Lone Star State, we are coming for you! We are so excited to be heading to Dallas/Fort Worth this weekend and know that Susan G. Komen’s home city is going to be a great spot for a 60-mile walk. Event Planner Eileen Barnick has been preparing all year to make this coming weekend the best 3-Day possible, and she can’t wait to share the route with all the participants.
But she can’t share everything….
“Throughout the weekend, there will be some surprises and exciting ‘wow’ moments, but I don’t want to give those away ahead of time. They will be a surprise that I know all the participants will love. You’ll just have to walk and see!”
For example, Day One is almost completely brand new this year! We will be starting at Tostitos Championship Plaza at The Star. This is Dallas Cowboys Headquarters, and Eileen can think of no better place to kick off the 3-Day.
“This is going to be so cool! In my unbiased opinion, it might be the best Opening Ceremony we have all year. The energy is just amazing and it’s going to be so fantastic.”
Our Opening Ceremony will take place in Frisco, which has been booming lately! As we leave the Plaza, we will be walking along the Star Boulevard. There will be lots of coffee shops along the way, so walkers can get their java fix as they leave the Opening Ceremony.
Walkers will then enter Hall Park, which is a sculpture park. It also has water sculptures, which are so cool! The first two miles of the day will have plenty of exciting sights to see and lots of opportunities for photos.
Later, we will walk by Dr Pepper Ballpark, which is where the RoughRiders play. There will be some special surprises there, but Eileen won’t give too much away! We will also pass the Bank of America headquarters in the morning, so look out for a cheering station there.
Arbor Hills Nature Preserve will be the perfect trail to lead us into lunch at Timber Glen Park.
Pit Stop 4 on Day One will also be Pit Stop 1 on Saturday, so walkers can get nice and familiar with one of our favorite parks: Les Lacs Park in Addison. From there we will head into our cozy camp at Brookhaven College.
The Day Two route is shorter (yay!) without losing all the beautiful spots in the suburbs around Dallas, like Farmer’s Branch and Addison. We will be walking through Addison over the course of the day, especially Addison Circle Park, which is just beautiful.
Eileen thinks everyone will love the walk on Keller Springs Road, which will take us towards lunch. And we will be arriving at lunch sooner, which is always great!
After lunch at Campbell Green Park & Recreation Center, the afternoon will take walkers through Vitruvian Park, which will have a cheering station and great photo opportunities. After a long day, friends and family (and those Bank of America massage chairs!) will be waiting at camp.Day Three on Sunday, we have left untouched and have made no real changes because we have had such positive feedback from walkers from last year.
We will begin the day with a short bus ride, dropping off at Walnut Hill Recreation Center and walk into Dallas through some gorgeous historic neighborhoods. If you love architecture and beautiful homes, you are going to have so many pretty sights to see!
After lunch, we will head into downtown Dallas and see historic sights like Dealey Plaza, the Giant Eyeball sculpture (great for photos!), the Omni and more. Eileen promises lots of photo opportunities all day long!
The Participant Finish Area and Closing Ceremony will once again be at The Lawn at Reunion Tower. We got such great feedback on this last year, so we had to come back!
If you hang around after the Closing Ceremony as the sun sets, you might see some last bits of Dallas pink support for us, too! It will be the perfect finish to an amazing 3-Day weekend.