Santa Barbara to Oxnard
October 18-20, 2002
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On October 18-20, over four thousand walkers journeyed 60 inspirational miles from Santa Barbara to Oxnard to help fight breast cancer in the Avon Three-Day Walk. My sister Teresa and I were among these walkers. |
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Mary |
View Slide Show |
Teresa |
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Together we have raised over $10,000 from sponsors like you. For the previous several months we had dedicated most of our spare time to fundraising and training, walking up to 20 miles per day, sometimes in the heat, usually alone, occasionally with husbands. Teresa estimates the training alone logged 600 miles -- not to mention the pairs of shoes worn out.
Day Zero in Santa Barbara included badges, advisories, a safety video ("watch out for cars while you walk") and an evening of carbo-loading at Petrini's Italian Restaurant. The 5 am wake-up call came far too early and the recommended 1000-calorie breakfast was scrapped in favor of something lighter. An hour later at the still-dark Fairgrounds, we schlepped duffels to a truck and stood huddled in the cold, along with thousands of other fired-up walkers.
The gear -- clothes, makeup (just kidding), sleeping bag, pillow, and sleeping mat, all bound together in a labeled 35-lb duffel -- would meet us at Oxnard College Park that evening. After a bit of milling around, Opening Ceremonies, cheers and tears, we and the other walkers began our journey around 8 am. The route wound through residential Santa Barbara toward the beach, and then headed south on Cabrillo. The Day One walk ended at the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Carpinteria where buses ferried walkers to our campsite. Day Two’s route headed through Oxnard up to Emma Wood State Beach north of Ventura, and Day Three provided the opportunity to meander a loop route through the fields and tracts of Oxnard.
We carried disposable cameras with us to record our experiences; and on our hats we wore ribbons with the names of survivors and victims.
At the closing ceremonies on Sunday, it was announced that 4,663 walkers had participated and that we had raised over $6 million net. Over 400 survivors (including me, a five-year survivor) made the walk, along with many walkers from New York who’d been rained out the previous week during their Three-Day Walk.
Enjoy the slide show, which tells the story of the rest of our journey.