Twin Cities 3-Day crew Archives

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The Twin Cities 3-Day is coming up this weekend, and as you get ready for the event, we have a preview of what to expect! For those who are familiar with the route, you will see a lot of our favorite sights of the Twin Cities. If you’re new to the walk this year, you will love seeing all the natural beauty of Minnesota, as well as getting to know Minneapolis and St. Paul better.

Our walk this year begins at Southdale Center in Edina. It has been a local staple since 1956 and is the perfect jumping off point for sixty miles of fun. This was the original Mall of America!

From there, much of our first day of walking will be the route we have used in years past. We will leave Edina and walk through many parks and trails in the area. Event Production Manager Eileen Barnick promises you will see “many beautiful lakes and trails! If you’re into nature you’re going to love this walk!”

Those views include a trail between Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun!

Grab & Go A will be at Father Hennepin Bluffs. You will see the name Louis Hennepin all around the area. He was a famous missionary explorer during the Lewis and Clark era, so a lot of the known history of the Twin Cities we know because of him!

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After lunch at Loring Park, walkers will cross the Stone Arch bridge, which is great for photos! This year there will also be a spot by the Sculpture Garden at the Walker Art Center. It was under construction last year, but this year it will be another great spot for photos. We will end Day One at the University of Minnesota campus before bussing to camp.

Our camp will be at Harvest Park, and walkers will have a mile walk on a quiet trail both in and out of camp, so it’s a little secluded.

“It’s really quiet, with no car traffic, so it’s totally our own little village for the weekend! Perfect for beauty sleep!” says Eileen.

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Day Two will take place in the suburbs of the Twin Cities. We will start out on a trail and then go through some beautiful local neighborhoods before heading back into nature!

After lunch, we will hit the amazing St. Paul Utility Trail between two lakes in Vadnais Snail Regional Park.

Per Eileen, Day Two has “a good mix of streets and trails on this day, but the Vadnais Park is breathtaking!”

Day Three is a favorite of Coach Kiki Setterlund’s, thanks to the Indian Mound Park in the heart of St. Paul. It will be about 70-80% of street walking on Sunday, but Indian Mound Park overlooks St. Paul for epic views. Walkers will then go down a hill towards the water.

“You’ll have great views as you walk through the city, and then you’ll come up to the Closing Ceremony!”

Eileen echoes that sentiment, saying that crossing Wabasha Bridge towards Closing Ceremony at Harriet Island is like a “victory march” to end the 3-Day.

The Closing Ceremony site on Harriet Island is another one of Kiki’s favorite spots.

“It is our third year there, and the beautiful backdrop of St. Paul has great views of the Mississippi River!”

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All in all, there will be plenty of scenic views over the course of all sixty miles, and the whole Twin Cities 3-Day team is hoping for some sunshine so walkers can enjoy them!

Kiki promises, “The local staff has sent in a memo to Mother Nature to request blue skies and sunny weather! It looks like we might get finally that after a few years of tough weather in the past. We are hoping that Mother Nature will work with us. We can’t wait to have you all on the route this year and in our gorgeous city!”

For more of our favorite sights from the Twin Cities 3-Day, check out our photo slideshow!

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What are you looking forward to most on the Twin Cities 3-Day? Tell us in the comments! And, if you have any more questions, your Twin Cities 3-Day coaches are here to help!

While you’re out on the route on the Susan G. Komen 3-Day®, you’ll meet all kinds of people: some first-timers with butterflies in their tummies, some seasoned veterans who approach 20 miles like a quick afternoon stroll. You’ll meet dedicated crew members who donate their time and talents in a multitude of ways, from remedying your blisters to keeping you safe and on track. You’ll meet members of the community who come out adorned in every shade of pink, ready to hand you frozen grapes, a cold drink, a new button, or just to cheer you on. There’s no doubt that this wide variety of people, from every walk of life, is what makes the Komen 3-Day family so incredible. Today, I had the opportunity to meet Dave P., a police officer from Wisconsin who, on the 3-Day®, is known as “Mullet Pig.” Dave is a local celebrity on the Twin Cities event; in fact, in the short time I spoke with him, he was approached for three selfies with participants. Dave is on the Twin Cities Route Safety crew team for the sixth time this year; it his 7th 3-Day (he walked once as part of the 60 Mile Men team), and last year, he crewed in San Francisco as well. Mullet Pig also has his own Facebook profile, and he lovingly calls his fans the “Bacon Nation.”

Mullet Pig poses for a photo after taking a selfie with a fan!

Though we can’t see his feet, Dave tells us about his “10 little piggies”, which are his polished toenails wiggling to the beat of the music blasting at today’s lunch stop. Each toe is painted for someone in his life who has battled breast cancer. “I have 10 relatives that have been affected by breast cancer. Seven are survivors, and three are pink angels. My mother was a 32 year survivor who passed away two years ago. It’s hard to be sad about that, I got 32 more years with her… She owes her 32 years to research and the things that Komen does.” Dave’s grandmother was also diagnosed with breast cancer, and his sister is a survivor.

Besides his deeply personal connection to the cause, what keeps Dave coming back year after year is the 3-Day community. “I’ve known so many people and you get to know everyone as the family. We’re a family.”

When people ask Mullet Pig why he does what he does, he says that he does it for the little boost he can give someone that just might make their day. Dave tells us about a participant he encountered last year who told him that every day, she had seen a sign from her father who had passed away. On the last day, she was a mile from finishing and hadn’t yet seen a sign that her dad was with her that day. She turned the corner, and there was Mullet Pig, loudly singing her dad’s favorite song. “That’s why I do what I do. I never know what I’m going to do, and how it’s going to affect someone, so I just do my best to do something. I like to put a smile on people’s faces.”

Pucker Up!

Dave describes many other ways he gives people a boost–from the shockingly pink lipstick kiss mark he’ll place on your cheek, to walking the last mile with weary walkers who think that they just can’t go on. As Dave grooves to “Sexy Back,” I ask him how and why he chose the name Mullet Pig. In 2008, after a crew event, he and his wife went shopping for 3-Day decorations. “I went by the dollar bin and saw something pink and pulled out this pig mask. I also grabbed a pink wig, and tied it to the end of the mask. I start wearing it, and all of a sudden people start calling me Pig Man. Everyone was calling me Pig Man. I didn’t like Pig Man, so I told this guy to think of another name. ‘Well, you’re a pig with a mullet,’ he said. ‘Mullet pig!’ And that’s how Mullet Pig was born.”

As another loving fan from the Bacon Nation approaches Mullet Pig for a photo, I ask him if there’s anything else he’d like to add. With his trademark pig mask tucked behind one ear, he says, “We’ve come too far to quit. There are other people that can’t quit. We have to keep going. We do this for the survivors. For the ones that can’t walk. We’ve come this far. We have to keep going.” With the help of people like Mullet Pig, we will.