Wow - I wish I had taken more pictures, or gotten video, or been
able to somehow share with you all the amazing walk/run from yesterday. It was
spectacular.
First, I have to start by saying that my mom and my wonderful friend, Amie,
pulled it off. Amie lives in TN, and she and I have been friends for years....I
haven't seen her in almost ten years, and we keep saying that we need to get
together. Well, she and my mom worked together, and Amie flew in late Friday
night, and surprised me yesterday morning. It was such an amazing
surprise....Amie, thank you SO MUCH for making the trip. It made the walk all
the more special.
Saturday morning, we all got up way before the sunrise (and got the surprise
from Amie - even Levi didn't know she was here...) and got ready. Breakfast,
kids, supplies, etc. Mom had spent all day Friday making up team tee shirts -
pictures are below. They are royal blue, of course, which is the color for the
colon cancer ribbon, and on the front have a heart design saying (what else)
MICHELLE WILL WIN!!! She also put the blue ribbon on the front of the shirts.
The back of the shirt had my information: Diagnosed May 23, 2008. Stage 3 Colon
Cancer. 32 years old. Surgery and Chemo. And then my website information. And,
above that, to indicate who each person was, Mom put either "My
Daughter" or "My Mother" or "My Wife" or "My
Friend". They came out amazing!
So, we are all dressed, and head out to the walk, which was a 45 minute drive
away. Not a problem, until we hit road debris on the freeway, causing us to
have to pull over to check for damage. Not fun - we were very lucky in that the
only major damage was to Levi's truck, and in that, only the grill was damaged.
Another bill we can't pay, but what else is new???
We get back on the road and head to the park, and you wouldn't believe the
people there. It was jam packed, and it wasn't even race time yet. We got
parked, decorated the wagon and wheelchair, and got over to the tents to get
our packets. Well, the lines for both the pre-registered participants and the
"need-to-register" people were SO long they ended up delaying the
start of the race. AWESOME!!!! We waited in line, and saw so many people while
we were there....and, we started to get a feel for the "outfits"
people were wearing. Again, picture below.
Once we got to the registration tent, I got to pick up mom's and my packets,
and my tee shirt and boxers, which proudly proclaim that I am a survivor, right
across the butt!!! I met a couple more people while I was getting those things,
and that was awesome, since I wanted to find them and had no idea how I was
going to. LOL! The turnout was unbelievable.
Once we got our stuff, we kind of tried to head to the starting line, and ended
up getting a good view of the platform from which they did the opening
announcements, allowed my surgeon Dr McConnell and my wonderful friend Betty
Rose DeCarlo to speak, and then had a (and I am NOT kidding you!!!) guy in a
speedo and a short shirt (think 80s) sing the National Anthem. It was
priceless...
Then, the walkers started, off we went. It was such a beautiful day, and I met
more people along the wy, including Kim who was also recently diagnosed with
Colon Cancer (shout out, girl!!!). I also saw Jim, a gentleman I met from The
Wellness Community, and his wife Lorna, along with countless others along the
way. Once we got back to the starting/finish line, we were able to get out and
look at some of the other tents, to meet with some other people, and to cheer
on the other participants as they came through the finish line.
Overall, the race was a huge success. On Friday, they only had 750 people
registered - yesterday, they had over 1200!!! And, supposedly (I hope this is
true) we had more people participate in this walk/run than both the Dallas and
Philly races COMBINED!!!!
So, as requested, below are some pictures. I am so sorry that there aren't
more. It was a crazy day, and I was so entrenched in what was happening that I
just forgot that I had the camera there. It was an emotional day, taking part
as a cancer patient rather than just supporting the cause, and honestly, I
can't wait for next year's race. I can't wait to be able to walk through the
race and through the memorial garden as a survivor, and to walk through it of
my own accord. Remember - I will be asking for your help again next year. Start
planning - I want to come in there with a huge team, a huge donation, and a
wonderful message of survival and hope.
Here's a picture of my team (minus my Dad and brothers....). Left to right -
there's Kevin, my mom, Amie, Julia, me and Levi.
Okay, so
the race is called the Undy 5000 for a reason - we are trying to raise
awareness of colon cancer, and what covers your butt? Your undies. The people
in charge of the race advertise that people should plan to race in their
undies, and several people took this to heart, including this team here. I had
to laugh, too - as they were coming across the finish line, Julia would cover
her eyes and say "I didn't just see that..." LOL!
Julia
showing off her shirt - isn't she gorgeous?!?!
The back of the tee
shirts...
And, the team banner that the Undy provided us with. Obviously, I kept mine.
Comments:
jnwhiteh said...
Wow
guys you really outdid yourselves. I'm so glad the event was able to raise so
much awareness. I miss you guys all so much!
November
16, 2008 at 4:12 PM
wow
tshirts came out great glad everything went well
November
16, 2008 at 6:11 PM
I
was thinking about you all day Saturday. What an awesome day it looked like - I
just wish we could've been there. Mmm... we keep talking about a roadtrip -
maybe we can ALL plan on walking next year!??!?! Or maybe we could even meet at
a different city's walk! Oh, the options! :) I'm so glad it went well - the
team gear looked amazing! :)
November
17, 2008 at 7:51 AM
How
fun! That's how I feel about the Relay for Life. It's hard, but it feels SO
GOOD to be out there "making a difference"!! For us, each year our
special event (the Relay) is better and better than the last :) Especially the
farther out we get from the EVIL CANCER.
I'm so glad you were able to be a part of something like that!
I'm so glad you were able to be a part of something like that!
November
17, 2008 at 10:07 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment