It was truly an amazing weekend (with one small glitch). THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone that supported me financially or emotionally for this Walk. If you have ever considered doing an event like this, please don't let the distance or fundraising goal intimidate you - I can honestly say this was one of the best experiences I have ever had.
The weekend started bright and early on Saturday morning. I was up at 5 AM, met Tiffany and was on a shuttle bus to Opening Ceremonies (at UMass Boston) at 5:30 AM. It was POURING rain, but we didn't let that deter us!
After dropping off our gear bags to be transported to the Wellness Village (where we were staying Saturday night), we grabbed breakfast and coffee, warmed up, then had Opening Ceremonies (which always makes me cry - you have to see it). At 7 AM all 3,000 walkers were off in the rain.
By mile 3 the rain stopped and by mid-day we had beautiful blue skies. We had a great time walking, talking, meeting new people, and eating a disgusting amount of food (many, many snacks are provided along the way). At the lunch stop we felt like we were in heaven when we had a chance to take our shoes off for 5 minutes and do a sock change.
The full route the 1st day is a marathon - 26.2 miles. Our goal was to do the half-marathon distance of 13.1 miles and then take the bus to the Wellness Village. At 13 miles we still felt great and decided to keep going. We made it to mile 20 before we decided to hop a bus...Tiffany was getting a blister and we didn't want to push ourselves so much that we would have trouble on Sunday. So at mile 20 we hopped a bus and made it to the Wellness Village at around 5 PM.
Here comes "the glitch". I dropped my gear bag (with sleeping bag, change of clothes, etc) off at Opening Ceremonies where it was then transported to the Wellness Village. Even though all the gear bags are very clearly marked with the participant's name, number, tent number, etc. apparently another Walker grabbed my bag instead of hers at the Wellness Village and then TOOK IT HOME (I guess because she decided not to camp out) and didn't realize her mistake until the next day. What this means is that I spent about an hour (helped by many of the wonderful Crew and Staff) looking for my bag before realizing that someone must have taken it accidentally. Unfortunately, having no sleeping bag, change of clothes, warm things to sleep in, etc. meant I couldn't camp out, and I had to catch the shuttle back into town and then cab it back to our house and a very surprised Mike.
Now, I know some of you are saying "yeah Devon, I know you are sooooo upset that you couldn't sleep in a tent, shower in a portable shower unit, and use porta-potties all night', but I actually was fairly upset. Camping out overnight at the Wellness Village is a huge part of the experience and I was really looking forward to it. I did it every year while working for the event, so I knew what to expect. Poor Tiffany was left all alone in our tent :( Also, it is kind of a bummer to walk 20 miles and then be unable to change your shoes upon arriving at your destination. It wasn't until I made it home at around 9 PM that I was able to release my poor feet.
Mike was a huge sport - he and Henry got up before 6 AM on Sunday so they could drive me all the way back to the Wellness Village and walk a full day again (thanks, Mike!). There I was reunited with Tiffany (and my gear bag, which was finally returned) and we headed off for the 2nd day's route of 13.1 miles. It was definitely harder the 2nd day - we were tired and sore - but it was still such a great day. We had stunningly beautiful weather and walked through some beautiful neighborhoods.
At 2 PM, we crossed the finish line back at UMass Boston having walked a total of 33.1 miles over the 2 days. I am SO proud of Tiffany and myself. We had a great time and did a great job. We also made a wonderful contribution to the fight against breast cancer. A woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every 3 minutes, and you have a 1 in 7 change of developing breast cancer in your life. The $6.9 million raised this weekend will be managed by the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade to support advancing access to care and finding a cure for breast cancer, with a focus on the medically under served.
Watch out, I already signed up to do it again next year! I would LOVE for Team Henry to expand. If anyone wants to share in an amazing experience next year with me just let me know - next year I am doing the entire 39 miles (and hopefully won't have my gear bag lost)!
I couldn't have done it without all of your support. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to those who donated:
Emma and Conor Bagnell
Kristen, Tom, and Cyanne Blabey
Kiera, Jim, and Kate Carlisle
Cheryl Fecteau
Dad and Nene Grandi
Karen, Zach, and Anna Sophia Gustafson
Meri and Ed Houseworth
Michelle, Matt, and Jake Mund
Audra, Ben, and Griffin Plewak
Mike :)
Norman Powell
Mark and Gayle Rohde
Lauren Schingh
Judy and Astrid Scott-Clayton
Beth Sharistanian
Tara Stepanian
Thank you so much. I cannot wait to do it again next year!!!
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