Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you know that Nikki and I successfully completed our first Breast Cancer 3-Day! It was a fabulous experience, and best of all we raised over $6000 that will be used for breast cancer research and will hopefully help make a cure possible in the near future!
We started off on Friday morning at Southfork Ranch in Parker, Texas. If you don’t know, that is where the television show Dallas was filmed. We began with thousands of other walkers and survivors. We made our way that morning through downtown Plano where shop owners stood outside and greeted us. We also passed an amazing Cheering Station on 15th Street near my workplace and up Alma and down Renner Road to a park in Richardson where we had lunch. We continued walking toward Carrollton where we saw David and Craig at another Cheering Station only a few miles from camp. That was all the motivation we needed to keep on going! We talked with new people along the way, and made a few stops too. We made it into camp as it was getting dark, and we pitched my very first tent.
Camping really wasn’t as bad as I thought, even though it was a chilly 40 degrees the first night. We had a late dinner, and also got foot massages and waved to David and Craig from the camp webcam before going to sleep in our cozy two person tent.
On the second day, we left camp and walked up Midway toward Plano near Prestonwood church and David’s job. We saw the guys, Brownie, and Nikki’s mom and children at another amazing cheering station. Throughout the route there is the opportunity to take vans and buses to the next pit stop or camp, but knowing that we had family and friends waiting for us kept us walking in their direction. The people there were so supportive, and constantly thanked us for walking. There was a big party at camp that night, with an American Idol style singing contest and even a dance party. I wrote post cards to donors and those who wrote me a letter that I received at camp. When we woke up the next morning, we packed our bags and took our tent down.
On the third day we walked from camp through Addison past Nikki’s workplace and toward my favorite part of town. We were really struggling to continue on, but walked side-by-side with a woman from the Austin area who is currently going through chemo. We talked to her about her life and her experience with cancer, her children, her family and her fears. It really made me realize why we were making the journey.
We continued walking at our own pace (it was a lot easier than the first few days where people seemed to race past us), though we had some pretty bad blisters and knee problems. We were determined to walk as much of it as we could. For the sake of time, we rode a few sweep vans a few miles to buy us some extra walking time before the pit stops closed. That bought us extra time to complete the majority of the route. If you don’t make it by the time they close, they bus you to lunch or to the very end. We were among the last walkers to come through the cheering station on this day, and were touched (i.e. cried) that people were still waiting to clap, cheer, and tell us thank-you. It was very emotional.
We also had to stop at the medical tent at lunch in order to get my blisters patched up and Nikki’s knee wrapped. We walked that afternoon into SMU hand and hand toward the holding area with hundreds of other walkers not long before closing ceremonies began. We felt incredibly accomplished and happy that we walked (what we estimate to be 50 of the 60 miles) together every step of the way. We cried for our loved ones lost, for others who are going through cancer now, and happy that we made it through the journey still standing.
Closing was also emotional as we remembered those who were lost, and as we celebrated those who are surviving breast cancer. We were all given white t-shirts, and thousands of us walked arm and arm into the campus. We cried, hugged and met up with our families for more hugs and tears.
We look forward to participating in the event in coming years, and thank everyone who supported us with their kind words and donations. It has been an amazing experience.
Original post by Laurie
