Victory – the feeling was never so great than Day 3 of the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure.  Whether you walked on all 60 miles or just tried to walk all of them, the victory was still sweet.  As you watched survivors line the cheering stations – cheering you on with tears, what we had endured during the last 3 days seemed so little and insignificant to what they had endured.  Our blisters, our bruised bodies, and lack of sleep would all go away but their cancer had taken parts of their lives.
Day 3 for me was probably the toughest day.  It was hard to watch everyone else walk while I had to ride in a van.  I felt a little pulled from the fight and every ounce of my body wanted to be out there.  I decided to put my all into everything else that I had to do that day so that I could cheer my fellow walkers on.

My day started at 4:30 am with the sounds of zippers, banging doors on the porta potties, and the sounds of camp being torn down.  It was time for our city of pink tents to come down.  I packed my stuff and took my tent.  All the while, I was rehearsing what I was going to say in the interviews that I had that morning.

At 6:20 am, I met with Twin Cities ABC affliate to begin my first interview.  As I geared up, I just kept praying that the Lord would give me the words to speak.  This was my first TV interview ever and I wanted to properly represent the 3 Day for the Cure and Energizer.  We thought there would be a reporter but quickly found that I would have an earpiece and the questions would be asked that way.  It was a bit intimidating to think that I would not see the folks that were asking me questions and I still don’t know what they look like!
The interview went wonderfully (so I thought) and while I had a bit of hard time hearing, I thought the questions were well asked and I gave the best answers that I had.
After the first interview, I grabbed breakfast and found someone in Command Center to take me to Pit Stop #2 for the second interview.  I was not allowed to take sweep vans on Day 3 because of my knee and they didn’t want me walking on it at all.  I was suppose to go straight to lunch but because of my 2nd interview – I was rescued.
At around 8:40, the second interview went live and I felt this one was even better.  I asked about the spirit of the walkers and since this is something that I was passionate about it was easy to answer this question.  The hope is to get these interviews soon and post them on the blog.
After my interviews, my day slowed way down.  Being someone who has to stay busy, this was hard for me.  I decided to make the most of it – talk to my fellow walkers who were also on bus just waiting and when we got to lunch – cheered on those who were walking in.

After lunch, I got another bus and headed to Pit Stop #4.  I couldn’t walk but I didn’t want to sit in holding at the closing ceremony so did my best to cheer them on at Pit Stop #4.  I sat there for several hours and then hopped on the bus for the last 2 miles.
The crowd at Closing Ceremonies were phenomenal.  The friends and family that had come to cheer us on as we walked through the last part were a great encouragement.  After a long weekend, it was hard not to be a little emotional.  I collected my victory t-shirt and a rose donated by ProFlowers.

Then had all of the family and friends leave as they proceeded to line us up for the Closing Ceremony.  The crew walked through to line up first.  These people were wonderful – 400 of them donating their time that we could walk.  Without them, there was no one way we could have walked and kept going this weekend.  They all graciously donated their time and their resources for our benefit.

Then the survivors – still the emotions flow for me as I remember the moment they began walking through the 2400 walkers.  These survivors had walked with us, they had held their heads up high, and they had shared their stories.  Some walked through with tears streaming down their face and with gratefulness that made the whole weekend worth it.  Others walked through with their heads held high not only with their victory of surviving breast cancer but having walked in a cause that would ensure that others would not have to have the same battle.  Some were so young (my age), others will older but everyone of them had a strength and perservance that kept us all going.
Then we, the walkers, lined up for our short walk up to the stage where the ceremony would begin.  Friends and family lined the outside cheering us on at our success.  A victory song played and we encouraged that we had done as a team of 2400 had been a great thing.  The walkers just kept pouring in – there were so many.  A sea of walkers that had endured tears, pain, sleeplessness nights, porta potties, and aching muscles to come together to raise money and awareness of Breast Cancer and how we wanted a cure.

We cheered as the crew joined our circle and then as a team and a community, we got down on left knee, and held up our right shoe in the air and saluted the survivors as they walked in.  They were the brave ones, they were the courageous ones, and they were the ones who had endured far more than we ever had.

They gathered in a circle around the flag pole and as the flag went up, they held hands and put their hands up in victory.  We had made the weekend and we all pray we had made a difference.

Together we had raised 6.2 million dollars – one walk, one journey, 60 miles, one goal in mind – A CURE.

*Some pictures taken by Angie from my adopted team.