Tales from a Slumber Party Tent: Kendall C., San Diego 3-Day Walker

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Glamping is a huge part of the 3-Day experience, and our fields of pink tents are always a welcome sight for participants after a long day out on the 3-Day trail. Last year, though, participants had the opportunity to upgrade their glamping experience even further with our Slumber Party tents! Complete with air mattresses, a friendly doormat, camp chairs and more, they were a special reward for those who had recruited two new walkers to our pink family.

And they’ll be back in 2018! Open to walkers and crew, if you recruit two new 3-Day walkers by May 31, you can have a big pink slumber party on-event! You and your pals can celebrate your 60-mile journey in a Slumber Party Tent, a large tent that sleeps up to 4, complete with air mattresses, sheets, pillows, camp chairs and a phone charger. We can promise it will be tons of fun, especially because you’ll have your friends with you on the walk. Don’t take our word for it though! Kendall C., who walked her first 3-Day last year, got the luxury of spending her weekend in the Slumber Party Tent with her teammates from The Divine Sisters of the Ta-Ta Sisterhood…and she’s already trying to recruit friends for 2018 so she can be back in that tent again in November!

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“I’m always telling people how much I loved it and how it’s an experience I will never forget. Actually, one of the best in my life!”

Part of that was thanks to her team, who recruited her as part of their neighborhood team. Kendall walked for her three friends who have all been diagnosed with breast cancer, but didn’t know when she signed up that she would be sleeping in the Slumber Party Tent. Talk about an extra perk!

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“The tent was SO much larger than we anticipated and the air mattresses and pillows were such a treat to have! I also couldn’t believe there were chairs, which we loved having at the end of the day to relax in. We also would bring all our chairs together to hang out in the evening before bed. I also remember a welcome doormat, and a little table complete with a fake succulent! I mean, that is glamping in my book and I’ll take it any day! To top it all off, there was a cell phone charger we ALL got to use, even at the same time. We were so, so happy to have the Slumber Party tent and it completely made our camping experience perfect!”

Kendall says all the special touches made the experience all the more enjoyable, and encourages everyone to recruit and try to earn their own Slumber Party Tent experience this year. It brought her team even closer together, especially as they decorated the larger tent. Her tent won the decoration contest for its “All I Want for Christmas is a Cure” theme, which Kendall is still glowing with pride over.

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“When else can you decorate a tent while camping with your girlfriends?! It even heightened the excitement we already had for the walk. We put tons of Christmas lights on it and you could probably see our tent from a mile away! Once we had our theme, “All I Want for Christmas is a Cure,” we could not stop buying pink Christmas decorations. We had pink stockings (with our names in glitter of course), pink garland, pink Christmas trees, and I even wrapped presents in pink paper! It was really fun to come up with all the ideas with my tent mates too.”

Her enthusiasm for all things 3-Day extends beyond her decorating success last year, and right into her training and recruiting goals for this year as well.

The Divine Divas of the Ta-Ta Sisterhood
“I am still riding on the high from last year’s walk! It completely exceeded my expectations in every way. The training brought an entire new group of friends my way and I looked forward to every training walk with them. I loved feeling a part of something and felt like I was making a difference! I was raising awareness and fundraising at the same time and that felt good.

The walk itself was also so much fun! The 3-Day crew took such amazing care of us and we always had everything we needed. Whether it was food or drink, help from the medics, our amazing tents, and they even hosted an amazing family night. I really loved every minute and once I start telling somebody about my experience, I just can’t stop!”

Want to join Kendall in 2018? Register now…and then get recruiting! Go to The3Day.org/Refer for all the details and get the Recruitment ID you need to recruit two friends to walk 60 miles with you by May 31st, and you could be enjoying your very own Slumber Party Tent!

Outside the Pink Tent

A walker takes down her tent on the Susan G. Komen Boston 3-Day®.

After yesterday’s hot weather that had so many walkers finding water at new, makeshift stops, this morning’s mood was calm with a hint of satisfaction. I moved through camp as I have for the last few days, somewhere between a visitor and a photographer. My position in relation to the walkers is one of allowance. They permit me there, possibly so they can get a photograph in the slideshows or possibly because they want to feel like someone from the “outside” has seen them amid hundreds of others, someone unique in a sea of so many similar stories. But of course, they are unique, and the uniqueness of each story — every one — is overwhelming to someone who is invited to listen to them and watch their movement of 60 miles by foot over three days.

A Susan G. Komen Boston 3-Day® walker suits up in her tent on the last day.

I am grateful for it, and admittedly, we are both exposed. The walkers to the elements, to each other, and most difficult sometimes, to the camera. I find myself exposed as well. I wear the dark grays and blacks of a staff member; they wear pinks. I am a man; a large percentage of them are women. I am not often walking with them; they are pushing up hills in 95 degree weather. I stand out and I am identified by most on Day 3 as a photographer. There is no hiding. My movement around their tents, around the only sacred space for three days, leaves me careful with the camera and whom I approach. It’s a delicate balance with those who want to talk more this morning and those who are quiet, and anticipating the long journey into the heart of Boston, the final destination of this powerful movement of people.

The Tent Sentiment – Sunday Morning

A Susan G. Komen Boston 3-Day walker packs up her tent.

A few remarks from the walkers this morning as they broke down the pink tents, readied feet with moleskin, and packed up from camp:

“Always feel like we come home with more than we came with.” “Mother Vegas”, Beth Caron, Las Vegas, Nevada

“Tough! I’m exhausted. Excited to be done. Accomplished!” Jennifer Rosado

“Relief! Pain! Anticipation.” Isabel Guillen, Claremont, New Hampshire

“Awesome! Part of me is ready to be done…part is ready to be here forever with the pink people.” Abbie Vicknair, Nashville, Tennessee

“I feel fantastic! Ready for Cleveland!” Carl Benson, Wolcott, Connecticut

“I’m good. Awesome. Life is good. Let’s go!” Nealie Cirino, Wallingford, Connecticut

The mood is picking up as the walkers feel that today will be the end of their Susan G. Komen 3-Day^® journey. They will travel many miles today through Harvard and MIT universities, through Boston Commons and the Financial District before turning south along the beaches to the Closing Ceremony.

Go walkers!