Kicking Off the 2012 Avon Breast Cancer Walk

That's right, The Mighty Quinns are at it again - for the third year in a row, we're walking 2 days and 40 miles for a cure, along with thousands of other committed (and potentially crazy) DC walkers.

Participating this year is more personal for me than in years past - in the last 6 months, two dear friends of mine have lost loved ones to breast cancer, one a shockingly quick year after diagnosis, the other after a valiant ten year battle.

Mom continues to lead the team with her energy, her endurance and her positive attitude despite alternating unseasonable heat and chilly rain, the killer hills and her hatred of Gatorade. And this year she is retired, she has even more time to train! But I will not be outwalked by my 68-year-old mom, let the training begin!

2011 Avon Walk

This year, 2200+ DC walkers raised over $5 million dollars for research, treatment and advocacy - it was pretty incredible to stand at the closing ceremony, hot, footsore and exhausted, and see some of the money we raised being handed directly to the programs that need it most. I felt like a part of something truly great - and we all know I'm not really the touchy-feely, hold-hands-with-strangers type, so Avon must be doing something right!

Colleen's 2010 Avon Walk reflections

This time last week, I was stretched out on my bed, more tired than ever in my life and thanking God I had taken Monday off. I spent this past week limping around in flip flops at work because of two of the world's biggest blisters- one on each heel. Saturday's heat was absurd: I didn't make the full 26.2 miles on Saturday because of heat exhaustion- med put me on a bus around mile 16 and then I met up with my team at mile 24 to enter the wellness village together. Sunday was better- still hot and humid but cloudier to cut the sunshine: I was able to walk the entire 13.1 miles despite the mother of all blisters on each foot.

The fundraising was a pain in the ass, the walk itself was killer because of the heat, and my feet may never be the same, but it was definitely the experience of a lifetime. When the president of the Avon Foundation handed out checks to local hospitals and organizations involved in the fight against breast cancer, and announced we had raised $6.5 million in the DC walk, it was hard not to feel proud. When they gathered us all together at the end and marched the survivors in separately, it was hard not to cry. When one of those survivors talked about being diagnosed back in the 1980s and feeling ashamed of having breast cancer, and about having dedicated her life since then to raising money and awareness so that no other woman would ever feel ashamed of her diagnosis, it was hard not to feel humbled.

Though I won't be able to participate in the Avon Walk when I'm overseas, I will be able to help my sister and mom fundraise; we're going to start early for next year!

2010 Avon Walk

Don't ask me how we made it but we did! Despite the blazing sun, blisters on top of blisters, and even a touch of heat exhaustion, we all made it across the finish line- 39.3 miles in 2 days!

Our whole team concept was a hit- 4 tortoises (in green) and 1 hare (in brown) certainly stood out from the crowd of walkers in pink shirts. Mom was a powerhouse; given how she walked ahead and then kept coming back to see us, she clearly did many more than her almost 40 miles. Colleen had a funny conversation at the Med Tent this morning when picking up moleskin for her crazy blisters:

• Woman: You're with that lady in the brown shirt, right? I saw her yesterday coming across the finish line; she looked like she had another 26 miles in her. Me, I collapsed the moment I got across the line.
  
  Colleen: Yeah, that's my Mom. She's a walker.
  
  Woman: Do you mind if I ask how old she is?
  
  Colleen: 66.
  
  Woman: Crap- I was hoping for not a day over 50. You mean I have to go back and tell my whole team that woman we were all talking kicking our asses about is retirement aged?
  
  Colleen: Welcome to my world...

The temperature today was better than yesterday so no one had to ride the bus; yesterday both Colleen and Timberly were told to take a break at med stops because they were overheating. We also eliminated a ton of the stuff in our bags which helped- I wish I could be one of those walkers with no bag, but I need the sunscreen too much!

In the end, despite being exhausted and in pain, it was a wonderful closing ceremony. It was so inspiring to hear survivors talk about their experiences and to see them all marching in together as a group. After the checks were presented, we were all ready to head home; thank goodness for Colleen's ability to park close by so we had a car right there for us. Of course, she ended up padding down Constitution Ave in her socks because she couldn't put her shoes back on over the blister bandages, and security at her government office building was sure surprised to see her coming- not a lot of sweaty shoeless people entering on a regular day!