Breast Cancer 3-Day: Day 3

After walking 20+ miles on Day One, being sent home on Day 2, I'm happy to say. . .

 " I'M BAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A 3-Day Crew Member handing me the Route Card for Day Three!

I couldn't express how excited I was to finally get back to camp on the evening of day 2.  I could have just waited till the morning of Day 3 to get to camp and sleep in my own bed, but I wanted to be with my mom and teammates and 'rough it' together!!  I wanted to be apart of it all and I hated that I was missing out on it all.  Many friends and family members said that I already did the hard work - the fundraising - but I was still upset.  I'm so glad I went above my fundraising goal - all thanks to my wonderful donors - and raised more than $2,500 towards finding a cure for Breast Cancer, but I wanted to walk darn it!!  That just shows how amazing this experience was - I gave up being at home with my husband and son, my own flushing toliet (LOL) and my pillow-top bed to sleep outside in a tent with port-a-potties to get up and walk all day long!!

This was mom and I on the start of day 3 while in line for a bus at 6:15am.  This is what we look like after camping in a tent, without makeup and electricity, and exhausted (LOL).  Due to the locaton of where we were camping (Brookhaven Community College) and where they wanted us to finish for the day (Fair Park), we hopped on a shuttle bus to get us to Pit Stop #1 (aka Mile #1).

Our final day together: Creekside Cares team:

(L-R) Lori, Khristy, Melissa, me, Courtney, Rakel, and my mom)

Our wonderful feet that took us 40 miles already (well, 20+ for me :-/ )

This is at the start of Day 3!

I'm getting scanned in before we start walking on Day 3. 

We were scanned daily at the start and finish of the walk to keep track of every walker.

After arriving to Pit Stop #1 (aka: Mile Marker 1), getting scanned/checked in, we were off for our final day of walking.  It was kind of surreal that the last day was FINALLY here.  We all have been talking about this since January and today was the final day. . .  It was a bittersweet moment.  You could tell everyone was hyped up today.  No, let me rephrase that - you could tell everyone was delirious with exhaustion, extra enthusiastic for being apart of something so special and beyond excited that we've made it to our last day of walking!!! 

As it was the past few days, today we were given another Beautiful day to walk (I actually packed shorts to change into after lunch it was so warm).  As I was walking with some of my teammates and listening to my music, I was thinking that today was going by a lot faster than the other days.  When I mentioned it to them, they all said the same thing.  I guess when you finally see the "light at the end of the tunnel" everything is managable!  LOL

Walking on Day 3. See that pink oblong thing -- the best $9.99 spent ever!!

That small thing was my Ipod Speakers and played great upbeat music the whole day!

During our walk one of our "cheerleaders" drove by and we think she deserves the title of "Best Car Decoration".  I just have to give the owner of this car some credit, I'm not sure how long it took her to deck her car out and decorate all those bras but we ALL were thankful for her (and everyone who cheered us along!)

Although the day was going by fast and we were making great timing, my legs were getting tired and my left knee was screaming at me to quit walking on funky sidewalks! Here are some various pictures of our final day.

This sign was so glorious to see, we just HAD to take a picture with it!  Holding was where we'd gather until the very last walker had arrived.  Once the final walker entered, we'd all link arms and walk towards the Closing Ceramonies which took place at Fair Park! 

Rakel, Khristy and I kissing the beautiful sign!!

Almost there -- really!!!

When we passed this woman we KNEW we've made it!!!!!!  However, that last 1/2 mile was a killer - it felt more like 5 miles!!

This is what we saw for the last 1/4 of a mile into the Holding Area!!!  It was so uplifting so see so many people cheering you along and making you forget about all your aches and pains!!

Here are some pictures of my team and I during the holding area.  Khristy, Rakel and I made it into Holding around 2:30 (? can't remember exactly) and we stayed in holding until 4pm when our final 3-Day walker arrived and they gave us further information.

Once we left holding area we had to walk (MORE?!?!) to where the Closing Ceremonies would be held.  It was only a short trek, but along the way we passed our family and friends that came to cheer us along.  We even were cheered by our Breast Cancer 3-Day Medical team, Safety Member and Crew.  I don't know what everyone else thought but I thought they deserved JUST as much appreciation as the people walking!!!

Closing Ceremonies was very emotional.  They talked about why the Breast Cancer 3-Day was such an important thing to be apart of.  The DFW Breast Cancer 3-Day - alone - raised MORE THAN 7.5 MILLION DOLLARS towards finding a cure for Breast Cancer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's to all the men and women fighting this battle daily and to those who have fought it in the past.

We salute you!!!