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Racing for the Cure


I’m a walker. Yes, I’m one of those people who wear a pedometer, own AND USE a treadmill or enjoy the outdoors and actually put in many, many miles of time on my feet.



A few months ago an editor who has become a friend asked me to do a 5K with her. I figured, “this could be fun. I walk at least that every day-so I’m ready!”
It was a first time walk for a local assisted living home. There probably weren’t more than about 100 or so of us. We had a good time and it helped those who needed to live there, yet really couldn’t afford it.



A few weeks ago, my friend asked if I wanted to join her jazzercise class and do the Susan G. Komen 5K in Fashion Island, Newport Beach. I decided that the organization is by far a noteworthy enough cause to get up at 5 in the morning for.



We chose the 7:30 race, held our own in the traffic, the extra walking to get to the starting line, enjoy the pavilions afterward and the 22,000 others (including Dr. Oz and his wife) who were just trying to find a spot to walk. While gabbing away, we wondered:


What does it take to put together an event like this?



After we were done-we found the media booth and picked up our packet of information, which included the following statistics:


Water-1250 gallons (only figure that we thought would be higher!)
Cups-50,000
Port-a-potties-281
Trash boxes-450 and 1,800 bags to go in them, 7 large dumpsters (thought I’d put the trash news together for you all)
Tents-155
Tables-452
Chairs-939
Buses-18
Parking signs-150, Cones-290, Fencing-4,500 feet (traffic covered)
They also had 25,400 tee shirts (22,000+ for the walkers, the rest for volunteers and event personnel)
Walkie Talkies-168.



We couldn’t get a figure on how many pounds of bananas, apples and oranges there were or how much coffee was around for all of us.



It was an amazing morning that truly helped out a lot of people.



A really happy note I’m thrilled to share-while we were waiting for our team to be complete, another group was having a double celebration-a 5 year survivor was using the morning to get married. She walked the race with a veil and holding her new husband’s hand and in the company of her family.



For me, it was a way to do something good for others and to commemorate the 1 week mark of our Sunshine’s passing. I passed the finish line at the exact moment we left the vet’s office.