The top ten reasons to walk 60 miles in 3 days...

10. You get to camp where you normally wouldn't be allowed to. Taking part in a huge, national foundation-run charity walkathon has its benefits. We camped on Crissy Field, a short walk from Fort Point and the Golden Gate Bridge. I could unzip my tent and behold the bridge in all its orange glory. Proof:

(The pink tents were our homes for two nights- they are donated to local Girl Scout troops after the event. In 2006 when I did the 3Day in San Diego, our tents were blue... pink is definitely more festive and pink ribbon-esque.)

9. Unlimited Gatorade of all flavors, water, and Uncrustables. Yeah, Uncrustables... have you ever eaten one of these things? 

I love them and have only ever had them on the 3Day. Yum. I am praying my children never get wind of these things, or it will be ALL OVER. But yeah, while you are walking your 14 to 22 miles in one day, there are pit stops every 3 miles or so with snacks and beverages so you're always hydrated... which leads me to...

8. The CLEANEST portapotties on the planet. I do not lie. If you have to use a portapotty, you are DAMN glad it is so clean. On the 3Day, you spend all your, um, potty time in them. In fact, I took photos of my teammates after their first 3Day portapotty experiences. See how impressed by the cleanliness they are?

7. Camp entertainment. Yeah, you read right, camp entertainment. After you've walked almost a marathon, you're ready to just veg out and be entertained, right? So, every night, there's something on the stage. We were big fans of 3Day RockStar, which is a little like American Idol minus Randy, Paula, and Simon, but including the talent, and a different kind of talent at that... The winner was crew member Rob who qualified with his fantastic version of "Piano Man" ("well they're sharing a drink they call Gatorade".) This was followed up the next night with his 3Day version of "Uptown Girl" (apparently, Rob loves Billy Joel) titled "3Day Girl" ("and when she's walkin', she's lookin' so fi-i-ine") 

6. Free Milano cookies from Pepperidge Farm and other cool stuff from sponsors. Yeah, in 2006, one of the sponsors was Motrin and we got FREE MOTRIN... but they've figured out that ibuprofen sucks the electrolytes outta ya and, well, you need those when you're walking from San Francisco to Marin and back... anyway, the sponsors this time were Pepperidge Farm (FREE Milanos in camp), New Balance, Golden Grain (spaghetti dinner on the first night), and La Croix (they do sparkling water.) I won the La Croix raffle on the second night and am looking forward to receiving my cooler full of La Croix products! They also have a tent at camp with foot massagers! Here are our feet getting a much deserved massage:

5. THE VIEWS

OK, that last one is just gratuitous... Thanks HOT Sausalito cops! Now that's what I call community support!

4. HOOKERS, and other Walker Stalkers... The folks who cheer you on along the route (who aren't crew and other walkers) are called "Walker Stalkers". Our favorites were the Hookers for Hooters because they were dressed like ladies of the evening and drove around blasting upbeat music. It was fun to holler "HOOKERS!" whenever we saw them, even if we were in Mill Valley (heh, heh, heh.) 

They were just one set of stalkers... there were the two older dudes who showed up at different points on the route to cheer us on... 

the Boob Lady who invited everyone to touch... 

the folks who got up early to cheer us as we left camp on the last day... We couldn't have done it without any of them!

3. Incredible support by the crew... From the food, to crossing guards, to helpful police officers in different cities, to folks who bused our tables, to the medical crew, to the folks who scanned you in, to the sweep van crews... AMAZING. Made me feel like I had a vacation, even though I walked 60 miles in 3 days!

2. Showing off my knitting and knitting publicly. Sorry folks, you knew knitting had to make an appearance somewhere... I knit boob hats and they were very popular! Tons of folks took our pictures, well the tops of our heads. Here's my fave photo of the infamous BOOB HATS which I've titled "Boobs by the Bay":

And some photos of us being crafty at camp:

And the #1 reason to walk 60 miles in 3 days...

Enjoying your friends, making new ones, and being reminded of why we really walk. It was truly wonderful to spend 3 days and 60 miles with my two friends and neighbors, Michelle and Deena. I was so glad to have them join me on this journey. We were able to meet a lot of other fabulous folk, including other Ravelers (Team Unraveled in particular), my fantabulous, beautiful, energetic and incredibly fast walker tentmate Dee Ann, and Pink Beard Barry, who is completing all 14 of the 3Day events this year.

While walking through Golden Gate Park, we came upon a group of women in lawn chairs, cheering us on. I noticed that one of them was covering up the hair she was losing. I asked her if I could hug her (it's my thing to hug survivors and future survivors) and she held me close and said in my ear, "Thank you so much. I'm fighting this thing and I'M GOING TO WIN." In those few words, she boiled it down. 

Thank you. Good luck. I'll see you in 2 years.