and reach the folks you’re looking for! Then we had a couple of the Komen folks for the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005 talk to us about the importance of stretching, drinking fluids, eating before showering, and encouraging our walkers to do the same thing. The goal is for everyone to complete the breast cancer 3 day walk with a minimum number of injuries…GREAT GOAL!! Once the basics had been covered, we separated into our individual teams so we could meet our fellow team members, our team captain, and to get details on what our specific role would be for the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005. I had volunteered for the Camp Services Team. We’re in charge of towels, information, lost and found, making crew lunches, and assisting all of the other teams as required during the event.
As for my son, Justin, he volunteered to be on the Gear and Tent team. They were responsible for loading up all the walker and crew luggage in the mornings and then redistributing all of it, along with a tent, to everyone as they arrived in camp. One of the things that Justin was looking forward to, and was being trained on that day, was learning to drive the 24-foot Ryder trucks that would be hauling the luggage and tents. He did very well (the truck came back in one piece anyway), and he loved doing it. Just a bit of nervousness about whether he would remember that the height wouldn’t necessarily fit under every tree. After that, we were ready to get the weekend started.Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005 - Day 1 First of all, let me say…we are NOT morning people. I used to be when I worked in corporate America, but I can honestly say…I no longer miss it. Early mornings are not our highest energy times, but when it came to the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005, you certainly wouldn’t have known it. Of course, it might also have something to do with the fact that we ARE late-night people…and we had to be at the site at 3:45am…essentially the middle of the night for most people. In spite of our lacking in desire to be up before sunrise (or before the sunrise even knew that it was a sunrise), we got there on time. Justin started loading trucks about 4am as the walkers started arriving. I on the other hand, went to the outskirts of the parking lot with my team and began making lunches for the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005 crew members. We had this wonderful man named Joe, who I believe lives up in the Washington state area, who brought in a refrigerated truck full of food for us to make lunches with. We set up an assembly line of sorts and began putting one of each item into the bags, then gathered enough together for each crew to take to their teams (they got a head count the day before at the crew training day). Once we were done there, everyone was ready to climb onto the busses and head to camp 1. Once we arrived at camp, we spent the rest of the morning setting up and decorating our tents, setting out and folding towels for the shower area, and placing our signs for the area so the walkers would know where to find everything when they arrived at camp. The Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005 was on its way! Once we were done with our own setup, we assisted the Camp Logistics team in setting up the tables and chairs in the dining area…can you say “seating for 3000 please”? With everyone working together, we managed to get the entire camp area set up before the first walker arrived into camp…lunch time!
That evening, when everyone was back into camp, dinner was served, showers were taken, blisters were bandaged and sprains were wrapped, signaling then end of day 1 for the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005. Then it was time to celebrate. We had music and dancing (for those who were still up to it). Some of the folks were still sitting at our tent with their feet soaking in the ice water tubs, but we could hear the music from there, so it was still fun. We also got to spend time talking with them about the walk and the weather and if the training they had done all summer had paid off. After a long day of walking, most everyone was in their tents before 9pm. Some were still sitting around their tents talking quietly about the day and the things that had happened along the route, but the lights in the park were turned off at that point so people could get some sleep before beginning again in the morning.
Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005 - Day 2 It’s so funny…there are walkers who walk on a regular basis and you can tell who they are. They were the first ones into camp in the afternoon and the first ones out of camp in the morning. Some of them just couldn’t wait to get going, but the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005 rules said we couldn’t release anyone from camp before daylight. For the ones who were in line at the medical tents, that was perfectly fine with them. They were getting bandaged and wrapped up before they started on their next 20-mile day. Once everyone had breakfast, they were out the gate for another day of walking. We, on the other hand, had to take down all the stuff that we had set up the day before…the tents, tables, chairs, and such. We loaded it all back onto the trucks and headed over to the next camp…where of course we set it all up again.
Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005 - Day 3 The final day…the last 13 or so miles (day 3 is always shorter than the other two days because we have closing ceremonies to do before dark). Feet, ankles, knees and hips are sore, bruised and blistered. And yet everyone gets up and heads out after breakfast to continue on the 60-mile journey. Many of them limped out the gate, but they refused to quit. The comment that always circulates the event?…my loved ones can’t just quit doing chemo, even when it hurts. You just don’t argue with that type of reasoning! Once all the walkers had left camp, we began breaking everything down. It was really no different than the breakdown on Day 2, other than we knew we weren't going to have to set it all up again…that’s a GOOD thing!). We loaded it all up, picked up all of the trash around camp, then headed over to closing ceremonies to make sure things got set up there. The Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005 t-shirts that we handed out after the walk down Victory Lane, chairs for folks to sit in once they got there, our medical area for one last day of treating sore feet so they could make the walk from holding to closing ceremonies. Then we waited.
We had a quick Crew meeting so that everyone knew how we were going into the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005 Closing Ceremonies. The Crew were going to line the path while the Walkers came in. Then the Crew was introduced and came into the center of the Walkers. Then the Survivors came in, surrounded by the Walkers and Crew. It was such a moving experience. Thousands of Walkers, Crew, and Survivors all in pink and white, holding a shoe up in the air to commemorate what they had accomplished, with thousands of friends and family members surrounding everyone cheering at the tops of their lungs. We’re ready to do it again…although I think our feet could use a bit of a break first! Return from Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005 to Breast Cancer 3-Day Walks © 2005-2008 Xtreme Attitude, LLC – All Rights Reserved |
We had decided our team theme for the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005 would be the “Avenging Angels”…avenging breast cancer every chance we get. So we decorated pink tablecloths with angels, pink hands and feet, sparkles, angel stamps and such. We also made foil stars to hang inside the tents we would be in charge of so the walkers could have fun while they were sitting around the tubs of ice water soaking their feet (another thing we would be taking care of). So all in all, the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005 Crew Training day went well and was fairy simple.
As the walkers arrived, we began assisting them in getting their luggage and setting up their tents. Several local girl scout troops had come out for Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005 to work with us on that major undertaking as well. We knew that after walking 20 miles, the last thing the walkers were going to be wanting to do was to put up their tent. Many of them did, but for those who were just too exhausted, it was SO cool to be able to tell them their tent was either already up, or would be up in just a few, and that someone else would be doing it for them. The looks on their faces, the tears in some of their eyes, and the hugs that the girl scouts got that day said it was a worthwhile thing to be doing, even though to us, it seemed like such a small thing.
The Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005 was such a cool thing to see…literally thousands of tents lined up on the grass to make a “tent city”. Many of the walkers and crew members had decorated their tents…some just so they could tell where their tent was in the dark, but many did it for the tent decorating contest that was being held. I don’t remember who won, but I know we saw some really cool tent decorations!
The second day of the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005 wasn’t really a whole lot different from Day 1, except for more blisters, more sprains, and a few folks getting what’s called “red-carded”. That’s where the medical team evaluates their pains, sprains, and blisters, and determines that they can no longer walk the rest of the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk Phoenix 2005. NO ONE likes to be red-carded. These folks have spent all year training and raising funds so that they can be in this walk and they want to make it to the very end. Even when the medical staff tells them that they will do permanent damage to themselves if they keep walking, they will plead to be able to continue. It’s just an amazing group of women and men on these walks! And it's folks who are willing to dress like what you see here that keep them walking!!
The families of the walkers started arriving with flowers, gifts, balloons, signs, and babies and dogs dressed in pink. They were there to congratulate their friends and loved ones when they finally completed their 60-mile walk. They had spent 3 days without seeing their friends and family who had been walking, trusting that the crew and medical staff and all those involved with the walk had kept them healthy and safe (they would have already known, but not all cell phone batteries last that long and we didn’t have anywhere to recharge them over the weekend).