OK so the 3Day walk is finally over :( But it's
OK. I am going to be doing it again next year. Yes that's right, it was such an amazing experience that I already signed up to do it again next year.
So, let me see if I can give you all of the details of the walk. I have some pictures that I can post now, but they are just pictures that other people took so I'll have to post mine later.
Please keep in mind, some of the details may be a little fuzzy so please excuse me if I mess up as I was a little delirious at times. Also names may be changed to protect the innocent. Ok I made that part up, but it sounded good, didn't it?
**Please ignore typos**
So, it all started on Thursday night. Well, it actually all started in March. My friend (and co-worker), Cyndi had already signed up to do the walk. I finally decided to do it and was so excited about it. I planned to put my friend, Bob's wife's name on the back of my shirt because she passed away of Breast Cancer on May 16, 2006. Four days later, my mother-in-law was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. God sure does work in mysterious ways. Anyway, so Melinda (my baby sister), her little girl Miranda and I all went, Thursday night, and stayed in a hotel in Northbrook, Illinois. Melinda and Miranda were going to be seeing me off in the morning and then Melinda was going to meet her friend Lindsey and they were taking Miranda to the American Girl store. I had met a girl named Cortney on the message boards on Wednesday and I was going to meet her once we got to the Red Roof Inn. She said "I'll be the one with the big wings." So, I texted her to tell her we were stuck in traffic. We didn't get to the hotel until like 11:30. Well, Miranda was excited and not used to sleeping with Melinda so she couldn't fall asleep but that was ok. I wasn't tired when I woke up.
DAY 1:
So, Friday morning I woke up at around 5am. I slept in my sports bra and the shorts I was going to wear the next day so it didn't take me long to get dressed, cake on the body glide (anti-chafing stuff in case you were wondering) pull my hair back, put a hat on, brush my teeth and get out the door. As soon as we opened the door there were two ladies walking by who were OBVIOUSLY doing the walk too. So, I ran out the door and gave them a big hug. They had big wings on so I said "CORTNEY?" But, it wasn't her. Then they said they were waiting for a taxi, so without even asking Melinda I said "Oh, we'll take you to the 3Day site" and then I was like "Oh do you mind, Melinda" LOL! Anyway, so we drove them there. It took us less than 5 minutes to get there. It was so exciting as we were pulling into the site. People were EVERYWHERE!! I found Cyndi right away and we dropped off our bags at truck G. He was a big guy and he was so sweet so I gave him a big hug and thanked him for taking care of our bags. Well, it was all over after that, I think I hugged EVERY SINGLE person I saw the entire weekend LOL! So, then it was time for the opening ceremony. It was so neat. First we stretched together which was kind of hard because we were all so close together and everyone's butts were in everyone else's face (little did I know that would be NOTHING compared to seeing all of the naked people in the shower trailers not even ATTEMPTING to cover up at all YUCK). Next was the motivational speaker. She talked about why we were doing this and then people walked out carrying pink flags that said things like "MY MOTHER" "MY DAUGHTER" "MY AUNT" and so on. Here is a picture of them:
So, then she talked about the survivors and they walked out carrying flags that said things like "HOPE" and "HEALING" there were quite a few survivors who walked. Then we were off. Of course Melinda was crying and so was Cyndi's mom, sister, and friend. They were so cute. I looked back and Melinda said "I love you." Aren't little sisters so cute :)
There were people who would ride up and down on their bikes, yelling at us and making sure you didn't need anything. There was a guy in biker shorts (GUYS SHOULD NOT WEAR BIKERS!!!) and he was wearing an Oscar the Grouch shirt, so of course, I kept calling him Oscar. Then my favorite guy was the guy dressed up like a fairy. Every time I saw him, I'd whistle and yell "NICE LEGS." I would describe him but I wouldn't do him any justice so I'll just post a picture (he's the one on the right and he looked like this the ENTIRE 3 days).
OK so then there were also these motorcycle guys (also known as the pink panthers) who rode around with pink helmets on. It was so nice. They were our crossing guards. They kept us safe. First we went through the Botanical Gardens. I don't know what the big hype is about that, because it was pretty
boring to me. The only neat part was when this 10 or 11 year old boy came walking down the path with a grass skirt on and only a coconut bra!!! Then one of the first cities we went through, Winnetka, was BEAUTIFUL!! The houses looked like they were about 2 million dollars each. They were right on the lake and the GUEST houses were 4 times the size of my regular house! Then we went through Glenview. The people in all of the neighborhoods were so friendly. Every so often we would pass a house that had tables set up and signs in their yards. They would be playing music and cheering for us and handing out water, ice, candy or p
opsicles. It was so nice and it really kept us going.
Also, Superior ambulance service had this pink ambulance with pink ribbons on it:
A different pink ambulance was pulling these two guys on a
trailer and they were playing music and dancing. Every time they went by, you know I had to stop to bust a move!!
Of course there were the "Sweep Vans" too. One was decorated with Tinker Bell stuff, one was decorated all western and one was Hawaiian. Did I spell that right? If we couldn't take another step, we were to make an X with our arms when they went by and they would stop and pick us up.
We had the BEST volunteer crew members EVER. They kept us fed, hydrated, and motivated and were always there right when we thought we couldn't take another step, cheering us on.
The crew also consisted of an AWESOME Medical Staff who took care of our sore muscles, injuries and MANY blisters.
Every time we saw someone with wings, Cyndi and I would yell "CORTNEEEEEYYY" to see if she would answer but it was never her.
We had "Pit Stops" every 2 to 3.5 miles. Here we could get those Smuckers Uncrustables Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches. I had never had those before, but they ROCK. I think I had about 3 a day LOL! They also had chips, peanuts, bananas, etc. And water and Gatorade.
Then the first cheering station came. Cyndi's mom and sister and Izzy were there. They were holding up signs that said "Go Melissa" and "GO Cyndi" and "Chicas 4 Tetas" and it was so cute because Cyndi's mom had one that said "Your Boobs will thank you." Then the REAL Cortney came up and said "Are you Melissa?" and I said "YES ARE YOU CORTNEY?" and she said "Yes." So, we hugged and she was on her way. But, Cyndi and I decided that we would still yell "CORTNEEEEYYY" at everyone we saw with wings, just for our own amusement. One group had a red carpet for us to walk across (they actually had it at EVERY single cheering station the entire weekend). Cyndi and I started doing the running man across it. Since we had our names on the front of our shirts, everyone kept yelling for us by name and that was great too. Hearing everyone yelling for us kept us moving.
At lunch time we had gone 10.7 miles. I was like "THERE IS NOOOOO WAY I am going to be able to finish all of this." But, we pushed on. When we had about 7 more miles we were like "OH ok, only 7 miles, we can TOTALLY do that."
Pit Stop 5 (the final Pit Stop) was called "BOOB CAMP." And the people were HILARIOUS. Notice in the picture below, the person on the left is a GUY with plastic boobs. It was so funny! By Day3 those boobs were all smashed in from people grabbing them over and over again.
Then with 4 miles to go, I got my second wind for about a minute. I started yelling and dancing. Then we passed this bar. Now, I'm not a drinker (maybe once a year) but MAN did an ice cold
Margarita sound good. And there were even some walkers there stopping for a drink but I was like "NO way, I only have a few more miles to go." Then one of the crossing guards said "COME ON LET'S GO, you only have 1 more mile...." That was seriously the
LOOOOOOOOOONGEST mile in history. The next day we were done walking that mile (see I told you some of the details were fuzzy). Just kidding but it
seriously seemed like it was the next day by the time we finished it. Part of the reason the last mile totally stunk was because there was no where for us to walk besides the side of the road and it was FULL of huge rocks and pebbles that were killing our feet.
We ended up in Des Plaines, where we would camp at Oakdale Community College. So 21 miles later, we thought "AHHHHHHH no more walking for the day!" YEAH RIGHT!! We had to go collect our luggage and tents to put up. And guess what?? The tents were seriously about 1/4 to 1/2 mile away from where we walked in (the place where you eat and drink). Now I know it doesn't seem like that long of a walk, but after you just walked 21 miles, walking to the restroom seems unreasonable! I would almost rather just pee on myself. Here is a picture of camp:
and here is our pink sea of tents:
So we went to put our tents up. I could hardly carry my bag. We got there and started to put it up and along came a "tent angel" he was the father from a boy scout troop who had volunteered to help us set up tents and carry bags. Now don't misunderstand, I was SUPER grateful that he put our tent up, but I looked ALL over the place for some sorry sucker to carry my bag to the tent area and I couldn't find ANYONE! And I forgot to mention that our tents were ALLLLLL the way at the end. You see the small tents that are about the size of a spec of dust in the above picture? Yeah, that was us. So, then we went and ate. It was spaghetti. Now that was great!! What Italian girl doesn't get excited about spaghetti? While we were eating they announced that the last walker would be there any minute and that we were supposed to stand up and cheer for her. So, suddenly we hear someone yell "There's the last walker..." and so we all stand up (yes, all 2398 of us, plus the crew) and we are cheering, and hooping and hollering and it goes on for like 5 minutes. And then the speaker lady gets on and says "That was a great job you guys, that was really good practice for when the REAL last walker comes in." So, this time when the last walker came in all 2399 of us did the same thing all over again and then we raised our Day 1 flag.
Then it was time to hit the showers. The showers are very interesting because they look like a semi trailer. There are two doors and about 6 showers on each side. They were nice warm showers. But, guess what, this was when I got to be traumatized by seeing a bunch of naked women drying off and putting lotion on with NO modesty at all. WHAT THE... And I thought I had no modesty. But, in their defence, the towels they gave us were about the size of postage stamps. So, I just tried to focus on covering up my ghetto booty!
Now for the karaoke party. Of course we got up there too late so I didn't get to sing :( CRAP! I was soooooooooo looking forward to that. But it was fun and I got up and danced and shook my ghetto booty. It was great! Poor Cyndi was at the Medical tent getting her blisters tended to. Anyway, then it was 9pm. Time for lights out and quiet time. Of course SOME people don't know how to read directions, so they were laughing and being loud. So, I yelled at them one time (LOL) and they were quiet after that. I popped my earplugs in, lied down on my raft and fell asleep almost instantly. I did wake up once in the middle of the night to go to the restroom, I considered peeing on myself but then decided against it. I woke up Cyndi getting out of the tent so she went too.
DAY 2:
Saturday morning we got up at 5:30 because the route would open at 6:30. Got dressed quickly, caked on the body glide and off we went. Cyndi had to get her blisters worked on again so we didn't leave until 7:30. But that was fine. Slow and steady wins the race, right? The guy in the Oscar the Grouch shirt and biker shorts was now wearing a Grinch shirt and biker shorts. So, I started calling him Oscar the Grinch (instead of Oscar the Grouch, since he had changed his shirt). Then we were off, at first the people in Des Plaines were very nice, honking and waving and cheering for us. Then the next city.... UGGH! They were soooo grouchy. They were so irritated that we had invaded their city. I would say "HI" to people passing and they wouldn't even say hi back. Well by the time I said hi to this one lady, I was fed up when she didn't say hi back so I said "Hey, we're walking for YOUR boobs!!" Then this other lady wouldn't wave when she was stopped at the stop sign waiting for us to pass so I finally said "WAVE TO ME!!" and then she reluctantly did LOL! At the first pitstop, it started raining and of course since there was NO rain in the forecast I didn't have my rain poncho in my fanny pack (YES I WORE A FANNY PACK HHHHHAAAAAAA). But, then I looked over and there was an angel handing them out, so when I went to sit my stuff down to put the poncho on I was thinking "OK how am I going to hold the hood on?" and it was like God threw a clothes pin down from heaven, there was one just sitting there right where I had stopped. So, I used it to clip the hood onto the bill of my hat. It worked like a charm. But, then I was still really cold so about a mile later, I found a Walgreens. I went in and bought a pink hoodie for 14.99 and that made me nice and toasty! Also I went ahead and used the restroom (one less time I'd have to use a nasty porta potty). You wouldn't believe how nice the sound of a flushing toilet is until you've gone two days without it. The next town was Mount Prospect! I'll never forget that town. They were the NICEST people ever!! The police officers that volunteered to help us cross the streets had gone out and bought PINK uniforms. Can you believe it?? They were OFFICIAL uniforms with badges and everything. So, I got my picture taken with two of them, one was an old man and one was the husband of one of the walkers. But, of course I don't have those pictures downloaded yet. Then we were off to the next town. I really don't remember much about the towns between Mt. Prospect and lunch because I was in a lot of pain. My hip was killing me and no matter how much I stretched it I couldn't get it to go away. I was hobbling so much and walking so slowly that one of the sweep vans stopped and asked if I needed help. Of course I said no thanks and I was on my way. Slowly but surely. Then I texted everyone and they all said "I'll pray for you..." and I swear about 1/2 hour later, it was completely gone!!
At lunch time I took my shoes and socks off and found that I had a bunch of blisters. I wrapped them up as best I could and Courtney told me to put Vaseline on my feet to prevent blisters. NOW THEY TELL ME! So, I caked on her Vaseline and I was on my way again. Cyndi and I were limping quite a bit but then again so was everyone else. As Cyndi and I were walking we actually saw a fox, right in a rural neighborhood just hanging out. If I wasn't so tired I would have gotten out the camera and taken a picture but I was too tired for that nonsense. We kind of looped around on Saturday and then ended up back in Mount Prospect. The police officers were so nice, cheering for us and saying "Welcome Back." I thought that we were close but we weren't. For the last 7 miles we were stopping to rest our feet every mile and a half or so. One time when Cyndi took her sock off, steam pored out LOL!
Anyway, so then we had 3 miles to go. WOW that was a LOOOOOONG 3 miles and it was almost all rocks and pebbles. KILLING our feet. But, of course, we pushed on. About a half of a mile before camp I sat down on this bridge ( now you know I was tired because I'm TERRIFIED of bridges) and I seriously thought I was going to have to use the sweep van but I was like NO WAY! So, finally I got up and we made it!! We decided to eat before walking ALL the way to our tents so I just took my shoes off and walked around with just my socks on. It was some Chicken stuff and it was actually pretty good. Or maybe I was just starving. Then we went and took showers and then straight to the medical tent. The NICEST little 25 year old girl helped me take care of my blisters. I believe her name was Stephanie. She wrapped all 10 of them. She was so sweet. I told her that if I had money I would have tipped her. Then it was off to the dance party. Yeah! My feet hurt but do you actually think I would pass up dancing?? NO WAY!! I got on stage and danced for a while and then Cyndi and I went into the mail room. We found that we both had the sweetest letter and card from my mom and Melinda. They were VERY inspirational and they really helped me going on Day 3. We were also able to send out postcards from that room so that was great too. Then Cyndi and I went to the "remembrance tent." This is a white tent where you go in and write names of survivors and people who didn't survive on the tent. It is a very nice peaceful place to reflect on the events of the 3Day. Then we went to bed (or should I say, we went to raft).
DAY 3:
Rise and shine!! It was time to get up at 4:00am. We had to pack up our stuff, take our tents down (no tent angels this time). And drop our bags off at truck G again. I went to the porta potty and when I came out, I was in an ornary mood so I said "This toilet isn't flushing" to some lady. She actually stopped for a second and then remembered that they were porta potties and started laughing. We ate breakfast which was really good and we were on our way again. We had to ride a bus to Skokie Illinois and then we would start our walk. Oscar the Grinch was now wearing and Air Force shirt. It really didn't go along with his previous shirts so I started calling him "Oscar the Grinch in the Air Force" every time I saw him. We started the day off and I remember saying "I think I'll do this again next year." About 10 miles later I was thinking "I'LL NEVER DO THIS AGAIN, maybe I'll be a crew member next time." Anyway, it was absolutely beautiful. We were walking by the lake almost the entire time. It was 76 degrees and the wind was blowing from the lake. I actually wore my little pink hoodie almost the entire time. I forgot to mention when describing the other days that there were these two ladies that would ride around all over the place honking and screaming at us. We got to the point that we would start waving before we even saw them because we recognized their horn sound. They would also stop every few miles and hand out water and ice, they were great. There was also a clown lady that was great too. She was so cute and she kept giving us stickers and necklaces and yelling and cheering. Then at one point they were handing out donut holes. YUM those were so good, they were just what I needed for a one minute burst of energy.
By Pit Stop 2 I was about to die. But, we pushed on. At one point Cyndi was trying to make us laugh and she goes "Talk like Chevonne." She was referring to how when Chevonne, Melinda and I get together we start talking like they do when they're "straight from the hills of Kentucky" just to be funny. We say things like "She's got the sugar" instead of she's diabetic, or "Nothin' in that garage ain't no count" instead of Everything in that garage is junk. And I go "I CAN'T, I can't even think. I don't even know what we say any more." LOL! Then we hit the streets of downtown Chicago. That helped a lot. People were yelling and screaming for us as we walked down the streets. And then, with 4.2 miles to go, Cyndi and I got a second wind and we started walking REALLY fast. And I was slapping everyone a five that walked by off the street. If they didn't lift their arm, I would yell "COME ON BROTHER (or sista), HOOK A SISTA UP!" Then they would laugh a little and reluctantly slap me a five. Then we stopped at a stop light and Cyndi started a chant. She said "Who's walking 60 miles?" and we all yelled "WE ARE!" and she said "WHO?" and we said "WE ARE!!!!" and she said "WHOOO?" and we said "WEEEE AREEE YAY!!!!!!!" and we all started screaming and clapping. So of course at the next stoplight, I had to put my spin on it and I said "WHO'S THE HOTTEST 60 MILE WALKERS EVER??" and so we all yelled again.
Then, with one mile to go we stopped at our final pit stop. We didn't stop long because we were ready to get there. When we were almost there, I suddenly felt like a little kid and I looked at Cyndi and I said "I can't wait to see my parents." We could see Soldier Field in the distance and it actually didn't seem like a long final mile like the other days had. Then we started on this path and thousands of people were lined up cheering us on. Here is a picture of my mom and Ellah waiting for us: 
Then I saw my momma bear and papa bear in the distance. My mom was taking a picture of us and crying. Here is Cyndi and me coming up the path:
And here is what the finish line looked like:
I didn't see Ellah yet because she was sitting on the little cement bench behind my mom. Rick had said that he didn't think she was going to be able to go because they were going to go to the water park. I stuck my arms out and my mom ran out and hugged us. Then she turned around and pointed to Ellah. I ran and grabbed her and hugged her so tight. I missed my little Ellah Pooh.
We waited under a tree for the closing ceremony to start. I took my socks and shoes off, MAN that felt good! Here is what my feet looked like:
I had 5 blisters on each foot. That includes the two that were underneath the toenails of my 2 second toes. But, that isn't a big deal, like a lot of the signs on the route said "BLISTERS DON'T NEED CHEMO!"
First my mom rubbed my feet and then when my mom's hands got tired, since Ellah LOVES to put lotion on me, I said "Ellah, do you want to put lotion on my feet?" She was really excited and it felt like a foot massage with two tiny soft adorable hands.
Now it was time for the closing ceremonies. We all got in a group and and lined up to do our victory walk.. We walked in holding hands with our hands up in the air. Then the survivors walked in doing their victory walk:
We all raised our shoes up in the air to honor them:
Then the survivors did their survivor circle and raised our victory flag. It said "A WORLD WITHOUT BREAST CANCER."
Then the motivational speaker got on and told us that Chicago raised a total of 6.1 million dollars! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT???? Of that 6.1 million, I raised a total of $3,551.07 (I put the 7 cents in myself because 7 is my lucky number). Together Cyndi and I (Team CHICAS 4 TETAS) raised almost $7000.00.
After closing ceremonies were over, we went to get our bags and leave. We found my bag right away and then Cyndi's sister, Mari and Izzy came and gave me a little present. It was so sweet. And then Cyndi't friend Jen came and gave me a dozen roses. That was so sweet too. My mom and dad were parked right in front in the parking garage. So, that was great, or so we thought. Until we sat in the parking garage for 30 minutes without moving an inch. It took us about an hour to get out. We drove home and Ellah wanted me to hold her hand the whole way. It was so cute. I was dying for some good old fashioned Mexican Food! You KNOW I love Mexican food. So, we went to La Caretta in Merrillville to eat. That was so yummy! Then we got home at about 8:30pm. I fully expected the house to be a disaster and that I would have a ton of laundry to do. On the way home I asked Ellah "Did daddy use the dishwasher while mommy was gone?" and she said "Yes, he got a bowl out of the dishwasher." and she was so serious. It was so cute. But, when I got home there were Rick and Halle standing right by the door hugging and congratulating me. Then I walked in the house and it was totally clean and the laundry was done and folded. Rick and Halle had really pulled through for me.
I wanted to stay up and visit but I couldn't. I was BEAT! So, I took a shower and went straight to bed. Snuggling with Ellah of course, my little "Snuggle Bunny."
Monday morning I hobbled into work. Everyone was congratulating me. I went to the 3Day website and signed up to do the walk again next year. So, now I have more time to raise the required $2300.00. So, if you want to help me get an early start, you can donate to me by going to
http://www.the3day.org/ and then click on "Donate Now" and then go to the bottom and type in my first and last name (Melissa Fairchild) and click on "Find Participant." At the bottom it will list my 2008 walk and my 2009 walk. Be sure to click on the 2009 walk.
Thank you so much for all of your donations, support and prayers. I can't wait to do this all over again next year.
Left to right is me, Kristi, Chris and Cyndi. I know, I look like I have 15 chins LOL!
The plane fit about 23 people. There were no seats. We all had to sit on the floor toboggan (sp) style. We were in two rows. My camera guy was SOOOO funny. His name was Brad but he went by B-Rad! So, my Tandem master was behind me and my camera guy was in front of me. It was soooooooo exciting. Cyndi was right next to me and Kristi and Chris were behind me. Here we are in the plane:
Check out this view!!
I did get a little sick from all of the spinning so I told him not to spin me too much any more. Then he said "OK, I'm going to unclip the bottom two clips." and I'm like "WHAT THE..........." So, I said "OK but don't unclip the top." Like he didn't already know that. He needed to do that so that he would have more room to move around when we landed. Then we just floated down, it was SOOOOOOOOO AWESOME.
And here we are back to earth safe and sound!! (See mom, I lived!!)
