In Novemeber of 2009 Alex was diagnosed with breast cancer. Alex is our sister-in-law, aunt, friend, wife. In the months that followed Alex went through her surgeries and chemotherapy with strength and grace. Those of us that are close to Alex, Kirk, and their children, Sammy & Teddy, were there with them, in heart and prayer, every step of the way. Through her strength and feisty spirit we were comforted and inspired. It was Alex that told us about the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure, an amazing journey in the fight to end breast cancer where each participant walks 60-miles over the course of three days, and raises a minimum of $2300.00 each… and so Team Alex was formed. We chose the Boston walk and set our sites on July 23rd.
DAY ONE
By the time late July came around we were ready. We all met our fundraising minimum, and then some, and had logged countless hours and miles during our training walks. Our bags were packed… 2 pairs of sneakers each, bandaids for blisters, glide for our feet, and LOTS of socks.
The 2010 Susan G. Komen Boston 3-Day for the Cure began early Friday morning.
(Notice how sad Kirk is without his Duncin Donuts coffee).
So with our Team Alex t-shirts on, and credentials in hand, the 6 of us boarded a bus at the hotel that took us to the Opening Ceremony at Farm Pond in Framingham, MA.
There was a beautiful sunrise. We were ready :)
Kim and I got our bling on.
...and this is why we are here.
Upon arriving we dropped off our bags and headed toward a large white tent where long streamers of white ribbon were laid out on tables.
With pink sharpies we wrote the names of the people we had lost to breast cancer on the ribbons. Our Aunt Susie, and Joyce’s Mom, were among the many, many names.
Later, these ribbons were raised in honor of those who have lost the battle, (she was crying, I'd be crying too... actually I was crying).
It was an emotional part of the otherwise fun, and upbeat, Opening Ceremony.
After a concert-like opening, with loud music, guest speakers, and group stretching, we filed out of the opening ceremonies and began our walk.
Look at all those sneakers!
Boston!
Alex & Maggie.
First order of business was to find a Dunkin Donuts along the route so Kirk could have his coffee. It wasn’t hard, lots of Dunkin Donuts in Boston! And so it became our morning ritual... great iced coffees.
Some of the highlights along the route included the great community support.
People cheered and held up signs to encourage us along.
They handed out ice pops, water, and snacks.
Alex & Maggie head toward a fire hose, set up to help us cool down.
Some people would mist us with spray bottles filled with cold water, and businesses offered their bathrooms and AC.
At about 7 miles in we arrived at the public cheering station at St. Paul’s Church in Wellesley. Justin was waiting there for us with Casey and Indie. (I was way to excited to take pictures). It was so great to see them.
All along the way cars drove by beeping, shouting, and playing loud music for us. Policemen would stop traffic so we could cross the street, and clapped their hands for us as they did so.
We walked through small neighborhoods, and some busy streets too.
I didn't see an Indio St.
In the afternoon, with about 4 miles left to walk, the sun disappeared, the temperature dropped into the 60s, and it started to rain.
By the time we arrived at camp the rain was coming down hard.
We were sore, stiff, and achey. Alex had sprained her ankle. She finished the walk, then went straight to the medic tent to have it iced and wrapped. Maggie was a real trooper; she led the pack with her Aunt Kim. Joyce had developed some blisters, and so had Kim. Kirk was visibly worried about Alex, and whether she’d be able to walk the next day.
We set up our pink 2-man tents, with the help of a couple tent fairy’s, (A Youth Corp group of young boys and girls who were specially selected to be part of the weekend.) We took showers, and had dinner in the dining tent where loud music played.
The rain kept falling, but no one seemed to mind.
3 hours after we arrived at camp, the last walker arrived. It struck me, there's still a walker out there in this pouring rain! It was an exciting and emotional moment as people jumped up from their meals and ran to form a welcoming line to cheer her into camp.
The rain continued to pour. We were happy to have brought 3 tarps to cover each tent.
Most of us were in bed early. In tent #1, Maggie and Kim. In tent #2, Kirk and Alex, Alex swore she was fine; she would be getting up early to go to the medic tent and have her ankle wrapped. They would take the next day one step at a time, literally. In the meanwhile they kept her ankle elevated, iced, and wrapped. And in tent #3 Joyce and I tackled organizing our stuff, comiserated on our aches and pains, and laughed a lot.
During the night Kirk’s alarm accidentally went off, making the sound of a siren… the exact same sound they told us we would hear if an emergency evacuation were needed (due to the lightning storm that was expected).
Kim jumped up, woke Maggie, and mentally prepared herself to lead the 3-Day walkers to safety, until she realized it was just Kirk’s alarm.
DAY TWO
On Saturday morning, we woke up early.
Good Morning Maggie!
The breakfast line.
Alex’s ankle was wrapped and we were walking by 7am. The safety crew, in their orange shirts, rode their bikes along side the walkers.
By now we had gotten to know them. They were a fun, and important part of our weekend.
All types of people were out to greet us.
It was as amazing as it was entertaining.
Today was a hot and humid day temps were in the 90s.
Lots of supporters were out spraying us down with water bottles...
...and handing out ice pops, frozen grapes, and frozen peppermint patties.
Residents sat on their porches offering drinks...
...and coolers filled with ice water to dunk our bandanas in.
Today’s walk was harder. We felt the effects of the day before, and the heat was relentless.
But the people, their signs, and their cheering, helped us along.
The pit stops were stationed every 3 miles or less, and were a welcoming site. Here we could rest, stretch, fill our water bottles, and eat a snack. They had graham crackers with pbj, string cheese, assorted chips, orange slices, and sometimes bagels and cream cheese, if you were running with the front of the pack.
This is also where we would stand in long lines for the porta-pottys that, once you walked out of, made the outside air feel like air conditioning.
The people handing out the food and drink at these pit stops were referred to as The Crew.
They were everywhere, doing everything, throughout the weekend… pit stops, rest stops, dining tent, setting up, breaking down, handling our luggage...
...handing out snacks, water, gatorade, and even sponges soaked in ice water. They started the weekend a day earlier, they started their days a couple hours earlier, they stayed up later than we did at night, and all the while cheering, cheering, cheering us on. They worked very hard.
Look at how happy Kim is to have her sponges!!
How's that workin' for ya?
There was a cheering station at Robbins Farm Park in Arlington in the morning, and another huge cheering station at Parker Field in Lexington in the afternoon.
Here we saw Justin, Casey & Indie in their Team Alex t-shirts, (check out Indie with his pom-poms), along with Justin’s friend Nathan and his beautiful daughter Addison.
This time it was a harder to leave them, especially Casey who didn’t want me to go.
As the day wore on the conversation dwindled. Our team separated as we each concentrated on finishing these last final miles. Kim, Maggie and Joyce were somewhere ahead of me, and Kirk and Alex close behind. The last part of our walk was through small neighborhoods. I remember every bone in my body aching with each step; today’s walk was just less than 22 miles.
As I reached the final turn into camp I noticed no walkers in front of me, or behind me. All I could see was Men with Heart, far in the distance at the end of this final stretch. Men with Heart is a team of men, 15 or so, who have walked the Boston walk since 2001. They are the first to get back to camp and they form a cheering line at the camp’s entrance to welcome every walker back. I’d heard of them, and I’d seen them along the way, but now I was about to get a full dose of their mission. From far away in the distance they saw me round the corner to the final stretch. With no one else to cheer, or serenade, they focused all their attention on me. For those of you that really know me, you know how easily I blush; well my blushing rivaled even the sunburn on my face. It started with a lot of “WooHoo’s” and “Here she comes!” clapping and “you can do it!” this went on for a while, as I was merely a speck in their distance. And then they broke into a perfect chorus of “Pretty Woman”… “Walking down the street…” complete with the “oh mercy!” It was the longest walk of my life ;) When I finally reached them, the high 5’s, applauds, and congratulations… I was so embarrassed. It was pretty funny.
Once back at camp it was showers, dinner, and hanging out at the dining tent. Alex had made it through the day with her swollen, sprained ankle. It felt like we had sweated as much as we drank that day. Maggie was still hanging strong, sporting her bright pink stripe of hair. Occasionally, during the day, she would throw me a pained look, especially when I’d ask her to stop and wait for us to catch up… and it was a lot to ask, those first couple steps, once you stop, were the most painful. Joyce and Kim’s blisters had worsened, but no one was complaining. The first sight of “road rash” showed up on Kim’s legs this night, although at the time we didn’t know what it was.
It presented as a red, blotchy rash from her sock line to right above her knees. Kim’s was bad, but we had seen worse on other walker’s during the day. Kirk had symptoms of it too, just not as bad... yet.
At the dining tent there was a concert by Candy Coburn, and a presentation highlighting the Youth Corps. This was especially emotional as each Youth Corp member got up on stage and spoke about why they were selected to be part of the 3-Day weekend. They were probably between the ages of 9 to 13 years old, and each had a story about how breast cancer had touched their lives. Imagine how emotional it was to listen to each of their stories. Some had Mom’s who were fighting the disease, others had lost their Mom, or another close family member, to breast cancer.
That night it was very hot, and therefore hard to sleep, and we, like everyone else, left the front of our tent unzipped. At one point, after most of us had fallen to sleep, there was a sudden down pour of rain. It only lasted a short while, but you could hear every camper wake up to pull their belongings inside their tents and zip up their entrance.
DAY THREE
On our final day of walking Kirk carried the “My Wife” flag.
(He carried it to the finish line, it was pretty cool.)
Alex’s ankle was wrapped, and Joyce’s blisters were worse.
She had both feet wrapped at the medic tent. The medic volunteers, by the way, were awesome.
I think the 3-day people saved the best for last, the route we walked on this day was beautiful.
On this day we walked through Harvard Square, the MIT campus (pictured above), Cambridge, across the Mass Ave. bridge, (we had a great view of the Boston skyline while crossing the bridge). and into Back Bay. It was Boston in all its glory... and it kept getting better.
(I think these are the Back Bay area).
(The Granite Angels Team).
Stretching at a stop light.
Stretching at a random wall.
Our aches and pains were as bad as they were going to get. Maggie was hanging in there, she was sunburn, but the Alaskan girl was coping with the heat and humidity well. Stopping for a rest was hard as the worst part was getting back on our feet and taking those first couple steps to get started again. The road rash on Kim’s legs had become alarming.
Painful, blotchy, red sores covered her calves up past her knees. But Kirk was not to be out done.
He developed the same rash, only worse… large fluid filled blisters were thrown into the mix. At one point he ended up in the medic tent to have his legs iced down. The doctor told us it was the worse case he’d ever seen.
By late morning I had also developed this same rash, and, on top of generally stiff and aching bones, my big toe was sore. While changing my socks at a rest stop I noticed the nail bed was turning a dark color. Hmmm, now that’s interesting.
But in the end a simple sign put it all into perspective.
At one point Maggie, Joyce and I ducked into a fancy hotel to use a REAL bathroom, and take in the AC.
During early afternoon we met up with a woman named Mary Deming, a 4-time walker, and a name Kirk and I were very familiar with. She was the top fundraiser this year in the Boston 3-Day. We had read about her efforts to fight breast cancer in her town of Seymour, CT where she has started her own non-profit organization called Seymour Pink. (Visit her website.) She raised $38,000.00 this year for the SGK 3-Day (her goal, $38,000, for the 38 years that had past since she lost her Mom to Breast Cancer). We walked together for a while, such an amazing woman.
Sometime midday we entered the shaded Commonwealth Avenue Mall. The shade was wonderful.
It was here that we saw Mom, Aunt Andy, Uncle George, Uncle Kerry, Randy, Quinn and Gabbie. It was so great to see them! Can't even put it in words. Uncle George wore his Team Alex t-shirt...
...and Uncle Kerry was wearing a Susan G. Komen shirt from a race he did with Aunt Susie many years ago. Having Uncle Kerry there was especially meaningful. In 1998 Aunt Susie lost her battle with breast cancer. I wore her name, this made him cry. Our Aunt Susie was an amazing person, losing her was a terrible blow to our family.
And here is Aunt Andy and Mom. (I can't even tell you how much I love these people!). Now this is not a good picture of my Aunt Andy, but let me explain. She was sick with worry when she saw Alex's sprained ankle, and then the rash on Kim, Kirk & my legs. She just couldn't get over it and this picture captures her concern. That's our Aunt Andy.
Notice Randy in the background. He and the girls, wearing their Team Alex t-shirts, were the highlight of Kim's walk.
After a short visit we were on our way again. Next was the beautiful Public Garden, more shade. I noticed one large group of supporters all wearing Seymour Pink t-shirts. I told them Mary wasn’t far behind and they cheered and clapped at the news. Shortly after we left the garden we came to our next group of supporters!
Chrissy was there to cheer on her little sister. Chrissy's husband Mike, and son Kyle were there too, and they brought Sammy and Teddy with them. It was great to see Sammy come running down the hill to give her Mom and Dad a hug. Even our cousin Gina was there with her husband Jim, and daughter Olivia. Thank you Gina for being there!!
They walked a ways with us, (above Sammy walking with her Dad), then we said our goodbyes, we’d see them all next at the closing ceremony.
At lunch we reevaluated our wounds and applied new bandages. Above, Alex hydrates as she watches Kirk try to cool down his calves. They were painful to look at.
After a short rest we some how managed to get one foot in front of the other to finish the last miles of our walk.
The last part of the walk was along the coast and ended at UMass in Dorchester, MA. As we approached the gym things got crazy. Men with Heart were there at the end, as usual, as well as so many others.
The pathway to the gym became single file. Kim was in front of me, as we approached the gym I could see she was crying, so was I… so were a lot of people actually, crying, embracing, jumping, slapping hands, and yelling.
As we entered the gym it was more of the same, but add stomping, very LOUD music, and best of all, air-conditioning! The reception line continued to wind into and then out of the gym, down a hall, and into the hockey rink.
Wow. We did it.
We collected our t-shirts, white for walkers, pink for survivors, and found a seat in the bleachers where we waited for the last walker to arrive. I remember taking off my sneakers, and then realizing, as I watched them swell in front of my eyes, I would never be able to get them back on… and then it dawned on me, the flip flops I saw tied to so many of the walker’s back packs. Now I knew what they were for. My toenail was throbbing, and visibly darker. My road rash was an angry, red, blotchy mess, and it hurt. Kirk and Kim’s legs were worse.
We found a seat in the hockey arena bleachers, and waited for the last walker to arrive. Here we watched as the last of the walkers arrived.
Next we were separated into groups: Walkers, Crew, Safety, Medics, and lastly Survivors. We were paraded outside toward the area of the closing ceremonies. As we entered we saw our family cheering, and clapping us on. Once everyone was in we all turned around and waited for the survivors to enter.
People got down on one knee, and raised a sneaker in the air as they walked in.
They held each other’s hands up high in a gesture of victory. Most were crying, as was everyone that looked on. It was a very powerful moment.
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