Top 10 Reasons to Commit to the 3-Day in 2019

The Twin Cities 3Day Walk on Saturday, August 19, 2018

A new year is here, and 2019 is the perfect time to commit to walking 60 miles over 3 days in the fight against breast cancer. If you join us on the 3-Day, you’ll be joining more than 500,000 participants who have gone further than ever in the fight against breast cancer. We need you to walk beside us and make a difference.

Join us and commit to 3 days and 60 miles. It’s a journey you won’t regret…and one you won’t take alone! Need more reasons to commit to the 3-Day in 2019? Don’t worry, we have them! Here are our Top 10 reasons to walk with us this year…

  • You’ll make a difference: Every step you take and dollar you raise will make a real difference in the fight against breast cancer. Aside from raising awareness to your friends and family, and in the city you’re walking in, you’re also raising necessary funds. 75% of the net proceeds from the 3-Day go towards Komen’s national priorities like research programs, community health and advocacy initiatives and global partnerships.
  • You’ll show your support: More than 500,000 participants have supported the breast cancer community, including those living with metastatic breast cancer, since the 3-Day began. You’ll be joining them in showing support for those that continue to fight, and remembering those we have lost.

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  • You’ll make friends: No one is alone on the 3-Day. If you register to walk alone, you’ll make friends every step along the way, as well as feeling extra supported by our amazing 3-Day Crew! If you want to join a team, search for your local coaches’ Facebook Page, or message us on Facebook and we can connect you!
  • You’ll have fun: This one is a no-brainer and a promise. The 3-Day is a long journey, but it is certainly a fun one that you will never forget.
  • You’ll experience a city in a new way: The 3-Day is a great opportunity to visit and experience a new city, but even if you walk in your hometown, you might see new sights and views. Over the course of a 60-mile journey, even longtime residents of our host cities are sure to see parts of their hometown that they never experienced before.

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  • You’ll help your community: 25% of the net proceeds of the 3-Day stay in the local host city community and help fund everything from screening, diagnosis and treatment assistance programs to navigation services and education programs. You’ll make a difference right at home!
  • You’ll get those steps in: Lots of people make a fitness or activity goal for the new year, and the 3-Day is the perfect way to help you stay on top of those resolutions. We have year-round training events and an easy app to help you stay active!
  • You’ll be inspired: From the first moments of Opening Ceremony to our final dance party at Closing Ceremony, you will find inspiration all around at the 3-Day. Talk to a survivor. Watch for facts and statistics posted along the route. See the signs from walker stalkers. Raise your shoe survivors and those living with metastatic breast cancer. Every moment is an opportunity.

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  • You’ll get grahamwiches: And mac n’ cheese! And cheese sticks and fruit and chips and rice krispies and all kinds of deliciousness! Nothing motivates people quite like snacks.
  • You’ll be part of a new family: “The Pink Bubble” is something that is often discussed, but the feeling of support and love that you’ll feel on the 3-Day is a truly unique experience. You will be forever changed by this walk.

Join us in our fight! Commit to 3 days and go further than anyone can to be the hero in your life, in the lives of others, and in the fight against breast cancer. Register now to join us in 2019 and help end breast cancer. For good.

Come and walk with us.

3-Day Besties, Tracie and Kristin

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We say it often, but the 3-Day truly is better with friends. It’s a journey that we all take together, but having your bestie by your side for the 60 miles makes the journey even more fun. Sunday is International Day of Friendship, so it’s the perfect time to ask a friend to walk with you this year! If you need more reasons to convince your best friend to walk with you, we have two: Tracie Audifferen and Kristin Naour Duvall.

These two ladies have been walking the San Diego 3-Day for five years, and, after meeting on a training walk, they’re now also best friends!

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Tracie began walking years ago, after a sorority sister was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer.

“I had always seen the commercials, but this was someone who made it real for me,” she says.

In her second-year walking, she joined the Powered by Optimism team, where she met Kristin.

Previously, Kristin’s connection to the 3-Day came from supporting her mom, aunts and cousins who all participated. She began walking in 2012, initially planning to only walk for one day. She joined Powered by Optimism and changed her mind one hour into her first training walk.

“It was the most fun day and most fun walk ever! I knew I couldn’t miss out on this, and immediately changed my status from walking one day to all 3 days!”

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From there, both she and Tracie were hooked members of the Powered by Optimism team. So much so that they were both, separately, driving 25 miles each way to the team’s training walks. Until they met each other…

“We were commiserating about the drive to the walks, and both were looking for someone to carpool with! And all this time we were driving the same streets!” Tracie explains.

“We really got to know each other through driving to our training walks!” Kristin echoes. “It was early mornings, and we were all exhausted on the way there, and then on the rides back we would pop a couple Pepsis and be goofy and fun!”

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From there, the friendship grew. Tracie credits her friendship with Kristin for bringing her out from the sadness of losing her sorority sister.

“Kristin is just a light, and I am like a moth to that light. She was instantly engaging and joyful and spirited. It took me out of the sadness of why I was walking to be with this person who is just joyful!”

Tracie continued, “I was blessed to find a brand new friend in the midst in that sadness! Over the past almost 5 years, our friendship has just grown. Komen was always the hub, but outside of that, our friendship grew. Everything else were just spokes to that hub.”

That hub is reinforced every year that they walk the 3-Day together.

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“You have over 2,000 people in San Diego, but if you’re walking with a friend, you can allay any fears and concerns you might have about this journey. And on the other hand, you get to experience everything with someone else who knows you!” Tracie says.

“You’re also celebrating! You celebrate in the evening in your pajamas and in the mess hall tent and when it’s 6 am and you’re crawling out of this pink tent but you’re already laughing. You celebrate dealing with blisters and meeting new people, and getting stickers and treats and fun from people along the route. Those memories are so clear, and you get to experience them with friends!

It also makes the fundraising easier, and those days when you don’t want to train easier. Your friends get why you’re involved, and they understand what you need to keep pushing yourself to be better.”

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It also gives their personal friendship new depth, per Kristin.

“Our friendships because of 3-Day are deeper. We share so much on walks that has transferred into our personal friendship off the walk. Those deep connections that you make on the walk, it makes those friendships so much stronger because you have shared the deepest parts of your soul. You share things that you wouldn’t normally share when you’re out walking and you’re tired and vulnerable.”

Both women are looking forward to continuing to share these emotions with each other, and their team mates, on this year’s 3-Day. One team mate will be especially important for Kristin: her new husband!

“This year is really special for me. My mom’s first year, I had just started dating someone, so his first experience with it was my first experience of the 3-Day. Two years ago, right before the 3-Day we got engaged, and last year we got married! He’s been a pseudo member of our 3-Day team for years, and this year he’s walking with us! This is the coolest thing ever! Our team has been on this journey with us.”

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Of course her husband is a special case, but Kristin says this feeling of inclusivity is at the heart of her 3-Day experience.

“That’s my favorite part of the 3-Day: Sharing it with new people. Seeing them see it for the first time is just amazing.”

Tracie agrees, and invites every San Diego 3-Dayer to join their bestie crew this year!

“My goal for our team is, I want us to be the most joyful and magnetic team! I want people who are walking alone or just walking with one friend, I want them to join us. I don’t want to be a team that’s exclusive of itself.

I want our team to be what Kirstin has been to me. To be that light that others are attracted to.”

Kristin and Tracie are both sources of friendship and light for each other, and all they meet on the 3-Day. We can’t wait to see them out on the trail again this year!

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Why Do We Love Our Besties? We’ll Spell It Out for You!

Your best friends are the family you get to choose. They know all your secrets, were there to laugh at every embarrassing moment, and have supported you through any tough time. What better person than your bestie, then, to bring on the 3-Day with you?

In honor of best friends, the 3-Day is so excited about our “Bring Your Besties” program again this year! We want to help you, and your best friends, get off on the right foot this 3-Day season.

We want to give new participants the chance to see the 3-Day magic for the first time. And we want to give past participants the chance to relive their first 3-Day journey, this time with one of their best friends by their side. Free travel is available for any new walker who registers by April 19 with the code BYB17*

That way, no matter where they live, you can have your besties by your side!

*Visit The3Day.org/Bestie for important details about this offer.

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Need any more motivation to start recruiting your pals to walk with you? Here are a few reasons why we think nothing could be better than the 3-Day with your besties.

B … is for Being side by side with my friends as we cross the finish line after 60 miles together.

E … is for Each and Every person who has fought, or is still fighting, against cancer.

S … is for Survivors standing tall and strong, beacons of hope for those who fight.

T … is for Together we can do anything. Together we are More Than Pink.

I … is for I will not give up. You will not give up. We will never give up.

E … is for Everyone you love supporting you with donations and encouragement.

S … is for Susan G. Komen® and our shared mission to save lives and end breast cancer forever.

Your besties mean everything to you. With their help, and you by their side, let’s walk to end breast cancer forever. Visit The3Day.org/Bestie now.