2008 Seattle Breast Cancer 3-Day - Day 3 Recap

Day 3 started just as early as Day 2. Again I woke up around 4am freezing cold. I'm not actually sure I slept more than 2 hours during the night. I was just way too excited for Day 3!


We had to get up, eat, get ready, pack up our bags, take down our tents, tend to our blisters and get on a bus. Luckily for our team, Hottie Ann showed up at 5am offering to take down our tents for us. It was like the best gift anyone has ever given me! I ran over to the self-help medical tent to get some coverings for my blisters and the line was about 40 people long. Luckily, as I was standing there, Melissa & Dennis walked by and had some unused supplies and I was able to skip the line. I'd probably still be standing there.


Finally it was time to go get in line for the buses that were to take us to the Arboretum. And boy was that line long!


So we waited, and waited, and waited some more. Then we applied temporary tattoos to each other and waited even more. Finally we were on the bus!


The bus took us over the 520 floating bridge and dropped us off at the Arboretum. And then we were walking once again.

And we walked, and walked, and walked, and walked. We walked through the University of WA campus and it was BEAUTIFUL. I was great to be back on campus. I hardly ever go there anymore, now that I live in West Seattle and all.

Then we walked through Frat Row. And they were having some sort of crazy rush party music yelling competition. I'd like to think they were all out there for us. But I'm pretty sure that isn't true.


We wound around along Ravenna and eventually made it to Greenlake (where we started every single one of our training walks this year!!!!). At Greenlake there was a cheering station and Chris and Brandon were there holding up a sign that Brandon had made for us! It was soooooo wonderful to see them.


We also ran into many of the Hottie team members from last year, and my friend Christy was even out there to snap a few pictures of us! And then we were past the cheering station and we had to keep walking, and walking, and walking some more. Around Greenlake, up onto the 99 around the zoo, down through Wallingford to Gas Works Park where we stopped for lunch.


I decided that at this point it was time to switch back to my Keens. My feet were tired, and my blisters were getting big again. I changed my socks and put on my Keen sandals and prepared to hit the road. We were only 6.7 miles from the end (or so they say!) and I was ready to GET ER DONE!

So, we took of from Gasworks into Fremont and over the Fremont Bridge to Westlake. We followed Lake Union along Westlake past the floating homes and the huge yachts. We passed the Seattle Parrot Heads who handed us Gatorittas and sprayed us with hoses. By this point it was really getting hot out and the water sprayed on us felt great! We had a Grab-and-Go near the AGC building, sight of many of our training walk pit stops and home to Argosy Cruises Lakes Division (!!!), and then began our trek into downtown.

The route took us down Steward St and then down Pine, right passed Pacific Place, Nordstrom, and Westlake Center.


Then the route took us down to the waterfront where we walked past Ivars, then past Argosy Cruises (!!), we had a pit stop under the viaduct, and eventually walked up through the Sculpture Park. The sun was beating down on us but the people out to cheer us on kept us going that last mile. As we made the last turn onto 1st Ave you could see the relief on our fellow walkers faces.


And then we were there. We pulled out our Hottie flags and marched into the Seattle Center towards the finish line.


There were cold drinks to be had and smiles on the faces of everyone. We had made it!


We gathered up our team and prepared for the Victory Walk into Memorial Stadium! Once there Jenne welcomed us back and gave the play by play as the walkers, then the crew, then the survivors streamed into the stadium.


We all took off one shoe and raised it as a salute to the survivors.


They brought the flag bearers up onto stage, along with those the flag symbolized. Many tears were shed.


Then the flag was raised in the middle to signify the end of the 3-day.


And it was over.

The training was over, the fund raising was over, the camping was over, and the walk was over. It was time to go back to the world outside of the 3-day. A world where you're on your own to cross through a crosswalk, where you make your own breakfast and where you don't shower in a truck. A world that looks a little different, but luckily has the same great people in it!