Your Guide to Packing for the 3-Day

It’s almost time to pack your bags for the 2024 Susan G. Komen 3-Day®! Whether you’re driving in from down the road or catching a flight across the country, it’s imperative to bring the right gear with you. This includes everything from daily toiletries to on-route essentials. To help you remember everything you might need to show up in the Pink Bubble fully prepared, follow our packing checklists for hotels and camping

WHAT TO BRING 

CLOTHING Bring clothing appropriate for all types of weather — including cold, rain and heat. This includes shorts, leggings, socks, undergarments, a rain jacket/poncho, t-shirts, sweatpants, visor, sleepwear, and shoes. Be sure to pack a few outfits for each day since you’ll need to adapt to the forecast each morning and will likely want to change your outfit after returning to camp.  

TOILETRIES Though hotels tend to have toiletries available to you, we strongly recommend packing everything you might need for your hygiene and comfort. This includes sunscreen, toothpaste, toothbrush, moisturizer, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, razor, hair ties, and a hairbrush. Also, don’t forget any prescription medication that you take regularly. 

FIRST AID While we’ll have supplies and Medical Crew to tend to any major medical issues at the event, you should bring your own supplies for tending to minor medical and personal problems along the route. This includes band aids, petroleum jelly (e.g., Vaseline®), antacid, pain reliever, or anything else you anticipate needing.  

MISCELLANEOUS Don’t forget to print and pack your credentials before showing up on event! (2-Day Walkers and 1-Day Walkers will receive your credentials when you arrive at the event.) In addition to these necessities, there may be some other things you want to bring with you. Our recommendations include anything you may use daily or to document your experience in the Pink Bubble. Consider a phone charger, journal, camera, and your Bank of America Pink Ribbon Banking card to secure a special gift in camp! 

CAMPING 

For those camping at the Susan G. Komen San Diego 3-Day, you will wrap up each evening in a 6.5’x 6.5’ tent. For maximum comfort, you’ll want to bring some camping gear such as a sleeping bag and pillow, air mattress or camping pad, plastic sheets or tarp to keep your tent and gear dry in case of rain, a headlamp or flashlight, and mylar blankets. Throw in some decorations for your tent and you could earn a Tent Flair legacy pin!  

ON THE ROUTE 

Aside from your main piece of luggage, we recommend bringing a waist pack for use on the route with a few essentials for the journey. We suggest packing this ahead of time so you’re sure to have everything you need out on the route. In this, you may want to place a portable charger, sunglasses, sunscreen, money/credit card, identification, and a water bottle to refill along the way. Keep it light yet complete with everything you found yourself using while training. We serve water and sports drinks from large containers, so you must bring your own water bottle.  

YOUR LUGGAGE 

Pack up everything in one piece of luggage that is clearly labeled with your name, participant identification number, and cell phone number. To ensure easy transport and identification, make sure it weighs no more than 35 pounds once packed and is marked with something such as a unique luggage tag to help you pick it out of a crowd.  

WHAT NOT TO BRING 

Though fundraising is a core part of the Komen 3-Day, please don’t bring any donations, cash or otherwise, to the event. Be sure to have all your dollars added directly to your personal fundraising page before arriving at the hotel or campsite. To prevent loss or theft of any kind, leave behind any valuables such as fine jewelry, designer goods, or large amounts of cash. For safety reasons, headphones or portable music players are not permissible while walking on event so, although you may use them while traveling, leave them in your hotel room before heading out on the route each morning.  

THE NIGHT BEFORE 

On Thursday night before the Opening Ceremony, be sure to charge your phone, print your credential, and plan for a morning snack/breakfast. Be sure your waist pack is stocked with everything you need (extra socks, lip balm, etc.) and don’t forget your water bottle. 

We can’t wait to see you in the Pink Bubble! 

5 Essential Links to Prepare You for the 3-Day

The 2015 Susan G. Komen 3-Day® season has officially begun (Way to kick things off with a bang, Michigan!), and in the coming weeks and months, thousands of dedicated Komen 3-Day walkers and crew members will be checking and double-checking to make sure they’re all ready to go. To make your 3-Day® prep as smooth as possible, we (and the internet) are pleased to share five important links you can follow to get you out the door with 100% confidence.3DAY_2016_Blog_TitleGraphics_5EssentialLinks_fp

Packing It In – Need a handy checklist to tick off and make sure you’ve got everything that you’ll need for your 3-Day adventure? We have detailed packing lists at The3Day.org/packing to make sure you and your luggage are ready to roll.

Hack-tastic – We all can appreciate a good short-cut here and there, and the 3-Day blog has two handy lists of 3-Day “hacks.” These tips and trick with make your 3-Day camping and walking a little easier.

Take a Peek – We’ve published an “Insider’s Peek” for each the first five 3-Day events. (Dallas/Fort Worth and San Diego, yours are coming soon!) These give 3-Dayers a little glimpse at what to expect from their 3-Day route. This insider information will help as you ramp up your training in the weeks before you walk so there are no surprises when you get out to Day 1.

Get Social – Do you keep tabs on the 3-Day on social media? Be sure to follow and friend us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the 3-Day blog to get real-time updates and posts from each 3-Day event. Not on one of these sites? Signing up is free and easy for all of them!

You Call, We Answer! – If you have any burning questions, concerns, issues or even a last-minute panic attack, and you feel like the internet is just too impersonal, pick up the phone and call the always friendly and helpful 3-Day coaches at 800-996-3DAY.

What’s in Your Pack?

3DAY_2015_Blog_WhatsInYourPack

When you’re out walking long distances—for example, all that training you’re doing to walk 20 miles a day on the Susan G. Komen 3-Day®–you want to make sure you’re equipped with whatever you might need along the way. Most Komen 3-Day walkers arm themselves for those long stretches by carrying a waist pack to hold the items they want to keep close by. What you carry in your pack is completely up to you, and chances are the contents will change depending on how far your 3-Day® training walk is taking you.

But to give you some idea of what you might want to include in your waist pack, we asked a few of our 3-Day coaches, who are also walkers, to share what goes in their packs.

Ann, the local events coach for Michigan, takes the minimalist approach to her walking goodies: “I carry a water bottle, my phone, and a couple bucks for fun treats that might show up along the route.”

Jennifer, the participant support coach for Michigan, adds a little bit more to her list of must-haves: “I carry my phone, tissues, Chapstick and sunscreen. I also have mints, because Gatorade mouth is nasty. I’ll carry sunglasses (if they aren’t already on my face), Handi-Wipes, which I use to clean my hands and to wipe my feet at lunch when I change my socks, and of course, extra socks.”

The other 3-Day coaches I asked had more robust lists. Alyssa, my 3-Day social media cohort (who walked her first 3-Day in San Diego last year) shared her list:

  • Tissues – for a runny nose and runny eyes, which may afflict you at any point
  • iPhone – fully charged and in airplane mode, of course.
  • Pink bracelet – because everybody likes to wear pink.
  • Sunscreen – because reapplication is so important!
  • Small packet of trail mix – for a heart healthy boost if I’m hungry but have eaten too many grahamwiches
  • Headband – to keep fly-aways out of my eyes when wind acts up
  • Fresh pair of socks – because this is the best idea ever. Change into them at lunch and rejoice.
  • Chapstick – to keep those plump puckers hydrated
  • Gum – Chewing gum while going up a hill just makes it better.
  • Large capacity, wide mouth water bottle – so crew can easily fill it with ice and sports drink
  • 3-Day Flair – a badge of pride, and to remember why I’m walking.susan g. komen 3-Day breast cancer walk blog 60 miles waist fanny pack supplies packing

Gayla, our Dallas/Fort Worth local events coach, leads or joins training walks throughout the year and has her fanny pack (which she bought in 2005 and has trained with for 10 years) contents down to a science:

  • 2 – 20 oz. water bottles with wide openings for ice
  • Soothing Care Chafing Relief Powder-Gel by Monistat (I don’t walk anywhere without this gel. I prefer this over the “stick-style” anti-chafing products.)
  • Spark energy drink mix
  • Pen (for autographs, ha!)
  • Phone charger & plug
  • Tissues
  • Cash
  • Mirror
  • Lip balm
  • Fundraising business cards
  • Clean, dry socks in a Ziploc bag to swap sweaty socks mid-day
  • Driver’s license
  • Mints or gum
  • A little extra room in my pack for all the stuff I seem to collect on the route at the cheer stations.

Seattle participant support coach Paula, who, with 15 events under her belt has walked more times than any other coach, totes quite the impressive array of goodies in her pack:

  • A copy of my credential with my cell number, so my pack will find its way back to me if I lose it!
  • My driver’s license/ID and my debit card and/or cash for those must-have 3-Day souvenirs or a Starbucks along the route! (This is in the most secure spot in my pack.)
  • Phone/camera
  • Wet wipes
  • Hand sanitizer (clips on to my pack)
  • Tissues
  • Pain relief meds (Tylenol/Advil/Aleve)
  • Chapstick with SPF
  • Sunscreen
  • Hairbrush, ponytail rubber band
  • My 3-Day bub
  • Rain poncho
  • Large trash back to sit on if the ground is wet at lunch
  • Extra pair of socks in a Ziploc bag (bag will hold dirty socks after lunch)
  • Body Glide
  • Blister kit – bandages, moleskin, small scissors
  • Sticky notes and a  permanent marker pen (to jot down names/emails of new friends)
  • A soft “squeeze” ball (mine is actually pink ribbon shaped) which is great to help circulation in your hands and keeps your fingers from swelling from all that arm swinging! J
  • Any stickers or items I may want to pass out to people along the route. I have some cool pink ribbon temporary tattoos that are a big hit with kids and adults alike!
  • For training, it’s all of the above, plus sports drink powder for hydration and snack bars for some carbs.susan g. komen 3-Day breast cancer walk blog 60 miles waist fanny pack supplies packing

 

What goes in your pack?