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With the help of four
friends, Sammie (Barker) McCormack ’61, a breast cancer
survivor, completed the challenging San Diego Breast Cancer
3-Day Walk in November 2003. Thanks to support from friends
and family, Sammie raised $8,300 to benefit the Susan G. Komen
Foundation.
This is the daily journal Sammie
kept during her 3-day walk. |
Day One – Nov. 21, 2003
Trish and her husband, Regina and I got up at 4 a.m. in order to
eat a good breakfast, re-pack items we used last night and arrive
at the Del Mar Fairgrounds where we would meet Marilyn and Laura
at the gate at 5:30 a.m. We checked our bags at the truck assigned
to our tent section letter, and proceeded into the fairgrounds to
the horse racing track area where walkers were gathering at an opening
ceremonies stage. By 6 a.m., we were led in warm up exercises, TV
helicopters were flying overhead, the area was jammed with walkers,
the sun was starting to come up, and still more walkers arriving.
Eventually there were some 3,000 walkers. When it was time to leave
the fairgrounds, we were directed to a small aisle designed to hold
about four walkers across. To the sounds of upbeat music we were
off and walking. We were lucky to be able to leave in the early
part of the walkers. Fifteen minutes later when we had completed
our first mile, we looked back and saw that walkers were still departing
from the starting point. Every two and a half to three miles, the
walk provided a pit stop (porta potties, water and Gatorade), or
a grab and go (same as pit stop, but also including a medic tent,
self-help blister treatment, and snacks of all types). This was
also a time when we did a lot of stretching, as we have done all
along in the training. Today’s walk is supposed to be the
hardest, or most difficult of all three days. Probably so, as there
were hills and hills and hills. Carol Lebeau, evening news anchor
of Channel 10 (ABC) in San Diego walked with our group off and on
until lunch time. Her camera man and producer met us at one corner
and filmed our arrival there. Later this evening, when Trish talked
to her husband, he reported that we were all shown on the evening
news walking with her, looking much like we were all having fun
and we were. She is a marathon runner, and told us that distance
walking is much more difficult. Needless to say, the muscles really
got used today. However, they are still feeling strong and I am
confident. We finished this first 19-mile day by 2 p.m. and set
up our tents. Our camp is pitched at Miramar College campus, east
of Miramar Marine base, in the inland San Diego County. When I took
off my shoes, I found new blisters. It appears that no matter what
I’ve used to prevent and treat them, it doesn’t work
for me. It either won’t stick, or it won’t prevent.
Either way, the result is the same – new blisters. But, I
can tough it out. There were hot showers for us in the portable
shower trucks (much like the military uses) so we could wash off
the day’s dust and get cleaned up for the dinner that they
started to serve around 4 p.m. The night’s entertainment (great
karaoke, music and announcements) was held where dinner was eaten
(a large side-less circus-like tent pitched in the middle of the
camp). Other tents were pitched nearby, housing massages, chiropractors,
medical services, self help blister care, memorials to living and
passed breast cancer women and men, a small store with hats and
other clothing, a questions answered tent, etc. During the announcements
they told us that the hills were behind us, and although tomorrow
would be a longer day (mileage), it would be down hill rather than
all the up hills we had experienced today. We did a lot of stretches
with the whole group as intermissions to the program. We were really
tired, and all of us were in bed by 8 p.m., even though the entertainment
continued.
Day Two – Nov. 22, 2003
It was really cold last night, and even in sleeping bags and warm
pajamas, we woke up around 5 a.m., and it was still cold. In addition
the tents were very wet with a lot of “dew” from the
night, so when we packed them, and put them away, they were still
quite wet. Breakfast was great with homemade biscuits this morning.
It gave us a good start for the day. After making sure that all
the blisters were doctored we (the six of us, Marilyn’s tent
mate Lane, joined our group) were on the road by 7:05 a.m. Referring
back to last night’s announcements, we decided that someone
must have felt that “what they don’t know won’t
hurt them.” Today’s hills were equal to yesterday’s.
The distance was longer also – today we went 23.5 miles (making
up for the 19 yesterday?). I could tell that I was getting some
new blisters, and walking was painful all afternoon. It took us
longer today to reach our destination, partially because of the
longer distance, and partially because we started feeling some muscle
soreness as well as those darned blisters. Some of our group stopped
at the medical self-help tents and applied Ben-Gay to the muscles.
They thought it seemed to help. We continue to be amazed at the
support crowds along our route. People have signs in their yards,
cars are honking as they pass, and folks are outside with all sorts
of tangible and verbal encouragement. They cheer, give us high fives,
have great walking music playing on their boom boxes, have big bowls
of wrapped candy (like small candy bars, kisses, gum, red licorice,
and one household even handed out warm homemade cookies). There
are many decorated cars that drive back and forth cheering us on.
Even the sweep vehicles, designed to transport walkers who can’t
make it farther on their own, are decorated. For example, there
is the “Pimp Mobile” with signs saying “we pick
up street walkers” and the drivers are dressed in outlandish
clothing – different each day so far. There is the “Recycle
Van” with signs saying “deposit your cans here.”
The crossing guards at street corners are all volunteers. They are
police personnel, sheriffs and Harley motorcycle riders. They too
have been so friendly and encouraging of us all. We look forward
to seeing each of them. We arrived at Ski Beach (camp site #2) in
Pacific Beach about three miles north of SeaWorld around 4 p.m.
We had our tents set up quickly and were out of our shoes just as
quickly. A swift foot check showed new blisters. The good news is
that I have two toes and one heal/sole that have NO blisters. We
decided not to doctor blisters tonight, but rather to let them air
all night and tend to them tomorrow morning. Hot showers really
felt good this evening. After my shower I went to the self-help
area and put Ben-Gay all over my legs. I smelled like wintergreen
all evening and all night, but it was worth it as it made my sore
muscles feel so much better. After dinner we stretched all the muscles
again from head to toe, but we were so tired, that we listened to
the entertainment and program from our sleeping bags inside the
tents. It appears that tonight will be another cold night in spite
of our proximity to Mission Bay. I fell asleep while the band was
still playing. It didn’t take long.
Day Three – Nov. 23, 2003
Up again today at 5 a.m. Getting up early gave me time to bandage
all the blisters, now including the soles of my feet as well as
all those places between, under, and around my poor toes. It also
gave us enough time to break camp, and eat a substantial breakfast
before we started walking again at 7 a.m. It is terribly cold this
morning – much more so than yesterday. In my shorts and light
weight pink shirt, I could feel my legs and knees shaking so bad
that I knew we’d have to get off to a quick pace. Fortunately
Laura had some little hand warmers that when squeezed will stay
warm for several hours. That got me started, and even though our
feet hurt, we were dedicated. We agreed today that if necessary
there would be no shame in asking for a lift to the next medical
tent from one of the four or five vans that was sweeping walkers
throughout the day. We were suffering from blisters (I’m in
the lead with those) or muscle problems of one kind or another.
My muscles feel fine, and the Ben-Gay last night really helped.
Today’s route is one we know a lot about for we have walked
so many parts of it in our training, so we know that there will
be fewer hills. By noon we started to feel those muscle pains again,
so we were putting on Ben-Gay at the medic self help tents. That
seems to help a lot. Our lunch was at Robb Field, here in Ocean
Beach, pretty close to home. I told my partners that “Gee
I can walk home from here, get the car, and drive to the finish,
and no one would be the wiser.” Of course, I didn’t
do it. Lunch was the time to check the feet again (as we always
did at lunch), apply new bandaging as necessary, and change into
dry, clean socks. We also did some “serious” stretching
in readiness for the last leg of our journey. Obviously lunch is
more than simply a place to sit and eat. They say that today’s
route is 17 miles, but my pedometer showed that when we actually
crossed the finish line, it was 19.7 miles. That means that our
total was actually 62 miles, rather than the 60 we planned. About
three miles from the end of the walk the crowds started to get larger
along the sides of our walk path. The cheers and the applause were
louder, and the encouragement genuine. We were reaching the streets
of downtown San Diego, nearing Sea Port Village and the Convention
Center where we would find our finish line. The closer we got to
that finish line, the taller we stood, and the less limping we noticed.
By the time we reached Embarcadero Park, there was no pain, just
pride, a sense of personal accomplishment, and tears of joy to observe
that so many would be there to welcome us home. I am exhausted,
sore, tired, blistered, exhilarated, proud, happy, and delighted
to report that I completed the entire 60 miles. Of the 3,000 plus
walkers I was number 612 to finish, so it gave me, and my walk-mates
the opportunity to greet and cheer home the remaining walkers. We
got to the finish at 2 p.m. or 2:15 p.m. Sunday afternoon. For the
next three hours we yelled and cheered for walkers as they finished.
The 60 miles took us 135,000 steps (according to my pedometer) and
consumed over 6,500 calories (also according to the pedometer).
Together the five of us raised over $21,000, and as a total group
of walkers we raised $7.9 million. Together the walkers in San Francisco,
Los Angeles, and San Diego raised over $15 million, so you can see
that we more than did our share in San Diego. The closing ceremonies
were both touching and heart warming. As we finished the walk, we
each received a long sleeved shirt, and a long stemmed flower. Survivors
received a pink shirt with blue lettering, other walkers received
navy blue shirts with white lettering, and volunteers and crew received
white shirts with blue lettering. Hundreds of people lined a pathway
for the walkers and others to use to enter. First they brought in
the walkers in blue, then the crew and volunteers, and finally the
survivors. Before they were very far into the program, we were all
in tears. Surrounded by all of our new friends, as well as friends
and family from before, we shared in loss, memories, and tributes.
It was such a moving acknowledgment to others, like our group, our
supporters and our friends. We have all been touched by breast cancer,
whether with a family member or a friend, or self, male or female,
we all know or knew someone, and our fervent goal is to use this
money to continue research, to find a cure, and to one day soon
completely eradicate breast cancer. We believe it will happen. I
believe it will happen.
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