Meet Your 2018 Dallas/Fort Worth 3-Day Coaches

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Coach Gayla at left

The Dallas/Fort Worth 3-Day is tomorrow…can you believe it?! We are so excited to head to the Lone Star State, home of Susan G. Komen, for an amazing three days.

But no one is more excited than your Dallas/Fort Worth 3-Day team! Your coaches Gayla and Liz, plus your amazing Crew Coordinator Gina and Event Planner Eileen have all been counting down the days to this weekend for a whole year.

Before we officially kick off the weekend, they are here to share their top tips and advice, toot each other’s horns, and get you pumped for your 60-mile journey.

Huddle statue 2018

That journey includes a lot of new sights and spots to take advantage of this year! There are some not-to-miss route changes that Eileen and the whole team are looking forward to. Here are some of their favorite spots:

  • Our new Opening Ceremony site, Tostitos Championship Plaza at The Star!
  • Specifically, the “Huddle” statue at The Star where we begin our journey (above). It’s made from aluminum pans!
  • The bronze cattle statues at Frisco Central Park
  • Walking through Dr Pepper Ball Park
  • Vitruvian Park Cheering Station just before camp
  • Arbor Hills Nature Preserve in Plano
  • All the local cheering stations! There are lots to look forward to this year ?
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Coach Gina at right

The coaches are also looking forward to welcoming all the participants to Texas. This is especially true for Coach Gina, a new (and very welcome) addition to the Dallas/Fort Worth 3-Day team.

“I can’t wait to meet and connect with the crew, Crew Captains and volunteers. I have gotten to know them virtually the past several months and I’m honored to work alongside these incredible people,” Gina smiles. “The energy of this whole weekend strengthens my spirit in the fight against breast cancer. The walkers have trained and fundraised, the crew and volunteers, especially Crew Captains, have put in their own preparations and the staff has been preparing for months to ensure a wonderful 3-Day experience. We can’t wait to see you all!”

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All your coaches are long-time 3-Day supporters, walkers, volunteers and more. Their More Than Pink love runs deep!

Coach Liz says, “The 3-Day is one of the most powerful and passionate communities I’ve ever been connected to. The participants become friends and more like family due to the time spent together on training walks and sharing the passion for finding a cure. The way everyone takes care of each other is so incredibly special, I honestly don’t know of any other community like this.”

Coach Gayla echoes that with her usual enthusiasm!

“We are all so passionate about the 3-Day and our participants, we hope it shows. It’s amazing that we GET to do this all year long and can’t imagine doing anything else. Another reason is that the Dallas/Fort Worth 3-Day is my home and I am a proud Texan ready to show it off to everyone!”

dogs of the 3-day

Want to make the most of this Texas 3-Day weekend? Take advice right from the team! They advise you all to:

  • Savor the moments, every step, each interaction, because as the saying goes, “It’s the little moments that make life big.”
  • Take lots of selfies!
  • Save contacts. Become Facebook friends. Keep in touch. Seriously, you will make lifelong friends, we promise.
  • Talk to everyone! Ask someone you don’t know why they are walking.
  • Remember to stretch and hydrate. Then stretch and hydrate some more.

They want you all safe and sound and happy at the end of your 60 miles ?

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That’s in part because they’re always happy when they’re on the 3-Day…and when they’re working together! Gina is the newest addition to the group, and she has provided so much kindness and thoughtfulness to the 3-Day, plus she was Coach Liz’s first 3-Day coach back in 2004. Talk about experience!

And she loves her Dallas/Fort Worth team right back!

“Beautiful, dedicated, passionate, hardworking, to name a few! Gayla, Liz and Eileen are such a blessing to work with, and together, we will rock the 3-Day!”

We will rock the Dallas/Fort Worth 3-Day, and that’s a promise. Rock on, coaches!

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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_oDay 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.