2018 Dallas/Fort Worth 3-Day Route Preview

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Lone Star State, we are coming for you! We are so excited to be heading to Dallas/Fort Worth this weekend and know that Susan G. Komen’s home city is going to be a great spot for a 60-mile walk. Event Planner Eileen Barnick has been preparing all year to make this coming weekend the best 3-Day possible, and she can’t wait to share the route with all the participants.

But she can’t share everything….

“Throughout the weekend, there will be some surprises and exciting ‘wow’ moments, but I don’t want to give those away ahead of time. They will be a surprise that I know all the participants will love. You’ll just have to walk and see!”

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For example, Day One is almost completely brand new this year! We will be starting at Tostitos Championship Plaza at The Star. This is Dallas Cowboys Headquarters, and Eileen can think of no better place to kick off the 3-Day.

“This is going to be so cool! In my unbiased opinion, it might be the best Opening Ceremony we have all year. The energy is just amazing and it’s going to be so fantastic.”

Our Opening Ceremony will take place in Frisco, which has been booming lately! As we leave the Plaza, we will be walking along the Star Boulevard. There will be lots of coffee shops along the way, so walkers can get their java fix as they leave the Opening Ceremony.

Walkers will then enter Hall Park, which is a sculpture park. It also has water sculptures, which are so cool! The first two miles of the day will have plenty of exciting sights to see and lots of opportunities for photos.

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Later, we will walk by Dr Pepper Ballpark, which is where the RoughRiders play. There will be some special surprises there, but Eileen won’t give too much away! We will also pass the Bank of America headquarters in the morning, so look out for a cheering station there.

Arbor Hills Nature Preserve will be the perfect trail to lead us into lunch at Timber Glen Park.

Pit Stop 4 on Day One will also be Pit Stop 1 on Saturday, so walkers can get nice and familiar with one of our favorite parks: Les Lacs Park in Addison. From there we will head into our cozy camp at Brookhaven College.

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The Day Two route is shorter (yay!) without losing all the beautiful spots in the suburbs around Dallas, like Farmer’s Branch and Addison. We will be walking through Addison over the course of the day, especially Addison Circle Park, which is just beautiful.

Eileen thinks everyone will love the walk on Keller Springs Road, which will take us towards lunch. And we will be arriving at lunch sooner, which is always great!

After lunch at Campbell Green Park & Recreation Center, the afternoon will take walkers through Vitruvian Park, which will have a cheering station and great photo opportunities. After a long day, friends and family (and those Bank of America massage chairs!) will be waiting at camp. 23215792_10159599674780392_6172782628111656467_o Day Three on Sunday, we have left untouched and have made no real changes because we have had such positive feedback from walkers from last year.

We will begin the day with a short bus ride, dropping off at Walnut Hill Recreation Center and walk into Dallas through some gorgeous historic neighborhoods. If you love architecture and beautiful homes, you are going to have so many pretty sights to see!

After lunch, we will head into downtown Dallas and see historic sights like Dealey Plaza, the Giant Eyeball sculpture (great for photos!), the Omni and more. Eileen promises lots of photo opportunities all day long!

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The Participant Finish Area and Closing Ceremony will once again be at The Lawn at Reunion Tower. We got such great feedback on this last year, so we had to come back!

If you hang around after the Closing Ceremony as the sun sets, you might see some last bits of Dallas pink support for us, too! It will be the perfect finish to an amazing 3-Day weekend.

2018 Atlanta 3-Day Wrap Up

We could not have asked for a more perfect weekend to celebrate our final Atlanta 3-Day. Mother Nature gave us sunshine, cooler temperatures, and lots of beautiful sights to see and appreciate as our walkers and crew took on 60 incredible miles.

Friday dawned bright, with the sun coming up just as we started our Opening Ceremonies in the shadow of Stone Mountain. It was just the inspiration our walkers and crew needed to start the weekend off on the right foot (literally and figuratively!) The pep in our steps continued thanks to Stone Mountain Elementary, who came out for the second year in a row to cheer on our walkers. Their signs, high fives, and chants of “Just keep walking!” put a smile on every face.

From there, walkers continued along trails until they reached Pit 1 at mile marker 2.9. Our amazing Pit 1 Crew team has worked this spot on the Atlanta 3-Day for years, handing out a custom pin each year. This year, they celebrated Atlanta’s final 3-Day by handing out pins from all the 3-Day years past so walkers can hang onto those wonderful memories.

There were cheering stations all along the route, with Atlanta schools, businesses and local communities turning out to shower support on the walkers! By lunchtime, they had already conquered 12.6 miles as they rested at the Decatur Family YMCA. Walkers relaxed on the Mohawk pink mats (and chatted with the local Mohawk team!), while we were introduced to our amazing Atlanta Youth Corps!

The rest of the day went smoothly, passing through Decatur and into Atlanta city proper. Walkers loved the route, including passing through the historic Fourth Ward Park, before arriving home at the Georgia World Congress Center.

The night ended with a fun camp show where we honored local Atlanta participants, and awarded our Bank of America Top Fundraisers! Feet to Beat Breast Cancer (Top Team), Susan Breding (Top Individual) and Jake Stefan (Top Crew) inspired us all (Jake’s son was the Top Youth Corps fundraiser, too!). Feet to Beat Breast Cancer raised $75,697 this year and were also our largest Atlanta team. Susan raised $16,100 this year and has raised $40,432 in her lifetime on her team For Tits & Giggles. She’s also a seven-city walker this year! Jake raised $8,580 this year and has raised $84,753 in his lifetime over 12 events. You may know him for his tassel twirling!

Day Two brought us through Buckhead and Piedmont Heights and into Granite Properties – the home of the Atlanta Komen Affiliate! Their team came out in full force to congratulate our walkers on already conquering 8.4 miles on Day Two!

Lunch was shady and comfortable at the Trinity Presbyterian Church, and local Girl Scouts sent our walkers off with treats and cheers! Much of the rest of the afternoon was spent on Atlanta’s iconic Beltline Trail. This was a great way to see all kinds of Atlanta sights from the comfort of a walking trail.

We then made our way back into the city via Peachtree Street, again walking in urban Midtown before returning to downtown’s Georgia World Congress Center. Saturday was Friends & Family night at camp so our walkers and crew got a visit from loved ones…plus everyone’s favorite dinner: 3-Day mac n’ cheese!

And suddenly, it was already Day Three! We spent all of our final day walking through Atlanta proper, with our first Pit Stop bringing us back alongside the Beltline Trail at Mile 2.7

Our Youth Corps was everywhere on Sunday, cheering on walkers at Pit 2 (Mile 5.5), lunch at Mile 7.5 and beyond! If you were one of the lucky walkers who participated in their selfie contest, you know what a bunch of energy all of them were!

We were honored to be able to walk past Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Park, his tomb and birth home on Day Three. These are such an important part of Atlanta history.

We were also once again supported by the local Atlanta community, with local radio station The Bull and clogging team PowerTaps both coming out to support walkers before they entered their final Pit Stop of the 3-Day!

Our final Closing Ceremony took place at the Atlanta International School, and we celebrated the fact that our dedicated community raised an amazing $1.1 million in the Atlanta 3-Day.

The Atlanta 3-Day may be over, but our journey to end breast cancer still has many miles to go, and we need you with us. Whether through Komen Greater Atlanta or by walking or crewing at a 2019 3-Day, there are many ways to continue to support the fight against breast cancer.

Thank you to everyone in this community who has made the Atlanta 3-Day possible. On behalf of the millions of men and women who rely on Susan G. Komen, THANK YOU ATLANTA for 14 amazing years.

Congratulations to the 2018 Atlanta 3-Day Milestone Award Winner, Carol Ann Payne-Johnson

Carol Payne Johnson- Atlanta Milestone Winner

Please join us in congratulating our 2018 Atlanta Milestone Award Winner; Carol Ann Payne-Johnson! The Susan G. Komen 3-Day® Milestone Award is given at each event to a walker or crew member who has an outstanding history of participation in the Komen 3-Day. At the Atlanta 3-Day camp show, we presented Carol Ann with this special honor.

Her friend David Schwarz said he has had “the honor of knowing Carol Ann for many years. She has a contagious love of life and endless compassion for others. It is my absolute pleasure to be able to honor her in any way I can, for all she does, especially her daily acts of kindness that most people never see.”

Friend Cathy Dorfman added that, “Carol Ann is AMAZING. Having been diagnosed with stage 2 BC I cannot tell you how much I appreciate her unwavering support and dedication to finding a cure. It is awe inspiring and the commitment she has made and kept even more so – we need many more like her to defeat this killer.”

We also heard from Carol Ann in her own words. We she answered our questions, she didn’t know yet that she’d be receiving this award!

What was your inspiration to do your first 3-Day?

I work in our 24- hour prayer room at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church. 19 years ago, in April of 1999, I received 14 requests for prayer from ladies with a breast cancer diagnosis in one day! I just couldn’t get that off my heart and mind, and I prayed about how I might do more – God always answers prayer, and literally, within three days, I had a flyer about the 3- day Avon ( at the time) walk, and signed up to do it.

What brings you back year after year?

I hope to continue walking until breast cancer is eradicated!

Tell us the secret to your fundraising success!

I have many corporate clients and friends, and they are very generous because they all have someone they know and love who have or have not survived breast cancer. In my fundraising letter, I always remind them of the latest statistics, and ask them to name someone or more than one they are donating on behalf of. I then walk with those names on my backpack on pink ribbons, then send the pink ribbon to the person named with a hand-written note. People are very grateful for the personal touch.

Give your best advice to anyone walking 3-Day.

Buy good shoes, train, and be prepared to hear stories that will motivate you to walk year after year.

What’s a fun fact about you?

I have been in 109 countries, and one year, I trained on all seven continents! Plus, I’m a crack shot at archery ?

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned on 3-Day?

It is a blessing in my own life to serve others this way. We must all understand how important it is to be kind to others even in an anonymous way, and that every conclusion in research that can save a life is worthwhile.