Fighting Breast Cancer...39.3 miles at a time

The DC Walk is officially over! What an experience! Lets divide the entry into Sat & Sun.

SATURDAY - 1st day of the Walk
After getting home around 10:30/11 PM I was psyched and way too keyed up to go to sleep. I figured since I had to wake up again at 3 there was no point in actually going to bed. So I stayed up and then left for DC around 3:30. I arrived at L'Enfant Colonial Parking Garage in record time and was on the first shuttle with some other early morning volunteers. We were shuttled over to West Potomac Park (next to the Tidal Basin) and that is where it all began. I helped Annie (our Volunteer Coordinator/VOC) with volunteer check-in for a bit. I didn't really have a specific job to do so I got placed wherever I was needed. I ended checking volunteers in, setting up barricades for the Opening Ceremony, checking late walkers in, and who knows what else. Opening started promptly at 6:30 and then the walkers were off! I was relieved and got sent home for a few hours where I managed to take a 20 minute nap. Then I drove up to Chevy Chase, MD to our Wellness Village/WV. This is the midpoint for our walkers. Walkers get hot food, hot showers, massages, med care, etc etc and they get to camp out in 2 person tents if they so choose. I think around 70% actually camp out and the rest either get picked up and brought back in the AM or they go back to hotel that night. Then it starts over again the next morning. I was helping our VOC again. Saturday afternoon was much more relaxed as we watched and waited for the walkers to arrive. Later on I got to help in the Med tent and it was crazy! We had students from GUH (Georgetown University Hospital) volunteering for the weekend. Most people had blisters. There were some extreme cases of course. I got to meet more Walk staffers from other cities (Brea from NY por ejemplo). Then I drove home, had dinner, and decided that going out for a drink that night was a good life decision. Over the past 48 hours I had only gotten 20 minutes of sleep! Yup, definitely a good life choice. I ended up going out with Erin and we met up with a few of her co-workers and some randoms at Big Hunt in Dupont. I had a drink and didn't feel too tired. But I had to be up around 6 or so to get ready for my last day so I wasn't going to push it. I ended up meeting some new people and it was a nice change of pace.

SUNDAY
I got up around 6:30 and left around 7 to get to DC. I also managed to get some DD for myself and my VOC. I arrived at the garage and eventually we made it over to Closing (also at W. Potomac Park). Unfortunately our shuttle driver was a little confused and we almost went to Arlington. Thankfully we got it all straightened out and she took us to the correct location. Sunday was vastly different from Saturday. I helped with barricades again and got to know Jaclyn (one of the directors). Then I got to unload all of the walkers gear for a few hours in the pouring rain! I wore 3 layers of clothing and by 11 I was completely drenched from head to toe. It wasn't cold earlier in the day, but by 2/3 I was definitely shivering. Annie yelled at me to change so I'm grateful for that. After unloading 4 Budget trucks filled to the max with hundreds of suitcases, sleeping bags, etc. OMG I won't ever need to work out again. Later I went back and helped out with random odd jobs. We had quite a few volunteers so I ran errands for the staffers. It was cool because by then most of them had heard about it and they were always like, " Oh are you Alyssa? It's so nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you!". That was cool and nerve wracking too in a way. I seriously wanted to impress these people and I hope I did. The rain never really let up so most people vamoosed when they crossed the finish line. And whaddya know I met a MWC alum/walker. I was wearing my UMW hat and she just casually said, "Oh that's my alma mater." Out of 2000+ people there had to be at least a few MWers out there =) Closing ceremony was moved up to 3 and everyone departed after that. Then clean up began! Everyone was soaked and miserable, but clean up didn't take very long. Annie described the whole thing as "sweet misery", which is really perfect. The event raised $6.8+ million for the fight against breast cancer. The checks were given out at Closing too. Here is the breakdown:

• The Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium (Baltimore) - $1,490,000
• The National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund - $1,812,018
• Johns Hopkins University(Baltimore) - $850,000
• Capital Breast Care Center (Washington, DC) - $750,000
• George Washington University (Washington, DC) - $300,000
• Virginia Tech Foundation (Virginia) - $300,000
• Food and Friends(Washington D.C.) - $250,000

It's definitely a great feeling when all is said and done. The day ended around 4 (I think) and I headed home...slightly drier, dirty, grimy, muddy, and sore. I got home and took a nice hot shower and then soaked in the tub for awhile. Somehow I managed to stay awake until 1 before I passed out.

I've been contemplating working for them in a different capacity. I figure if I want to get where Molly is (our Logistics Coordinator) then I will have to put in my time for a few seasons. She is only a few years older than me so that gives me a lot of hope for the future! If I apply to work as a Walker Buddy and do that for 2 or 3 seasons then maybe after that I can apply to work as the LC. And the great thing is even if I work as a WB for DC I could still go to other cities and help out at their events. Or I could maybe just work in the other walk cities. The have them in: Houston, Boston, Charlotte, SF, Chicago, NY, Rocky Mtns., and LA. I didn't think I wanted to do the WB thing, but it's not so bad and it might be the way to go to get where I really want.

I have no idea what the office is going to be like this Thursday, but I'm excited to find out and discuss my future with them.

In other news..this is an exciting week! The event is over and I think it was definitely successful. It's also Dead Week down at MW so that means party party party. I'll be heading down Tuesday, Thursday (for lunch), and Friday & Saturday. I'm excited since I haven't seen the MWers for a month or so. Plus they are graduating this Saturday! I think there is also a Happy Hour in DC on Thursday at Cap Brewery. Holllla!