A Fantastic DC Walk!!

Opening Ceremony

Port-a-potties at Pitstop 1

Crew support

Lunch at a Pitstop

Arriving at Camp Friday Night

Making Camp

Bobbie’s Girls

Crew Cameraderie

“Stretch 5 out of 60″–5 Minutes Every Hour

Pitstop ! final morning

Supporters at Entrance to Pit Stop

Ellie and friend

Bicycle security

The Holding Pen Before Closing Ceremony

One of the Sweep Vans

Camp at Dawn

A Dedicated Walker

Support from the local fire department

Bike Security

More Walkers in Pink

Youthful Cheering on the Way

Bunnies at the White House

The Survivors at Closing Ceremony

A monument to our efforts

Beloved Port-a-potties

Saluting the Survivors at Closing Ceremony

There is no denying that the parallels between the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure Walk and childbirth are inescapable. Of course, anytime you put 1,900 women into the same community, that kind of observation is bound to pop up, but that does nothing to alter its validity.

Take training. Twenty-four weeks of walking, fitness training and preparation. It may not be 39 weeks of gestation,  but all one’s efforts are aimed at preparation for the big event. Blisters, muscle pulls, fatigue all have their pregnancy parallels.

But enough of that…the walk was fantastic. Once we hit the holding pen before the Closing Ceremony, the cold, fatigue and aches faded and all that was left was the ecstatic feeling of having completed the walk, of having spent three days with a group of strong, committed women (and men)  helping to bring an end to breast cancer throughout the world. There were tough moments, both physically and emotionally, but it was a phenomenal experience.

Miles to go before we Walk

With seven weeks to go before the walk, a big focus in my life is training. With Ellie back from her three weeks in Wyoming backpacking and rock-climbing, our team is intact and we’re working on getting in shape. Walking twenty miles, as I have often opined, requires a lot of time. I walk at a steady pace of about two and a half miles per hour. I guess I should be walking faster, but that is where it averages out. Do the math and it is clear that walking twenty miles takes a lot of time.

The First Training Walk of the Season

It was the first breath of a summer day and Ellie and I were signed up to go for a training walk with one of the Susan G. Komen walk leaders. We were to meet at Penn Station at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday.

9:00 a.m. actually meant a departure from the Frost residence at 7:15. Now, this is an hour on a Sunday that certain young ladies I know don’t see very often. Staying up all hours

Hey, I’m Ellie…Why am I doing this again?

So, I’m Ellie, the daughter. How did I somehow get involved in this? After all I really can’t say I know another teenage girl who volunteers, even convinces, (yes *gasp* this was my idea) her mother to do a 60 mile walk with her. A couple of months ago I wouldn’t even think of doing this. Then again things change when you discover your mom has a big bandage