Day 3/Closing Ceremony - Sunday

After an almost-reasonable night’s sleep – initially delayed by my prolonged enjoyment of the conversation in the tent behind me, where three lovely women were performing surgical procedures on each other’s blisters while trying to avoid poking holes in their air mattress – I awoke to the beep-beep-beep of digital watches and cell phones awaking people at 4:00AM…then 4:30…then 5:00.

It was still dark as most campers dressed, ate breakfast, and took down their tents. Thanks to the volunteers from…???...who came out to take down and pack up tents for those that needed help. I said goodbye to my neighbors and we wished each other well on this final day.

We were out on the trail shortly after 7:00AM, just as the sun rose above the trees. We walked past St. John’s hospital, Maplewood Mall, restaurants, and businesses – all quiet on a Sunday morning. At our first pit stop at Casey Lake Park in North St. Paul, where I played baseball as a teenager, I saw Krista, my new friend who had come to the 3-Day by herself from her home in northern Wisconsin and had walked the entire weekend blister-free in her mother’s shoes. She left the pit stop and I never saw her again the rest of the day. I hope she completed her walk and went home with dozens of 3-Day memories and new friends.

Our morning route took us through the North St. Paul neighborhoods where my high school friends’ families still lived and south through Maplewood into Beaver Lake Park, where the motorcycle guys in gray camo t-shirts greeted walkers and took plenty of photos. Thanks to the two guys on the south end of the park who recognized me for walking in five 3-Days and gave me big high-fives. I didn’t get your names, but I remember your cheerful faces.

After lunch in Conway Park, we followed the trail into St. Paul and into Battle Creek Park, wonderfully scenic and seemingly a world away from the city outside its borders. The path wound through a canyon of pines and oaks and elms, following a creek almost overgrown by tall grass. On any other day such a place would have been quiet and peaceful, but today the air was filled with sounds of laughter and song.

We left Battle Creek Park and rejoined the path that once again followed the Mississippi River, along Highway 61. The trail passed through another part of Battle Creek Park, where the trees were decorated with bras in all shapes, sizes and colors, which brought new meaning to the landscape of autumn in Minnesota. We again walked up the long hill to Indian Mounds Park, as we had on Friday, and were greeted by another gathering enthusiastic supporters at the final cheering station of the weekend. One man offered ice cold Diet Coke to thirsty walkers, at least one of whom rushed up to his cooler with her arms raised in worship and praise to the almight caffeine goddess. The scene was a reprise of Saturday morning, where the well-known 3-Day walker stalker, “Cowboy Mike”, purportedly distributed fifteen cases worth of Diet Coke in 30 minutes.

The final two miles brought us into the Lowertown area of St. Paul, then through downtown, before our arrival at the State Capitol grounds, where we were met by fellow thousands of walkers and crew. The end of the long road – more than sixty miles worth – had come. My feet wore sore, but I was smiling and cheering with everyone else, perhaps delaying the inevitable end to another glorious weekend of the way the world ought to be. We relaxed in the shade with family and friends, and then reassembled for our Victory March to the Closing Ceremony. Spectators cheered and welcomed the walkers; walkers cheered and welcomed the crew; all of us cheered (and cried) as the group of breast cancer survivors arrived to plant the flags of hope and courage – and to raise the flag bearing the 3-Day motto, “A World Without Breast Cancer.”

For three days, I walked with more than 3,000 close personal friends, supported by an amazing crew of nearly 400 volunteers who catered to our every need – the road crew who marked the route; the safety crew who guided us across busy intersections; the pit stop and lunch crews who kept us fed and hydrated (and entertained); the medical crew who took care of everything from blisters to dehydration; the crews who kept our home away from home in camp clean and comfortable and provided food, showers, porta-potties, information, and a dozen other things I can’t remember; and countless other crew members and 3-Day staff who did so much work behind the scenes and away from the spotlights – none of us could have taken a single step without you.

Thank you for allowing me to share my road to the 3-Day with you. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. As in the past, I now return to my regular life, such as it is. But as is the case after each 3-Day is over, I know that life won’t be quite the same. It’s better…and a little brighter.

Walk on…