The Breast Cancer Walk (part 1)

There are going to be several parts to this since the walk took place over the course of three days and was just too amazing for words. I have been struggling with how to articulate what I felt and experienced. (I am also waiting for pictures to come back on Wed.)

The Schedule -- each morning we would check out of camp and receive a schedule for the days walk and evening activities. This was nice because it broke the walk into very manageable parts. So, below is the listing of all our schedules.

Day 1 began at Shoreline Community College and ended at place by Boeing called Paine Field. I thought this was particularly appropriate because our feet were sore.

Throughout the day there were designated pit stops and cheering stations. Each pit stop had snacks, Gatorade, water, port-a-pottys and first aid for your feet. The lunch pit also had physical therapy available. The crew of the 3 Day really took great care of us. In addition to frequent pit stops there were sweep vans that drove up and down the route encouraging us or picking up us, if needed. We were really in good hands all the way.

The cheering stations were a great way for the community to show their support. Though, in all honesty, we couldn't walk more than half a mile without community support. It was truly amazing. I will talk more about that later.

DAY 1 SCHEDULE
Pit Stop 1 3.2 miles open 7:20-8:40 am (they stayed open a bit later because the walk didn't begin until closer to 8 -- but everything got back on track by the lunch stop)
Pit Stop 2 (New Balance sponsored) 5.9 miles (that is 2.7 miles since the last pit) 8-10:15 am
Cheering Station 9.1 miles 8:30-11:30 am (Edmonds Adventist Church, 8625 196th SW, Edmonds, WA 98026)
Pit Stop 3 (Bank of America sponsored) 9.3 miles 8:55-12:00 pm
Lunch 11.3 miles 9:35-1:30 pm
Grab & Go (Nat'l Philanthropic Trust) 14 miles 10:45-3:05 pm
Cheering Station 15.3 miles 11:30-4:15 pm (Meadowdale Church, 4900 168th SW, Lynnwood, WA 98037)
Pit Stop 4 (Energizer sponsored) 15.6 miles 11:20-4:00 pm
Pit Stop 5 19.0 miles 12:15-5:40 pm
Camp 21.6 miles 1:00-whenever the last walker gets in -- before 7:00 pm

DAY 2 SCHEDULE
Pit Stop 1 3.1 miles open 7:20-9:05 am
Pit Stop 2 (New Balance sponsored) 5.1 miles 7:50-10:05 am
Cheering Station 6.6 miles 8:00-11:00 am (Jackson Elementary, 3700 Federal Ave, Everett, WA 98201)
Grab & Go (Nat'l Philanthropic Trust) 8.2 miles 8:35-11:45 am
Lunch 10.6 miles 9:25-1:10 pm
Pit Stop 3 (Bank of America sponsored) 13 miles 10:00-2:25 pm
Cheering Station 14.8 miles 11:00-4:00 pm (Verizon Corp Offices, 1800 41st St, Everett, WA 98201)
Pit Stop 4 (Energizer sponsored) 15.7 miles 10:45-3:50 pm
Pit Stop 5 18.7 miles 11:25-5:30 pm
Camp 21.7 miles 12:00-whenever the last walker gets in -- before 7:00 pm

DAY 3 SCHEDULE
Pit Stop 1 2.6 miles open 7:25-9:45 am
Pit Stop 2 (New Balance sponsored) 4.8 miles 8:15-10:50 am
Pit Stop 3 (Bank of America sponsored) 7.3 miles 9:10-12:05 pm
A nice note that reads "The large hill of the event, "Capitol Hill" is at 8.2 miles -- isn't that nice of them to let you know what mile you are going to dread?
Lunch 9.6 miles 10:25-1:10 pm
Cheering Station 10.8 miles 11:00-3:00 pm (Cal Anderson Park, 1635 11th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122)
Grab & Go (Nat'l Philanthropic Trust) 11.3 miles 11:00-2:05 pm
Pit Stop 4 (Energizer sponsored) 13.4 miles 11:35-3:10 pm
Holding 15.0 miles 12:00-4:00 pm (Key Arena -- all walkers were to be in by 4 so, we could all walk into Memorial Stadium together for our victory walk)

Now you may be adding these three up in your head and saying, "That doesn't add up to 60 miles." You are right... 21.6+21.7+15= 58.3 miles. What those who made this route did not include on the schedule was all the walking around camp that you are going to do. This more than makes up that missing 1.7 miles. Our camp was two regulation soccer fields long and one regulation baseball diamond long. Now I had too look this up because I'm not great with measurements and wanted to make sure I wasn't exaggerating the size of our camp. That is about 300 yards long and 150 yards wide. That is STINKIN' HUGE when you have just walked 21.6 miles.

That is the size of the walk. I honestly did not walk every mile on this course because I had really bad blisters and shin splints. That said, I was able to walk about 50 miles of it, and will complete the other 10 miles in the beginning of October... not because they require it of me, but because I made a commitment to walk 60 miles for Breast Cancer and I want to fulfill that commitment.

I am also going to use that 10 mile walk to continue to raise funds for my committed $2,300. I still have about $1, 000 to raise. So, if you want to donate go to www.the3day.org/goto/JeniGates or if you want to join me for some of all of this 10 mile leisurely stroll, let me know by responding to this blog or email me at gates4real@hotmail.com

That is all I am going to write for now. My Matthew is needing some loves and laundry calls. More to come tomorrow.