We are lucky to work with some of the best in our 3-Day family. From coaches to volunteer coordinators to event planners, we are always working to make your sixty miles the best they can be! With that in mind, we are highlighting some of our amazing team members each month, so you can get to know the people working to help you every day.
Our 3-Day rock star of the month is Karen Odell, a new coach for our Atlanta 3-Day. She will be out and about in the community, working with our amazing participants to help bring new walkers and more awareness to the Atlanta 3?Day this year.
Karen has just re-joined the 3-Day team working with a lung cancer non-profit, and she is very happy to be settled in with the Atlanta 3-Day team.
“I love the nature trails along the river. We have several miles of hiking that take you along beautiful hilly stretches and lead to lovely views of the Chattahoochee River!”
The trails are perfect for 3-Day training for Atlanta natives, and walkers from all cities should keep an eye out for Karen on the event.
“I am looking forward to reconnecting with participants and volunteers who I haven’t seen in a few years. It is wonderful to see how many are still engaged with the event!”
That includes Karen herself, who became involved with the 3-Day after realizing she had a true passion for cancer research fundraising. She then turned that passion into her daily work, and now focuses her work “to drive registrations to the best of my ability, to connect and communicate with participants on a personal level and to ensure that the event experience is of the highest standard.”
Have a question or a concern? Don’t worry! Karen says the 3-Day is “easier than you expect,” and encourages first-time walkers, potential walkers, and even veterans to reach out to her.
“We are available to coach and mentor you through the journey and have the tools to make sure you succeed. I think when we have the opportunity to meet face-to-face and introduce new participants to our seasoned veterans, they are put at ease and realize this event is something they can do!”
That support also helps participants to create their own experience as they trek those 60 miles.
“The 3-Day is unique for each participant because everyone comes to it with a different perspective and world view. When they arrive on event, all the training and hard work culminate in an experience that unfolds as uniquely their own. Although the experience is shared with many, each person creates their own personal journey.”
Want to know more about Karen’s journey? Offer her a trip to Greece or some seriously good seafood, and she just might tell you! These are a few of the Southern girl’s favorite things, along with tunes by Florence and the Machine, The Eurhythmics, Paul Simon and Prince.
Plus, if she ever needs a new career, she could always be a chef or an actress! She earned a culinary degree, and was also an extra on Saturday Night Live before joining the 3-Day team. So, when you see her on the Atlanta 3-Day, feel free to tell her a joke or share a recipe, as well as asking any of your questions about the 3-Day.
See you in Atlanta!
And big congratulations to Feet to Beat Breast Cancer, Atlanta’s top fundraising team, with $54,724 raised this year. In their 12 years as a team, they have raised $698,774. Feet to Beat Breast Cancer is captained by Carolyn Parks and had 18 team members this year.
Alison has been a remarkable 3-Day participant for 12 years; the 2016 Atlanta 3-Day, where Alison was part of the Camp Support crew team, was Alison’s 24th 3-Day event. In her lifetime as a 3-Dayer, Alison has worn dozens of hats (figuratively and literally, as she is usually in a costume of some kind), both as a walker and a crew member, and has personally raised over $56,000 for the 3-Day. Her friend and fellow crew member, Jake, said about Alison, “Talk about being dedicated to the cause… I am pretty sure when Alison sweats at the 3-Day, it comes out pink.She has been a captain for one of the largest and most logistically challenging crews for as long as I can remember. Then she started taking her talents all over the country to captain other crew teams in other 3-Day cities. Alison may be small, but she has a big fire within her. And when that fire is pointed at you: watch out! I’m just glad she is pointing that fire at breast cancer.” Another crew friend, Julie, shared this about Alison: “Through the years, events, and shared experiences with Alison, I continue to grow more in awe of her. Each year she dedicates her time to multiple 3-Day events, often as a Crew Captain.I joined the staff of the Greater Atlanta Affiliate of Susan G. Komen in 2014. And now, every day, I meet people who can afford a mammogram thanks to Alison. There are people across this country, and maybe even the world, who are alive today because Alison cared enough to step up to the challenge of walking and crewing those 24 3-Days, and because she knew that raising a minimum amount of money was just the beginning of what she could do, so she boldly chose to push for more.” Congratulations, Alison, and thank you for your amazing spirit and your years of commitment to the 3-Day!
The recipient of the 2016 Atlanta 3-Day Local Impact award has truly made her mark on the Atlanta 3-Day family. Carolyn Parks first walked the 3-Day in Atlanta in 2001, and has since walked in Atlanta (and nowhere else) 12 times, achieving a lifetime fundraising total of $52,700. Carolyn’s friend Mandy said this about her amazing friend: “Carolyn is the most caring and compassionate person I know! Her constant and tireless commitment to put others before herself makes her such an inspiration to more people than she probably realizes. Year after year, not only does Carolyn continue to lead the top fundraising team for the Atlanta 3-Day, she is constantly giving back to her community through her work with Meals on Wheels, American Red Cross and other local charities. Carolyn brings hope to us all and she truly wants to make a difference.” Carolyn is also the team captain of Feet to Beat Breast Cancer, the top fundraising team in Atlanta this year. Her her friend and teammate, Debbie, shared, “I’m not sure I have met anyone more dedicated to the 3-Day than Carolyn. We met when my five friends decided to walk the 3-Day because I was going through breast cancer and chemo. As luck (or fate) would have it, they joined her team (Feet To Beat Breast Cancer) and she made our first 3-Day experience incredible. Carolyn always puts others before herself and is constantly thinking of fundraising ideas because of her commitment to this cause and to helping others. I am so grateful that Carolyn was one of the people sent to me during my fight with cancer. She inspires me to be a better person every day and I know the whole Feet To Beat Team feels the same way.” You inspire us too, Carolyn! Thank you for your incredible dedication to the 3-Day!
The first few miles were spent migrating through Stone Mountain Park before reaching pit stop 1 and the Pirates of the CariBOOBean. Next, the walkers exited the park and walked through Stone Mountain Village to the first grab & go.
Atlanta is home to an extensive network of off-road trails for pedestrians and cyclists called the PATH, and out of grab & go A in Stone Mountain, walkers took one of the PATH trails into Clarkston, through a heart-meltingly adorable preschool cheering station, and into pit stop 2. 
From there, it was back onto the trails and onward to the lunch stop, a “Boob-kini Beach” party in Avondale Estates. After lunch, walkers continued into quaint downtown Decatur, where they were greeted by another cheering station before hitting the second Grab & Go.
After that, the route made its way into Atlanta city limits. The spooky-sweet Halloween-themed pit stop 3 and “Mardi Bras” of pit stop 4 helped power the walkers through the end of Day 1—even during a brief rain shower—and into camp at the Georgia World Congress Center.
From camp, walkers headed north toward Midtown and up into Lindbergh, with the first two pit stops and a packed cheering station all within the first 7 miles.
Pit stop 3 was set up at the home of Komen Greater Atlanta’s offices, and the local Komen staff was out in force to rally walkers in and out of the stop with a marvelous cheering squad. After leaving pit stop 3, walkers moved through the beautiful residential area of Buckhead, then out to Paces Ferry Road and past the Governor’s mansion.
Lunch and a grab & go were up next, and then the walkers moved onto the north Belt Line trail, a beautiful, shaded pathway.
The route moved back through downtown, past the art museum and into Midtown to Midtown Bank where pit stop 4 was set up. The bank employees even came out with tremendous spirit and some extra snacks and water to support. The final stretch on Day 2 brought walkers up close with some of downtown Atlanta’s most visited spots, including the World of Coca-Cola museum, Georgia Aquarium and Centennial Olympic Park, before leading them back into camp.
They moved back through Midtown to Piedmont Ave. and worked their way around the outside perimeter of Piedmont Park, ending up on the eastside Beltline Trail until they got to pit stop 2 and a Cheering Station at the beautiful Historic Fourth Ward Park.
From there, walkers made their way east to the lunch stop then continued winding their way on and off the PATH trail, coming through Inman Park and up to pit stop 3 at the Historic Water Tower. With only a few miles to the finish, walkers trekked past the birthplace of Martin Luther King, Jr., through downtown and past the state Capitol, and south to Turner Field, the site of the Atlanta 3-Day’s Closing Ceremony.
