Save $20 with the 3-Day Team Discount

Next to the Susan G. Komen 3-Day^® coaches, a team is the best support system you can have as you fundraise, train and walk all 60 miles on the road to end breast cancer forever. Whether you want to form a team, join a team or grow the team you already have, now’s the time to spring into action. Just use discount code TEAM20 by April 16^th to get $20 off the walker registration fee.

Team 211 was formed by Dr. Sylvia Campbell, who wanted to bring together many of the patients and their families she helped face a breast cancer diagnosis. On their team, they found friendship, support and so much more. They walked together in the Tampa Bay 3-Day in 2013, and are coming to the Atlanta 3-Day this year. Their story inspired us, and we hope it moves you, too. Take a look, then share the video with your family and friends.

Register at The3Day.org or call 800-996-3DAY before 11:55 p.m. CT April 16^th with the discount code TEAM20 to get your $20 discount.

The Power of Teams on the 3-Day

“Teamwork is the secret that makes common people achieve uncommon results.” -Ifeanyi Onuoha

The Susan G. Komen 3-Day® community is one of the most remarkable groups of people I’ve ever known or been part of. It’s a passionate pink tribe of dedicated individuals, who, together, make up a powerful force for good in the fight against breast cancer.

Within the full Komen 3-Day family, there are smaller groups of walkers and crew members who decide that the best way for them to experience the amazing journey of the 3-Day® is in the company of friends, family members, neighbors or co-workers. And thus, 3-Day teams are born.

Atlanta 3-Day’s Team 2-1-1 shared a little bit of their team’s inspirational origin story:

The foremost benefit of being part of a team on the 3-Day is the camaraderie. Sharing the hope, the laughter and the tears with people you love makes the whole experience that much more meaningful. Walking alongside people who are close to you makes the miles pass more easily, and knowing that you have someone who isn’t going to leave your side is often the very thing that gets you through. Teammates provide emotional, mental and sometimes even physical support for one another through an intense and moving three days.

Beyond these obvious benefits, in my experience, there are also some secondary advantages of being on a team:

Picture Partners – I take a lot of pictures on the 3-Day, but even today, in the age of the selfie, I am not IN most of the pictures I take. Not a big deal, except I do like to have some recorded evidence of my participation. That’s where my teammates come in. If my 6 teammates and I are all taking photos of each other, we all will end up in someone’s pics, somewhere. Getting together after the walk and sharing these captured moments is always a highlight.
Some of my favorite pictures are the random captures by my teammates

Raising the Alarm – Left to my own schedule and my own snooze button, I probably would be the last person in camp to emerge from my pink tent in the morning, and some days, would barely even get my teeth brushed before camp closes and I get bused off to lunch. Teammates to the rescue! I mean, we all like sleeping in, but multiple alarm clocks assures us that we’ll get up and moving in time.
The Power of Human Contact – Having a teammate come through with a well-timed pit stop shoulder-rub can sometimes be the difference between “I’m not sure I can go on…” and “Come on, we’ve got this!” My teammates and I never hesitate to give each other the massages, hugs or high-fives that we need to keep moving forward.
Sharing is Caring – When you walk with a group, you really only need one can of sunscreen, one bottle of ibuprofen, one package of moleskin and pair of scissors, one tube of Vaseline. My teammates and I split these items up among our many fanny packs, so no one person has to carry it all, and so we all have extra room in our packs for the candy we pick up through the Cheering Stations.

A final word about teams – No doubt, some of you will read this and say, “I walk by myself, and my experience is every bit as powerful as those who walk on teams.” To that I say, awesome! I only speak from my own experience, and my intention is not to rank the quality of one person’s experience over another’s. I certainly have known some extraordinary “teams of one” in my years with the 3-Day.

Another (for reals) final word about teams – If you are currently a solo walker and would like to find a team to join, use the 3-Day Friend Finder tool in your Participant Center. You can search by zip code to find other participants, and team captains with open teams in your area. Or check out the Meet-ups and More page of the 3-Day website to see if there is an upcoming info meeting, reunion or Walk & Talk in your area.

Okay, I mean it, this is really the FINAL word about teams – Are you thinking about joining your friends who are already registered? Or are you currently on a team and looking to grow your ranks? Between now and April 6, walkers can register and $20 off their registration fee ($50, down from $70). Visit The3Day.org/register.

“Like Talking to an Angel”

Team 211 poses for a picture at the start of the Tampa Bay 3-Day

Jane stopped to talk to me on the way to the opening of Day 2 on the Susan G. Komen 3-Day^® this morning in Tampa Bay. She was part of a team of women bonded together by breast cancer survivors, friends, and one surgeon, all walking 60 miles to raise money for breast cancer research. I wanted to know more about her team and its leader, Dr. Sylvia Campbell.

Members of Team 211 attend the Opening Ceremony for the 2013 Tampa Bay 3-Day

“You know,” said Jane, “when I entered Sylvia’s office, there were pictures on the walls of breast cancer survivors, and Sylvia made it clear that she was there to give us hope. The way she talked to me…It was like talking with an angel.” I truly believed Jane as we stood there. I had worked around surgeons and doctors for many years, and my interaction with Dr. Sylvia Campbell (who prefers her patients call her ‘Sylvia’) was nothing less than extraordinary. Sylvia was dressed in a green imprinted t-shirt, decked out with the same pink accents that her teammates wore. They were all together, stage right, as the sun rose on the Tampa Bay 3-Day and its Opening Ceremony. I walked with the excited group of women (and one great guy!) as they launched themselves onto the streets of the greater Tampa Bay area on a three-day journey that would test anyone’s physical endurance.

Sylvia, however, was not surrounded by her current patients, past patients, and collected friends. She was surrounded only by friends.

Dr. Sylvia Campbell, or just “Sylvia,” is flanked by friends and teammates on the Komen 3-Day in Tampa Bay

“These wonderful people have all become so dear to me,” she smiles, as she points them out. Beverly, Jane, Sandy, Rosie, Paula, Cathy, Angie, Marvin, Bella, Marylynn, Sonja, Lauren, Janet…she names them off. She knows each one, and I start to ask about who has survived cancer, but then I realize that it doesn’t really matter. They all look wonderfully happy and that’s all that matters on such an exquisite morning among friends. “We’re Team 211!” She has to almost yell over the blaring music that pumps up the walkers continually. “Two Steps. One Goal. One Lifetime. 2-1-1. We started in 2006, and it was a way to tell people that I supported them. I support YOU!” she exclaimed as a teammate puts an arm around her.

Dr. Sylvia Campbell, a surgeon in Tampa, leads Team 211 in the fight again breast cancer

Over the next two days, I see them on the route and at the rest stops. I see them laughing together in their camp and then back on the route. All I can think about when I see them is that there is a tremendous amount of hope and happiness in the group, which has been started by Sylvia. All I can think about when I see them is how lucky they are to have her as a physician and a friend.