Dear Donors, Supporters, & Cheerleaders,

Thanks to everyone who helped Katie and I reach our goal of raising $3,600 and walking 39.1 miles in 2 days! Everyone helped in their own way. Some made donations, others supported us at our fundraising events, many offered their time and help, and others cheered us on at the end of the first day (mile 26!). It is because of all of you that this year’s Boston Avon Walk for Breast Cancer was a record breaking success. It was the largest Boston event to date with over 2,900 walkers raising $6.9 million dollars! The Avon Foundation made 7 initial grants at the closing ceremonies including:

· Massachusetts General Hospital, $800,000
· Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, $500,000
· Boston Medical Center, $300,000
· Various community programs that support early detection

These important grants will support research into the potential role of genetic and environment interactions in breast cancer, a new mobile mammography vehicle with state-of-the-art equipment, as well as basic technology upgrades and community awareness and access programs. In addition, more grants will be awarded throughout the year!

Avon Walk for Breast Cancer 2008

I kicked off the event by waking up at 4:45AM on Saturday, May 17th (probably the earliest I have ever woken up in my entire life!). I dressed myself in walking gear—a rainproof skirt and fresh New Balance sneakers—grabbed my coffee and met Katie at the front door. We stopped in Somerville to pick up Todd, the honorary chauffeur, and took off for UMASS Boston. It seemed like as soon as we finally unloaded our gear at 6:30AM, it started to rain.

We ate a provided breakfast of bagels, bananas, and water provided by one of the event sponsors, FIJI (yum). The Opening Ceremony included inspiration speeches by cancer survivors and guided stretches. We began our journey around the circumference of Boston by 7:00AM. From UMASS we walked along Boston Harbor. Vans full of volunteers and crew members, decorated in pink bras, honked and cheered. Bikers from a Harley Club on their motorcycles stopped traffic for us as we crossed every single intersection. It felt amazing to be there with so many other people that the rain didn’t even matter. Then, some time before mile 5 a woman behind us spoke:

“Do you know that your ankle is bleeding?”

Katie’s shoes were rubbing her the wrong way, so between rest stops we paused to bandage her foot with Neosporin and Duct Tape. The rain was letting up but we wondered if we were going to make it. At least blisters don’t need chemotherapy, we joked.

We passed The New England Aquarium, Quincy Market, and finally North Station and the Museum of Science. I couldn’t believe I had seen so much of the city before noon! The clouds cleared as walked along the Charles River and passed over Storrow Drive. We followed the river all the way to MIT and finally ate lunch at the Charles River Reservation at mile 9. We laid out some cardboard in the wet grass and devoured our bag lunches of turkey sandwiches, baby carrots, apples, and chips. Our legs were cramping up and we couldn’t afford to rest long. We changed our wet socks, stretched and got ready to hit the road. It must have been around 11:30 AM.

Katie stretch-resting

The sun came out in full force after lunch as we marched through Riverway Park into Brookline. We passed the halfway point. I took a huge sigh of relief that I didn’t have any blisters yet, and we applied sunscreen. I spoke to my Mom over the phone. I remember having a lot of energy and excitement.

The park was so beautiful and it felt as though the sun had come out just for us. We made it into Jamaica Way and the park setting with all the green grass and trees felt wonderful after all the city walking we had done earlier that day.

We entered Dedham as the miles markers kept climbing higher and higher. There were no more sights to see or rivers to follow. Now it was the final trek to mile 26. There was no more time to stop and smell the roses or to take scenic or candid shots. Now we were truckin’ and it was hot.

Half way!

We marched up the steep hill at the end at a steady pace. And finally reached mile 25! It felt amazing knowing that we were at the end—the final mile! As we proudly marched on, I got a phone call from my Dad and I told him we would be there in about 20 minutes. Mysteriously, mile 26 didn’t show up for quite some time and my body knew what a mile felt like at this point. Those last 385 yards (the .2 of a mile) were a huge morale killer. An hour later, around 4:30 PM, we arrived at Prowse Farm in Canton, MA to the cheers of my Mom, Dad, and Victoria.

"NO PARKING. Reason: Cancer Walk"

Wellness Village, Prowse Farm, Canton, MA

Cheerleaders

The Wellness Center was buzzing with booths from the event sponsors Reebok, Genentech BioOncology, Novartis Oncology and Prevention Magazine, and FIJI Water. There were yoga classes, the tent city, hot showers, entertainment, and of course DINNER!! Dad helped us find our backpacks and set up our tent which we probably never could have done ourselves. We had dinner and then we hit the medic tent. I scored some Ibuprofen 800 and Katie had her blistered feet taped up. My family left, taking our wet clothes and extra shoes, and we got ready to take showers in the amazing port-a-showers (which were actually awesome, although I guess any form of shower would have been awesome at that point). We were exhausted. Although we wanted to get into a yoga class we opted to have a second dinner and hit the hay around 8:30 PM.

The view from our tent in Tent City (in the background you can see the shower trucks)

People began bustling around 5:30 AM and I didn’t want to move from my soft, warm sleeping bag. Finally, Katie started packing and I felt obligated to do the same. After, we grabbed some breakfast of scrambled eggs, home fries, and fruit. We begrudgingly packed up our tent with some much needed help, loaded our bags into a truck, and made our way to the starting point. 13.1 miles to go.

The route meandered variously through neighborhoods with large houses and huge trees, and through the downtown areas of suburban towns. There were signs in shop windows congratualting us. It felt amazing… until I started to limp. “Are you OK? I have some Band Aids if you need them.” Strangers kept trying to help me but I wasn’t limping because of a blister, I was limping because I had developed tendonitis in my right ankle and it felt like the bones in my foot were shattered. I thanked them all for their generosity and pimp-limped on. That’s what we were calling it now as Katie and I entered the final mile. I pathetically whined outloud feeling as though I might burst into tears. There were no more cheerleaders; all we had was each other and fellow walkers encouraged me by saying things like, “That limp really becomes you.” I had to make it—we had come so far!

As soon as I saw the finish line I wanted to collapse. I just kept thinking about all the good that will come from ALL of the money that we raised! I hobbled across the finish line back at UMASS Boston in amazement at what we accomplished.

To greet us were hundreds of family members and friends cheering and hugging and taking our pictures. It was incredible. I couldn’t believe how far we had come. I couldn’t imagine that just yesterday we had stood here at the Opening Ceremonies in the pouring rain. We had under taken a pilgrimage and we had reached the Promised Land! And yet, I couldn’t sit down. I couldn’t believe it was over. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I sat in the shade and had a snack, watching more walkers pass through the pink arch and complete their journey.
Despite some blisters, sun poisoning, a trip to the Emergency Room Sunday night, and calling in to work “sick” on Monday, both Katie and I survived! We want to thank everyone for doing what they could to help make this miracle a reality. Remember that every 3 minutes someone is diagnosed with breast cancer. Hopefully the work that we all did to make the Boston Avon Walk a success will soon make it only every 30 minutes, or 3 days… or 3 years… or NOT EVER AGAIN! Thank you for everything and take care of yourselves.

Hugs,

Patty