The Sisterhood of Rockwall, Texas

The front and reverse of Team ‘Sisterhood of the Traveling Boobs’ tamer outfit

“Well, our official name is of course, ‘The Sisterhood of the Traveling Boobs’ but we have to use a more generic team name for our community fundraisers!” exclaimed the women before the last day of the Susan G. Komen 3-Day^® in Dallas/Fort Worth this weekend. For six women out of Rockwall, Texas, the Komen 3-Day this weekend has become a yearly event. Amber, their leader, has been walking for breast cancer research and awareness since 2001! Rhonda has been walking for six years for her aunt and another friend. “I love it!” she said this morning in great weather, ready to take on the final day of the 60-mile walk. “I’ve played soccer for a long time, so this isn’t too bad.” For Jennifer and Christina, however, who are first-timers on the long walk, the distance is taxing.

Four of the team start Day 3 of the Dallas/Fort Worth 3-Day event

“It’s great to have everyone cheering,” said Jennifer. Christina seemed to know what was coming and was well prepared by the seasoned members of the team, who are sporting their characteristic bright greens, which seem to accent the ubiquitous pink quite well. They have enjoyed a sponsorship from a local T-shirt company who printed 75 shirts for their 5K fundraiser. In addition, their two sets of 3-Day uniforms are pretty unique. Their fundraisers have done well, too. Since 2001, they have raised over $81,000 to support breast cancer research. That’s a huge sum when many years there were only two in the team who could participate.

Team 'Sisterhood of the Traveling Boobs' enjoy the Texas sunshine on Day 3 of the Komen 3-Day in Dallas-Fort Worth

Team ‘Sisterhood of the Traveling Boobs’ enjoys the Texas sunshine on Day 3 of the 3-Day in Dallas-Fort Worth

Two other women round out the six-member team: Michele and Paula. Michele’s cousin is a breast cancer survivor, and all of the women represent a team that is fully supportive of their friends and relatives who have been affected by breast cancer. “Well, we adopted one more person on this 3-Day,” says Amber. “Clark is walking alone in honor of his grandmother and he was in a tent next to us. So we told him he could walk with us!” The team seemed very relaxed, as some walked together and others were scattered along the route. Their good attitudes and friendly personalities seemed to radiant onto the last miles of the course.

Good luck to Team ‘Sisterhood of the Traveling Boobs’ and to all the walkers and crew on the last day of the walk!

The Team joins the other 1,200 walkers on Sunday morning to the start of the route on Day 3

The team shows off their characteristic green uniforms, highlighted with the pink of 3-Day

From Pain to Gain – and $1.4 Million

When Tina McDonough was asked to walk in the 2007 Seattle 3-Day with three friends in honor of her friend Michelle, who was living with breast cancer, she couldn’t refuse. She remembers vividly how she felt physically while walking those 60 miles. “I had not trained enough, and was hurting – bad!” Tina confessed. That, she thought, would be her first – and last – 3-Day walk.

When Michelle lost her fight against cancer just two months later, Tina was no longer deterred by her memories of the physical discomfort of her first walk. “I watched Michelle’s 12-year-old daughter and her husband fall apart,” said Tina. “Attending her funeral was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I knew I had to do something, so I started a team to walk in her memory. I figured training and fundraising as a group would make it easier.” So her team, Valley Girls and Guys, was born.

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The 3-Day: Atlanta Style

Saturday night’s Camp Show said it all: from the choir Shades of Pink to the dance party that just kept going, the Susan G. Komen 3-Day^® in Atlanta this year was one good time after another. The Crew of more than 300 volunteers gathered before the event and very early on Friday morning to make sure the kickoff at Stone Mountain was just perfect. A chilly but dry morning blossomed into a beautiful sunrise as more than 1,000 walkers stretched, did Zumba, and cheered to the launch of a 60-mile walk that would raise over $2.9 million for breast cancer research and local support. Many first-time walkers enjoyed the inspirational Opening Ceremony and over 100 men joined the Komen 3-Day in Atlanta this year!

“Playing it cool” was the name of the game as walkers circled Stone Mountain through the large production set and onto the streets of Clarkston, Avondale Estates and Decatur. A large group of Bank of America employees at Pit Stop 3 cheered walkers who had started to feel the pains of the challenging walk. “No one said anything about those first hills!” smiled one walker when I asked how the day was going. Cheering stations in Decatur and possibly one of the most adorable group of pre-schoolers near the Clarkston First Baptist Church kept spirits high as participants finished the 21.6-mile day at the World Congress Center in Atlanta. Shelley Middleton gave a moving speech that night at the camp show and the Milestone Award was presented to Beth White for her eight years of dedication to the 3-Day®. She has personally raised $65,600 to date and counting! What an inspiration for the fight against breast cancer.

Day 2 rained on and off, enough for walkers to don ponchos on the 19.3-mile route through the northern areas of Atlanta. The Youth Corps once again provided some entertainment at lunch in the Buckhead neighborhood, and the cheering stations, including the Komen Greater Atlanta Affiliate were just awesome. The much anticipated Shades of Pink Choir (made up of 18 breast cancer survivors) rocked the house while the walkers and crew dined after the long day, and an impromptu duet of “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” (Martina McBride) by two of the younger walkers made the evening a musical delight. Joe Moore, a co-survivor, and Melissa Traylor, a young survivor, reminded the large crowd of why we all work so hard. After the great camp show, things didn’t slow down. A dance party to rival any 3-Day Dance Party exploded with the Youth Corps leading things off!

Day 3 included a 15.3-mile route through Atlanta. The walkers enjoyed especially sunny and cooler weather and a great sunrise as they moved through Piedmont Park and Freedom Park. The Woodward Eagles cheerleaders entertained at a private station near Emory University. Walkers and crew finished the route at Turner Field to the cheers of family and friends (and two wedding proposals!) and celebrated the fight against breast cancer through a program of remembrance of lost loved ones and an appreciation of the survivors of breast cancer. The Survivors’ Circle gathered to raise the flag: “We Will Never Give Up!”

What is your favorite memory of the Atlanta 3-Day?

ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHS