Fort Worth 3-Day Coaches!

They’re the helpful cheerleaders on the other end of the phone call or email when you have questions or concerns. They’re the smiling faces welcoming you and your teams at meet-ups and workshops and building up community excitement for the 3-Day. They’re the guiding hands leading the crew captains and teams to greatness. That’s right, they’re your Susan G. Komen 3-Day® coaches!

As we’ve prepared to return to each of the seven splendid 3-Day locations this year, we’ve been taking a few minutes to catch up with the coaches from each event. You’ve gotten to know them pretty well over the past couple of years on the 3-Day blog and this year, instead of letting them talk about themselves, I asked their fellow coaches to do it for them!

The Dallas/Fort Worth coaches—Gayla, Liz and Val—are the stars of the show today! Click here to see what we knew about them already, and keep reading to see what they each had to say about each other.

Val, Liz, Gayla

Gayla (Dallas/Fort Worth Local Events Coach)

“Gayla is super caring and a bundle of energy. She is so very passionate about the 3-Day and helping ensure it is the best possible event for every walker. Gayla will go out of her way to spend time helping a walker set up her fundraising page or learn how to navigate the 3-Day website. Her passion and caring frequently inspires walkers to register for the following year before they have even participated in the current year. She is so knowledgeable about the Dallas/Fort Worth area and really knows how to get local folks involved and out to support the walkers.”– Liz

“I have never met anyone with more spirit than the One and Only Gayla Cruikshank, 3-Day cheerleader extraordinaire. Even when the going gets rough (and it sometimes does) she has a smile on her face and a skip in her step. Her only concern is ensuring that our participants have what they need to have a life-changing event. Liz and I are truly blessed to have Gayla walking this journey with us, she’s an amazing co-worker, mother, and friend.” – Val

Liz (Dallas/Fort Worth Participant Support Coach)

“Gayla and I like to say that Liz is the voice and email of the DFW 3-Day and that couldn’t be more true. She is my ‘go-to’ gal for any question, any time. She supports our walkers and crew members in millions of different ways, always wanting to ensure they have everything they need to succeed. In addition to all that, Liz is one of my ‘besties’ both at work and in the real world. I truly treasure every interaction with her and count down the days until my next visit to to see her, her husband and their two kitties.” – Val

“There are so many words to describe Liz! She is kind, helpful, available, smart, willing, dedicated, passionate, knowledgeable, determined. Liz is always available and can fix any problem participants throw at her. She is focused and brings calm to any situation, even when I call her in a panic. I love every time I get to see Liz. We video chat almost every day of the work week and sometimes talk on the weekends, too! I’m really looking forward to hanging out with her in our minivan in November.” – Gayla

Val (Dallas/Fort Worth Crew & Volunteer Coordinator)

“Val is generous, helpful, organized, smart, friend, loyal and kind. She is very detailed oriented and has the most beautiful handwriting for the kind notes she sends to participants. She puts thought in to any communication to people and intentionally makes them feel extremely special. The memory that makes me laugh the most about Val is when we finished staffing the Michigan 3-Day in 2014 and were at the airport Sunday night flying home from an exhausting/exhilarating weekend; we got so slap-happy we couldn’t even keep it together for an airport selfie (laughing tears)!” – Gayla

“Val puts her heart and soul into creating a positive experience for the Dallas/Fort Worth crew. She plans all year on what she can do or create for the crew to let them know how special and appreciated they are. We have so much fun together outside of work and even did a Grand Canyon road trip together last year.” – Liz

Do you know the Dallas/Fort Worth coaches? How would you describe these fabulous ladies?

20 Tips for the First-Time 3-Day Walker

Say hello to Jamie Roubinek. On her blog, Roubinek Reality, Jamie writes about momhood, food, travel, DIYs and life in Dallas. On top of all of that, Jamie also stepped up to join the 3-Day in 2015 as a first-time walker in Dallas/Fort Worth. As a newly-graduated expert on the newbie experience, Jamie has some advice to offer other first-timers making their way to the 3-Day.

20151108_122637 In November, I had the amazing opportunity to participate in the Susan G. Komen Dallas/Fort Worth 3-Day. It was an unforgettable event for several reasons but mostly, the 3-Day was a huge learning experience. It was my very first one, so I learned a lot along the way. I wanted to share 20 tips for first-time 3-Day walkers.

Get fitted for good shoes well ahead of time. They will be one of the most important things you’ll need during the 3-Day. But make sure you’re not wearing brand new shoes for the event. Break them in while training.
Train, train, train. This is an endurance event. You’ll want to be physically prepared. By training ahead of time, you’ll potentially avoid LOTS of pain.
Get a training buddy. Putting in the miles is a lot easier when you have a friend to do it with.
Be equally committed to your fitness and fundraising. Make every day a mission to get yourself ready and to get your friends and family behind you.
Attend the workshops that the 3-Day provides. They are full of tips and great information you’ll want to hear. Plus, you’ll meet fun people preparing for the same thing you are.
Practice packing your bag and stick to the weight limit. Crew members will have to move your bags and they have LOTS of bags to take care of. If you aren’t sure if you’ll need something, you probably won’t.
Jazz up your bag a little to make it easily recognizable.
When packing your bag, put outfits for each day in individual Ziploc baggies. It not only keeps things organized for you, but also keeps clothes from getting wet in the event of rain or heavy dew.
Carry a backpack or a fanny pack while walking. Choosing which one ultimately comes down to personal preference, but there are a couple of things you’ll want to have on you while you walk and you need to decide early what is the best way for you to carry them without weighing yourself down.
Eat well, hydrate, and get lots of sleep before the event. You’ll want to be at the top of your game so you’re not fighting fatigue in the middle of the 60 miles.
Don’t forget your water bottle. There are many drink and snack stations along the way, but they are for refilling your own bottle. I actually forgot my bottle one day. Huge mistake on my part. I won’t do that again. 🙂
Get the towel service. After using your towel at night, there’s a chance it might not dry by the next day, depending on the weather. It’s worth it to have that nice fresh towel when you need it.
Bring ear plugs. You never know how loud it might be outside of your tent (or maybe inside, if your tentmate is a snorer) when you’re trying to sleep.
Bring Advil or Tylenol to take before going to bed. Your aching feet and muscles will thank you!
Don’t forget sunscreen and lip balm. We started so early in the day and even though I wasn’t walking during the heat of the day, I still managed to get a bit of a sunburn on my face. Not fun.
Pack plenty of socks and carry another pair with you while you’re walking. Think of how miserable it feels to walk around with wet socks. Yuck.
Get there early for the Opening Ceremony and stay for the Closing Ceremony. You’ll want to soak in both of these emotional events, believe me! 🙂
Meet people along the way and find out why they’re participating. You’ll love hearing the different stories and finding out what you may have in common with other walkers.
Dress like your teammates or walking buddy with lots of pink. It’s fun to see what everyone is wearing and all of the creativity everyone brings to the event.
Make friends, push yourself, envision yourself crossing the finish line, and just enjoy yourself! Remember why you wanted to participate, who you’re walking for, and let that push you along the way!

I’m so thankful for the opportunity to participate in this amazing event and I hope these tips may help another walker who may be taking this 60-mile journey for the very first time. Good luck! You won’t regret it, nor will you forget it.

“The 3-Day Saved My Life” – The Story of Pink Santa

If you participated in the Susan G. Komen Dallas/Fort Worth 3-Day this year (or, for that matter, in any number of Komen 3-Day events over the past ten+ years), chances are you spotted Mike Wingo. If the name doesn’t ring a jingle bell, perhaps you know him by another identity: Pink Santa. Mike and his alter-ego have become well-known around the world of the 3-Day®. But the jolly elf who hugs and high-fives participants in his pink suit and hat is more than a cheerleader, and his is a moving example of the strength of the 3-Day community.

In the early 2000s, Mike was not doing very well. “I was coming off a divorce and I was not in a good place personally. I tell people that hate was my cancer because I was mad at the world and mad at everybody.”

Around that time, a friend invited Mike to get involved with the 3-Day. “I didn’t know anything about it, had never heard of it. I didn’t know anything about breast cancer. And the sad part about it is I thought, ‘It’s going to be perfect because I’ve got this bad attitude about life and I’m going to be surrounded by all these people who have the same attitude because they’re pissed about getting cancer.’”

Wanting to stay in the background, Mike registered for the Gear and Tent crew, and he quickly realized that his prediction about what to expect was totally wrong. “I got to the event and it wasn’t anything like what I thought… I saw a young lady who was bald, obviously she had cancer, and she was smiling and laughing and joking around. And it shamed me.” All these years later, Mike still gets teary talking about it. “Because I was relatively healthy, I had 3 beautiful kids, I had a family that supported me, and it just shamed me. I was in a tent, somewhere in Fort Worth, TX, and I just said, I want to change. Instead of being a discourager, I want to be an encourager. Instead of trying to bring you down, I’m going to lift you up. A cheerleader for life.”

Mike came to that decision—he calls it an epiphany—and credits the 3-Day for bringing about such a profound change. He had caught the 3-Day “bug,” as he describes it. He shared another story, about a woman he met in Dallas in 2005 whom he had seen struggling all weekend long. He interacted with her several times throughout the event, helping her with her bags and setting up her tent, motivating her and encouraging her whenever he saw her. When he ran into her after the Closing Ceremony, “She held my face and said, ‘You have earned your place in heaven.’ She drove off and I was standing there just bawling. That’s when it struck me that as just an individual, doing things that I didn’t think were very big, I could really make a difference to somebody.

“I claim that the 3-Day saved my life. Had I gone down the path that I was going, I certainly don’t know what that would’ve led to, but it wasn’t good.”

Mike, who lives in Oklahoma, considers the Dallas/Fort Worth 3-Day to be his home event, and the Gear and Tent crew team to be his family. In 2007, he branched out and started traveling to other 3-Day cities (Chicago, Washington, D.C., Seattle and Atlanta) to crew, always returning to the Dallas/Fort Worth event as well.

So how did Mike’s passion and dedication for the 3-Day give birth to his secret identity as Pink Santa? “In one of the years here in Dallas, I think it might’ve been 2006, the 3-Day was on Halloween weekend, so we all came up with crazy costumes. I play Santa in my hometown, so I had a Santa suit, and I thought, I’ll just dress up as Santa. It was a hit. Everybody loved it, everybody had to have pictures.”

So Mike continued to wear the Santa suit for a couple of years, even when it wasn’t Halloween. It came to be expected. Then one of his Gear and Tent crewmates put the idea in Mike’s head that his Santa suit really should be pink. “She said it for a couple years, then one day she called me out of the blue and said let’s meet up.” This friend, who is a breast cancer survivor, took Mike’s measurements and later presented him with a custom-made pink Santa suit. From that day forward, Mike doesn’t go to a single 3-Day without it. Mike’s routine now is to join up with the Lunch crew on Day 2 of whatever event he’s at, lend an extra pair of hands while they set up in the morning, then when the walkers start arriving, he puts on his Pink Santa suit and cheers them in.

Mike has crewed the 3-Day 20 times, but the 2015 event in Dallas/Fort Worth marked a milestone for him: he walked the 3-Day for the first time.

What compelled Pink Santa to decide to walk after so many years on the crew? “I have a friend of 40 years, I met him in 6^th grade.” Mike gets choked up again thinking about his friend. “Last year in September he got diagnosed with lung cancer. So that started me thinking, I need to do something else, something bigger.” The “something bigger” for Mike was finally taking the leap into walking the 60 miles of the 3-Day. “When I first got involved with the 3-Day, the fundraising intimidated me. I come from a small town, it’s very middle class, there aren’t a lot of big businesses around, so that intimidated me. So I thought I’d sidestep the fundraising and be a crew member. Well that lasted one or two years, then I started fundraising as a crew member. Over the years, I’ve gotten a pretty good support group, and I average a couple thousand dollars a year as a crew member.” Sadly, Mike’s friend passed away the day after Thanksgiving, 2014, but by then, Mike was already well on his way to honoring him as a 3-Day walker. “I was fully funded by the first of the year. I just had tremendous support, people knowing it was my first time to walk and everything.” Tremendous support is putting it mildly; in 2015, Mike raised over $3,600, and he has a lifetime fundraising total of more than $26,000.

You’ve probably guessed by now that yes, the Pink Santa suit was part of Mike’s 60-mile journey in Dallas/Fort Worth this year. “When I crew, Pink Santa comes out on Day 2, Saturday. When I decided to walk, that was the first question everybody asked: ‘What about Pink Santa?’ I said, well, I’m Pink Santa, so if I’m going to walk, I guess Pink Santa is going to walk on Saturday.” Mike got a special surprise from his old Gear and Tent teammates as well: they all wore “Pink Santa’s Helper” t-shirts and elf ears. “I walked around the hill and saw them all lined up and oh, it was just amazing.”

To say that the 3-Day has been a big part of Mike’s life is an understatement, just as it is for so many 3-Dayers. “It’s been a blessing. I wish I could quit tomorrow, because that would mean that a cure has been found, but I tell people, as long as there’s fight in me, I’m in this fight.”