Monthly Archives: August 2019

3-Day Ways to Make the Most of a 3-Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend can seem like a bittersweet time because it means that summer is coming to a close. The weather is slowly changing, kids are going back to school…and the 3-Day is on the horizon! After two wonderful weekends in the Midwest in August, we are gearing up for our fall events and getting more excited by the day. With lots of preparing to do, you need to take advantage of every spare minute you have! Here are some simple ways to make the most of this upcoming long weekend, and any spare day you have before you get ready for your 60-mile weekend.

1-2-3 step your way through!

This one should be simple to check off your to do list: go for a walk! You have plenty of time to get team training in, take a solo walk or even grab your family to come with you. You can take a few shorter walks every day or go for a long walk on your extra weekend day. You can also check to see if there are any training walks already organized to join walkers in your area! These are a great way to make friends or grow your own team.

Connect with your teammates

We often share tips for building your 3-Day team, but don’t forget to take time to connect with your teammates once they agree to join you. You’ll have plenty of time to chat over your 60-mile journey or weekend of crewing, but before then, it helps to build a really strong team community. This is a deeply personal endeavor for many people, so organize a group breakfast or afternoon coffee meet-up and start a dialogue. Talk about your 3-Day journeys and remember what brought you all together in the first place. As fall weekends get busy, you’ll be able to look back on this time together and smile.

Fundraise on Facebook

Social media is a simple and low-maintenance approach to fundraising, and you can do it right from the comfort of your couch! Though you can use multiple avenues for fundraising (here are some more ideas!), you should definitely start on Facebook. Did you know that 3-Day participants who have a Facebook Fundraiser, on average, raise $500 more than participants without one? The power of this online fundraiser is a great reason to be active on Facebook!

With just a few clicks from your 3-Day Participant Center, you can set up your Facebook Fundraiser and start inviting all your family and friends today. Then, set up reminders as your 3-Day draws closer. Don’t let people forget!

Catch up on your research!

Since Labor Day weekend is often seen as the unofficial start of the fall season, we know that lots of 3-Dayers will be kicking their preparation into high gear starting in the next few days. To help prepare you for whatever your fall goals might be, we have some awesome blog posts to give you guidance:

We hope you all have an amazing few days planned, and we can’t wait to kick off our fall walks in New England next week!

2019 Susan G. Komen New England Route Preview

Labor Day weekend is upon us, and that means fall will be here before you know it. And while we’ll be sad to say goodbye to the sun and fun of summer, fall 2019 means we have more 3-Days coming up, starting with a return to the Northeast. We are heading to the New England 3-Day next weekend, and we can’t wait for you all to see our newest 3-Day walk. We know all our participants are waiting very impatiently for the coming walk weekend, and we have a sneak peak of what you can expect, straight from our New England 3-Day Event Production Manager, Meredith Parker!

Meredith can’t wait to welcome everyone back to New England!

“This is an area of the country that has great pride, and we are proud to bring the 3-Day back to this community of people.”

3-Day participants will feel this sense of community every step of the weekend, including at our hotel camp at the Revere Hotel Boston Common. Meredith says this camp “is a great mix of old school Boston traditions, with still a modern feel.”

We are taking over multiple hotels, due to the amazing turn out we have in New England, which will allow us to spread a little bit of the 3-Day camp feel across a few different locations. How will this work? Meredith was happy to break it down for us!

  • The dining area, which is where our evening camp programs will be, will have its own dedicated space. This will be where our Opening Ceremony will take place as well!
  • Main Street (complete with those Bank of America massage chairs!), the 3-Day Lounge brought to you by Amgen (snacks, comfy chairs and great prizes) and the Pick-Up Point (get your mail, sweet treats and legacy pins) will all be together in adjoining ballrooms so we can really get that 3-Day spirit going throughout the Revere Hotel.

It will be the perfect atmosphere of excitement and relaxation that our walkers will love to come home to after a day out on the streets and trails of Boston and its surrounding areas. And though our journey starts at the Revere Hotel on Friday morning, that’s just the beginning of three wonderful days!

Day One will really kick off as walkers cross over the Charles River almost right after we start walking, and then head through Harvard Square. Meredith says there will be beautiful morning views of the Boston skyline from the Cambridge side of the river so your Friday will start with some excellent selfie opportunities.

Walkers will be able to enjoy parts of the Freedom Trail throughout the day on Friday!

We’re stopping at Paul Revere Park for lunch, which has cool views of the Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge. It will be very relaxing and picturesque! From there, we’ll get a taste of the North End and the Seaport District in the afternoon. Before we head back towards the hotel for the night, we will do a loop through South Boston, which locals will know as Southie — Keep an eye out for Matt Damon ? You never know!

All these amazing sights will continue throughout the weekend! Saturday starts with major sights in Back Bay area, including Trinity Church, Boston Public Library, and the marathon finish line. There is lots of Boston history to take in!

Walkers will then head West, going along the Boston marathon route in reverse as Saturday continues. We will pass by Coolidge Corner, which has some nice local shops and restaurants, before heading through Newton and Brighton, which will take them past the Boston University campus. We will finish Saturday by walking through the Back Bay, along the Commonwealth Mall, which is a lovely grassy promenade. Meredith is so glad we’ll be ending our day with a stroll through that area.

Before we know it, Day Three will be here! Sunday starts with a walk through the beautiful Boston Public Garden, including the swan boats. But no stopping for a sail — you have more walking to do! ?

We’ll walk west to see the brownstones of Beacon Street, where Meredith is looking forward to getting some architectural inspiration, and then even go by Fenway Park. Next is Longwood Medical area, where walkers will pass some of the research facilities and hospitals that benefit from Komen funding. You can see your fundraising dollars at work!

Lunch on Sunday will be nestled in between two of Boston’s most prominent art museums, which will be the perfect break in our day. From there, we’ll pass Symphony Hall for another bit of history.

“You will always be walking distance from a historical building or a Dunkin’ Donuts this weekend,” Meredith laughs.

Before we come to the Finish Line Festival, walkers will make their way through the South End, which is a gorgeous part of town. The day will end with a walk past the Boston Tea Party ships and museum, as well as the giant Hood Milk Bottle statue. Calcium-lovers will especially love this spot!

And then walkers will cross the finish line and head into our Finish Line Festival and Closing Ceremony at The Lawn on D, an outdoor event space in the heart of the Waterfront District! It will be the perfect place to finish our New England 3-Day.

“I’m excited that this is the culmination and reunion of this event!” Meredith says. “People are coming back and it’s going to be so great to see people come together, meet up and celebrate the great local New England spirit. This weekend will give our 3-Dayers a broad picture of the amazing patchwork quilt of the community that is this region.”

3-Day Family Fun with Dan Sinclair

If you didn’t already know that August is Family Fun Month, don’t worry! You still have a few days to make the most of this festive month by enjoying some sunshiny summer fun with your favorite people. Whether your family walks with you on the 3-Day or you just lean on them during your 3-Day journey, family is part of everything that the 3-Day stands for.

Someone who knows that all too well is Dan Sinclair from Michigan. 3-Dayers will recognize his smiling face (and pink ponytail) from his time as a walker and Route Safety Crew member. He has been participating in the 3-Day in various ways since 2002, many times alongside his family. This year, however, was different.

This year in Michigan was the first time he walked with his daughter Dawn and two of his granddaughters, Emma and Megan. It was that combination of special women that meant so much to Dan.

“My daughter has walked a lot, and I’ve crewed and walked a lot. But we’ve never gotten to walk together. So, being able to walk together with her, and her daughter, was magical. It culminated everything we have done and was super fun.

It was also important because I walked with my granddaughter, who’s 16. That’s why we walk. She’s the reason. My reason. Being at the Closing Ceremony with all of them was just a magical moment.”

He is not the only one who feels this way. Other members of his family have joined him on his 3-Day journey to support the women in their lives. Aside from Dawn, Emma and Megan, his Michigan 3-Day team included his sister-in-law Sue, nephew Dave and niece Michelle, plus his “Navy sister” Sherry and her son Robbie. Dan met Sherry on the 3-Day years ago, and though they were united by a shared history in the military, it was the 3-Day that really brought them together. Sherry and Robbie came in from Texas to be a part of Dan’s team, “70, Surviving and Sweeping.”

But Dan’s love and dedication goes beyond his family, and even beyond his team to the whole 3-Day community. He is participating in six 3-Days this year (only missing Dallas/Fort Worth) and appreciates that the 3-Day brings out happiness and love all around.

“You get to see people at their kindest. At their best.”

He hopes that some of that spirit rubs off on his family, especially a certain someone…

“I’m hoping that my granddaughter picks some of this up. She’s a really good kid already! And she’s been glowing since that weekend. This walk ain’t for sissies! And she did it!”

Other lessons he would pass on to families who 3-Day together are:

  • “Learn kindness through adversity. Life isn’t always pleasant, and if you lose it, you’ve lost it. You can’t take words and actions back. So just be kind.”
  • “Be careful and plan your fundraising! We had 11 people on the same team, all fundraising at the same time. You have to start early and plan ahead! Put your goal out there early and remind people. Work together and plan and hope for a little bit of luck.”
  • And finally, “Be prepared to cry together. It’s a happy cry, but you will cry.”

Though his own family won’t be with him on the rest of his 2019 3-Days, he knows he won’t be alone this fall. He has another family to look forward to.

“My family says, ‘Oh, Dad’s out playing in the Pink Bubble!’ They go back to school and I go to my pink family.”

We’re honored to have Dan, and all the other families who participate with us, as part of our pink family. We can’t wait to share more fun, love and kindness with all of them, in August and beyond.