The 60-mile journey of the Susan G. Komen 3-Day® can be tough at times and often, a simple word, phrase or thought can motivate you past the hurdles of pain and fatigue.
We asked our Facebook community to share some mantras – encouraging words, phrases or thoughts that motivate you to keep going. On Friday, we blogged with some of your responses, and today, we’ve compiled even more of your shorter phrases into a stylish word cloud.
Needless to say, we are bursting with inspiration at all of your amazing mantras!
Earlier this week on Facebook, we asked you to share your mantras – those motivating words, phrases or thoughts that get you through the most physically challenging times on the Susan G. Komen 3-Day®—and boy did you all come through!
On Monday we’ll share a very cool “word cloud” compilation of the shorter mantra phrases, but for today enjoy some of the longer, more detailed responses that our incredible 3-Dayers shared.
Rex H.: “My wife and I have read some very motivating memorials on the backs other people’s t-shirts [while we were walking]. It helps us forget about the hill. The blister. Being tired. All of those things are momentary. But those sisters we followed for I don’t know how many miles have lost their mother forever. That keeps me coming back.”
Meg S.: “I never heard her complain. Not once in the 5 years she fought so hard. So [my mantra was]… ‘I want to be as strong as my sister!’”
Marilyn I.: “Last year was my first 3-Day. Day 1… evening felt like glass in my quads, Day 2..was like razors in my calves, Day 3… I felt like a linebacker hit me about 4 miles before the finish line….I just couldn’t think of a good enough reason to quit! Everyone Deserves a Lifetime – Everyone.”
Tommy P.: “[My mantra was,] ‘If she can I can.’ I soloed my 1st walk in 2010. Did not stretch enough Friday AM and PM. I was in bad shape Saturday AM. I limped around. Rubbed down, took Advil, and stretched. I was going to walk. An hour or so in I was still questioning walking till I saw one walker. She walked with a stiff leg limp. I watched her. She was wearing long walking pants but I could see her ankle. She was wearing a prosthetic leg with locked ankle and knee joints. I determined from that point on ‘if she can I can.’ I have never questioned it since then. I never met her. Have not been able to find out who she is but she is a hero to me.”
Molly D.: “My best friend can’t talk to his Mom. Keep walking.”
Tara Z.: “I can’t do the walk due to severe back problems…but I am a cancer survivor and I have to say that all you walkers should know we (cancer survivors) know what you do and we appreciate it. When you get tired and feel like you can’t make it, just remember that because of what you are doing someone somewhere that is going through chemo or radiation is counting on you, is in pain with you and is more grateful than you will ever know. Your mantra could be ‘I’M A SUPER PERSON, I HELPED SOMONE WITH CANCER TODAY!’”
Frances V.: “I see all those wonderful people that come out cheer us on and then you spot that one very strong person in the crowd. You can tell that they have either just gone through chemo or maybe are still receiving it. They are out there supporting us and I think to myself, “60 miles is nothing compared to what they are struggling with.” Makes the rest if my day go by easier. Thank you for supporting us. You are why we so this and I know one day we will find that cure.”
Sandi S.: “I count my steps on all challenging hills…keeps me focused!”
Sara D.: “We DANCE!! When we’re too tired to walk, we crank up the tunes and dance our way in! Works every time!!”
Jenifer M.: “Our struggles are minor. Our journey has an end in sight. We know how long our journey is. The ones we are representing with our journey have a far longer journey with more pain and not certain how long their journey is. Together we all can make a difference one step at a time!”
Paula P.: “I have 5 daughters, I name one with each step. Kristen, Katie, Kayla, Kourtney, Khendra… Repeat.”
Tammy J.: “Walk through the tired. Tough times never last but tough people do.”
Melissa L.: “I went through surgeries and chemo – this pain feels GREAT because I am choosing it!”
Brendalee H.: “Hearing my nephew’s voice say, ‘You can do it Aunt E!’”
Carla S.: “When I had breast cancer, I never stopped just because I was tired. I can do this!”
Cristina U.: “They did it. They fought a harder battle, climbed a steeper hill, and faced the unimaginable. I can do this.”
Beth M.: “I start reciting the names of the people we’ve lost to breast cancer.”
Mandy B.: “My friend, Alisa, and I have walked three 3-Days and are signed up for the fourth. When a big hill appears we tackle it with little to no words. I don’t think we will ever forget the gigantic hill in Boston (our first walk that got us hooked) where a little girl was standing at the top holding a sign thanking us for walking because her mom died from breast cancer. Having young kids at home, that hit me pretty hard. I walk because I can and I thank everyone who supports me!”
Tamela L.: “When I did the walk in San Diego years ago there was a bald woman at the top of one of the hills we had to climb — she was dressed in pink and holding a sign that said: ‘Thank you for walking for me.’ Best moment of the weekend!”
Sydni L.: “No words…just take a deep breath and look around. The motivation is all around you.”
Can you really be this close to the end of your Susan G. Komen 3-Day®? Your weary feet and legs say yes, but your heart says no way. It feels as though Friday morning—when you arrived in the pre-dawn darkness, dropped off your bag, met up with your teammates and felt the sun rise over the beautiful Opening Ceremony before taking your first steps—was an eternity ago. And yet, you can’t believe it’s almost over. These brief few days have been packed with so many memories and experiences that as you near the finish line, you find yourself overwhelmed with emotion once again.
I’ve crossed the finish line as a Komen 3-Day walker fifteen times, and the impact of that one simple experience is as strong and profound now as it was the first time. Back then, my emotional response to completing the 3-Day® was mostly based on the personal amazement and pride that I felt over physically accomplishing the 60-mile walk. But in the many years since then, the impassioned response I feel as I finish the 3-Day is so much more than “I did it!” It’s also, “Look at all of these people who did it!”
I look around at the faces of my fellow walkers and crew members. I see journeys that are so much longer and greater than three days.
I see young people who had to learn about the devastation of cancer too early in their lives…
…older people who have seen so much in their lifetimes and wear their years like a badge of honor…
…parents who would walk 60,000 miles if it meant making the world a little safer for the children who run to hug them at the finish line…
…daughters and sons who, in 72 hours of their lives, learned a lifelong lesson about just how much power one person can have as a force for good in the world…
…friends who helped and supported each other in ways that go deeper than mere friendship… …determined fighters, taped up like mummies, who pile out of a sweep van 2 blocks from the end just so they can cross the finish line on their own two throbbing feet…
…survivors who once felt crushed under the words, “You have breast cancer,” now marching forward in proud defiance, as if to shout back, “It didn’t defeat me!”
I see true heroes.
I link arms with my teammates, all of us in some combined state of crying/laughing/cheering/limping and we cross together.
The walk is over, but the energy is sustained here in the Participant Finish Area. There’s music and noise and flowers, non-stop cheering and a long “human tunnel” of fellow walkers who have already made it to the end, and choose to STILL be on their feet—giving individual high fives to ever single new walker who comes in. My teammates and I give each other hugs, find a bathroom (some things never change…), pick up our Victory T-shirts, take more pictures, join the others in cheering the finishing walkers in and eventually find a place to sit and take off our shoes for a few minutes (but also, get up and dance when a song we like comes on). Soon, we will be lining up and processing out of this waiting area and into the Closing Ceremony.
The march into Closing is a victory parade, and the streets are lined with the loved ones who supported us and our fellow walkers the other 362 days of the year. People hold up signs, take pictures and videos, and point with excitement when they see their walker going by. There are more hugs, more tears, and we’re not even into the Closing Ceremony yet!
The Closing Ceremony, like so much of the 3-Day, is hard to put into words. It’s a celebration of all that we have achieved on our 3-Day journey. The walkers enter, followed by the crew, and then the survivors. In a beautifully moving tribute to this last group, everyone holds up a shoe. I love this part. This shoe salute wasn’t something that was scripted or prompted. It was a gesture that just started spontaneously somewhere along the way, many years ago, and quickly became an honored tradition in every 3-Day city, another small example of what makes the 3-Day so special.
The Closing Ceremony is a brief, moving end cap to a weekend celebrating the everyday pink warriors, who, for 3 days, went way above expectations, becoming true heroes in the lives of everyone touched by breast cancer.
The walk is over, but the journey is not ending. I come back to the 3-Day every year because our work isn’t done, and because those 3 days are like fill-up for my soul. Like me, you will take all of the things you have experienced in these unforgettable 3 days and carry them with you into the world. And the world will be better for it.
And with that, our Insider’s Guide series comes to an end too. I’ve done my little part to give you lots of details about what to expect on the 3-Day, but it’s impossible for me to capture what the whole experience will be like for you. One “insider’s” view may be different from another’s, but the overall theme is the same – the 3-Day changes your life, in ways that no one but you can know.
We hope you will join us.
Want to see the entire Insider’s Guide to the 3-Day? Here are all of the segments:
