The Breast Cancer 3-Day: Day 1

On Friday morning, November 9, Vikkie and I got up just before 5 a.m. I'd called a cab the night before to pick us up at 5:30, and thankfully, there was a knock on our door by 5:25. We loaded up our stuff in the cab and headed south towards Del Mar, where the opening ceremonies were scheduled to start at 7 a.m. at the county fairgrounds. Our trip there was rather uneventful, except for the moment when we passed an adorable little downtown shopping area, which the cab driver informed us was downtown Encinitas, which we'd been trying to walk to the day before. I guess we just didn't walk far enough, which was probably better since we would have definitely put in more than five miles that day had we actually reached the downtown! It was an 8.5 mile drive from northern Encinitas (an area they call Leucadia) that was supposed to take us about 11 minutes, but once we got near the fairgrounds, the traffic slowed down to a crawl, since thousands of other drivers were also trying to drop off their friends and loved ones at opening ceremonies as well! We had guessed it would probably be about a $20 cab ride to Del Mar, but as we were inching our way into the drop off area I glanced up at the still ticking meter, which was ringing up at $23. Thankfully, a couple of minutes later the very kind driver shut the timer off, so that we only had to pay for any additional mileage, which couldn't have been more than a quarter mile. We sat there in traffic for another 15-20 minutes waiting to get to the unloading area, so we were very thankful that a) we'd left the hotel plenty early, and b) we had a very generous cab driver. What a blessing!

We finally got to the unloading area and dropped our bags off at one of about 10 semis, where one of the awesome volunteer crew members loaded it onto the truck specific to our tent area at camp. (There were 550 crew members who volunteered for the San Diego event this year!) We walked about a half mile through the grounds to where the opening ceremony would be held, and I quickly realized these fairgrounds weren't at all like the fairgrounds we have in Douglas County! The Del Mar Fairgrounds and the nearby equestrian park host several major San Diego events throughout the year, and the beautiful buildings all over the grounds are a far cry from the metal farm buildings that litter the fairgrounds here in Lawrence.

We stood around for at least 30 minutes before the staff started leading us in some stretches (which I've never really understood since I'm not sure why anyone would need to stretch before walking), and finally the opening ceremonies began. The national spokesperson of the 3-Day was the emcee of the program, and she did a really good job. Last year it was a different woman who was a little cheesy and very scripted, but this year's spokesperson was so much better. The program also incorporated these big flags with different milestones and events written on them, which were first presented by a group of survivors who were getting ready to start the walk themselves. It was very moving and also very cool because the flags were all carried by different walkers for all 60 miles of the 3 days! People would just carry a flag for a while until they passed someone else on the route, and then they'd pass it along, with the goal being that eventually every one of the 4,600 walkers would have carried the flag at some point during the 3 days.

After the program ended and the flag bearers began walking, there was unfortunately a lot of standing around, as all 4,600 people had to be funneled through a fairly small chute so that they could be scanned by more volunteers. (Each time the walkers go on or off the route, their credentials are scanned so that every walker is always accounted for.) We finally started walking at 7:26 a.m.! After the first few miles we came to the first really scenic area on the route, which was a long bridge along the ocean coming up on the hill to Torrey Pines State Reserve. It was along that stretch of road that we first came upon the many, many supporters who were out cheering for the walkers. I can't even explain how many people decorated their cars, costumed themselves and came out to encourage the 3-Day participants all weekend long. They called themselves "walker stalkers," because they followed the walkers all around town, offering trinkets ("flair" for our waist packs and lanyards) and stickers and candy and muffins and cheers and hugs and support. It was just amazing! It made the walk go by so much more quickly because around almost every corner there was a new group of supports cheering you on, many of whom were decked out in such hilarious outfits you just couldn't help but laugh!

Anyway, after stopping and getting a snack at our first pit stop we started up the very long hill at Torrey Pines. This hill was pretty killer--the elevation increased steadily for over a mile--but the view was gorgeous. We walked past the famous Torrey Pines golf course before the plateau final leveled off. Soon after leaving the reserve we hit the outskirts of the beautiful city of La Jolla. We skimmed the beautiful beaches and rock formations along the coast of that area until stopping in a beautiful grassy area for an early lunch at about 10:30, just over 11 miles into the day. Once we stopped walking, the breeze off the ocean made it really chilly, since it was a pretty cloudy day. After a rest of 30 minutes or so, we headed back out onto the trail, blowing through some residential areas, small business districts, a couple of cheering stations (which were difficult to distinguish since there were so many people cheering all along the route) and a few quick pit stops during the late morning. We made an extra stop at a hardware store since we forgot a flashlight, and then powered through the last 4 or 5 miles to end up at the beautiful Mission Bay Park at around 1:20 in the afternoon. We felt good about our pace over the 22 mile course that day, given that only 2 people passed us the entire time. We passed a few thousand people and were the 70th and 71st people to come into camp.

After arriving at camp and locating our campsite and gear, we set up our tent and got settled into our temporary home. We milled around camp for a while and checked out the post office tent, the snack tent, the stretching area, the 3-Day store, and the La Croix tent, where a La Croix rep provides these awesome foot massagers for walkers when they're finished, along with lots of different flavored waters. After a good foot massage we headed back to our tent to get our shower stuff and fresh clothes, and then headed off to the mobile shower trucks to enjoy a nice, hot shower!

By the time we were all cleaned up, dinner was being served in the dining tent, and we enjoyed a nice meal of pasta, salad and rolls. When we were done eating we went back to the "lounge" tent, where we watched a little TV, called our families and waved to them on the webcam, and then went by and visited the remembrance tent, where walkers memorialize their loved ones lost to breast cancer. We started getting tired by 7:30 or so, so we headed back to our tent and got ready for bed, and I'm pretty sure we were asleep by 8 or 8:30! It's amazing how tired walking 22 miles in a day will make you! :)

Hopefully soon I'll get finished detailing days 2 and 3, but until then, check out some new pictures I loaded onto my Picasa page that Vikkie recently sent from her camera!