Tag Archives: 60 mile walk

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.

2019 Twin Cities 3-Day Wrap-Up

The weekend could not have been brighter or more fun for our Twin Cities 3-Day. 400 walkers and 150 crew gathered together to honor our community and celebrate the start of an amazing 3 days. Our 60-Mile journey began with an emotional Opening Ceremony at our hotel camp. Local participants shared their stories, then our local survivors and those living with metastatic breast cancer led our walkers out into the sun and onto the route…

The walk began with time for photos and famous Minnesota sights in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and through Kenwood Park. The local community came out with cheer stations at William Berry and Lynnhurst Parks before lunch. Lunch was shady and relaxing thanks to the sunglasses from Amgen and bright pink mats and shade tents from Mohawk Flooring. Before they knew it, our walkers had already conquered 10 miles!

At Grab B, walkers could stop and take in the picturesque Minnehaha Falls and relax under some shady trees. It was there that we also met our Twin Cities Youth Corps team, who spread smiles and enthusiasm all weekend long!

Pit Stop 3 was a great selfie opportunity, thanks to crew fun, and then a few miles later, our walkers came home to the hotel camp. Down the pink carpet, and into our 3-Day Camp Main Street, walkers were reinvigorated thanks to the Bank of America massage chairs, sweet treats from Amgen Oncology, and a hearty evening meal. After dinner, we played a rousing game of 3-Day BINGO and ended Day One with lots of laughs.

Saturday began with our Bank of America Breakfast of Champions, where we awarded our Top Fundraisers for Twin Cities, as well as honoring our Milestone and Local Impact Award Winners. It was the perfect way to start our Day 2, and we were excited to cheer on our walkers as they headed out into the sunlight.

The cheering and support continued all day long thanks to community support like the Susan G. Komen Minnesota Affiliate, who supported our walkers at Pit Stop 2. The excitement reached a peak at lunch at Central Park in Roseville. There we held our halfway celebration, as walkers were already 30 miles down in their weekend journey. There were extra photo opps and celebratory decorations, as well as a dance party led by Mark and our Youth Corps and Crew. It was the perfect way to start the second half of our day!

From there, walkers passed through the beautiful areas of Little Canada and White Bear Lake. The walk along the water, and underneath shady trees, helped make the sunny afternoon a comfortable and enjoyable one. There were plenty of cheering stations, and even free pink ice cream cones at Cup and Cone in White Bear Lake. The day ended with a bus pick-up from White Bear Lake Area Schools. Walkers took a bus back home to our hotel camp, and after our Day 2 final walker arrived, we were all united.

From there, we held our second Honor Ceremony, hearing stories from local participants and our Twin Cities Youth Corps. We raised our voices and our hearts together to remember why we walk, and why we will never give up. Everyone went to sleep on Saturday night with hearts full of love and excitement for our final day together.

Day 3 brought perfect walking weather, thanks to some evening rain the night before. Walkers made great time as they trekked through Falcon Heights and into St. Paul. Van Cleve and Como Regional Parks brought beautiful sights and easy steps as walkers made their way into lunch. By midday, they had already walked more than 11 miles!

Our afternoon was spent throughout St. Paul, including a stop at the Summit Overlook Park, which provided great views of the city and many a photo opportunity.

But soon enough the day, and the 60-mile walk, were over. Our walkers crossed the finish line in front of the Minnesota State Capital building, cheered on by friends and family. They received their Bank of America medals, and proudly wore them while they celebrated, took photos, and relaxed in our Finish Line Festival area. Then, our last walker came home, leading the crew and all our local survivors into the cheering crowd of our 3-Day participants.

There was much to celebrate! Our 400 Twin Cities walkers and 150 Crew raised an amazing $1.1 million this weekend in the fight against breast cancer! We danced under the sun, hand in hand, and ended the weekend with smiles all around. Thank you, Twin Cities, for yet another amazing 60-mile journey with us!