I'm a Little Bit Famous!

One of things that I failed to mention in my Week in Review yesterday was that this past Friday, I recorded a short interview with John of the 60 Miles, 3 Days blog!

John has one of the best 3 Day blogs out there.  He is full of really great tips about a whole host of topics, including everything from training to PortaPotties.  John has also been posting a video series highlighting veteran 3 Day walker's favorite 3 Day moments, of which my short video was a part.

You can watch my interview where I talk a little bit about the history of Relentless Optimism and my two favorite 3 Day moments below.  You can also find my interview on John's blog.

Thank you John!

Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the earrings that I am wearing in the video were made by Janine of Athena's Armoury.  They are a part of Janine's Pink Warrior collection of hand made chain maille jewelry.  100% of the profits from the Pink Warrior collection will benefit Janine's fundraising for the 3 Day.  You can read more about the Pink Collection on Janine's blog here and you can shop for pieces from the collection on Janine's Etsy webstore here.  
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Conan, Twitter and the Breast Cancer 3 Day

On March 5th, Conan O'Brien wrote the following on his Twitter page:

"I've decided to follow someone at random. She likes peanut butter and gummy dinosaurs. Sarah Killen, your life is about to change."

What he didn't know was that, in a way, a lot of people's lives were about to change because of one little Tweet.  That's because Sarah Killen (or @LovelyButton) is walking in the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure in Michigan this year.

As you are probably aware, Conan is the former host of The Tonight Show on NBC.  After a rather spectacular series of shows earlier this year, Conan's gig abruptly ended, with Jay Leno returning to host The Tonight Show in his place.  With no show left to host, Conan had a lot of time on his hands.  And as we are all wont to do these days, he spent his free time on the internet.  On February 24th, Conan made his way to Twitter, quickly gaining what is now 662,876 followers.  Clearly, the public missed Conan in his absence.

A few days later, Conan posted the tweet that I wrote above.  Sarah Killen was chosen at random from the zillions of folks on Twitter to be the one and still only person that Conan is following on Twitter.  And, as predicted, her life has changed since then, going from just three followers pre-Conan to 27,870 followers now.  She's also made a slew of media appearances and received countless gifts to help her plan and pay for her upcoming wedding.

So what does one do with overnight internet fame?  Well, if you're Sarah Killen, you use your fame to do something AWESOME.  Just 8 hours after Conan's tweet about her, Sarah posted a link to her fundraising page for the 2010 Michigan Breast Cancer 3 Day. In the nine days since then, Sarah has already raised $3085, with many of the donations coming from Conan's loyal fans.  (Seriously, you should check out her Fundraising Honor Roll on her page!).  Sarah's mother, who can be found on Twitter as @Sarahkmom, is also signed up for the Michigan 3 Day on Sarah's team, which is fittingly called "LovelyButton" after her now famous Twitter account.

I don't know if Sarah was planning to do the 3 Day or not before Conan changed her life.  She only had her Twitter account for a few days before that and hadn't mentioned it before.  In the end, that doesn't matter.  What is so awesome about this story is how one person is using her fame to do something big that will literally change the lives of breast cancer patients everywhere.  That $3085 that she's raised so far, the significantly more money that she'll almost definitely raise in the coming months and the $2300+ that her mother will raise will help women and men everywhere by funding important breast cancer research.  And that's worth praising, I think.

Well played, Conan.  You picked a great girl to follow!

You Know You're a 3 Day Walker When...

One of my fellow Online Ambassadors for the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure, Nicole, has recently been compiling a "You Know You're a 3 Day Walker When..." list on her blog One Step at a Time.  She first posted her own list in early February.  From there, she got so many great suggestions that she compiled a second, even longer list.  Both of these lists are great and well worth checking out.  If you're a veteran 3 Dayer, you will definitely nod in agreement with most of these lists.  If you're new to the 3 Day, you'll know all about these things soon enough!

Some of my favorites from the original "You Know You're a 3 Day Walker When..." list:

2.  Half of your wardrobe is pink. -- Also, half of my gadgets including my cell phone and mp3 player.

8.  Altruism is an innate part of your being.

20.  You dream of a world without breast cancer and believe in your heart it will happen one day.

My favorites from the second "You Know You're a 3 Day Walker When..." list, which I think was even better than the first:

1.  When a 5-mile walk is a “Stroll in the Park”. -- Literally!

5.  When you walk your dog and she’s wearing a pink bandana. -- Shenanigans loves her bandana!

8.  Talking about blisters at dinner seems like a normal mealtime topic.

9.  You’re proud, not embarrassed, to wear a fanny pack. -- Love my Mountainsmith!

10.  You wear your victory shirts all the time, hoping someone will ask about it so you can convert another 3-Day walker.

14.  You start packing for every trip using Ziploc bags, trying to stuff an entire day’s clothes in each one. -- Just like this!

24.  You can’t listen to a 3-Day commercial or watch one without tearing up.

28.  Your inbox shows “a donation was made on your behalf” and it feels like you won the lottery.

33.  Your philosophy on blisters is that they don’t need chemo.

Want to learn what this is all about?  Register for the 3 Day now!

A Delicious Look at the 3 Day Crew!

One of the best parts of being involved in the 3 Day is that you are instantly part of this much larger community of creative people willing to anything to get the word out.  I often stumble across really unique things that people do to either commemorate their 3 Day experience or raise awareness for the event.  Today, I wanted to spotlight one of these endeavors.

To honor the crew members for the DFW 3 Day at their Christmas party, blogger Hopesmommy created this amazing cake:

Using her creativity and mad cake decorating skills, she was able to represent a whole handful of the different jobs that are performed by the 3 Day Crew as well as some of the hallmarks of the Breast Cancer 3 Day Camp.  See if you can spot them all based on my pictures of the real things!

1.  The flags!  These flags always line the road heading into and out of camp.  We also carry smaller versions of these flags along the route to remind everyone of the many, many reasons that we all walk.

 

The flags at the Atlanta camp in 2008

2.  The tents!  The sea of pink tents is always a sight to behold when you enter camp.   

Pink tents as far as the eye can see!

3.  The semi-trucks!  The 3 Day folks use these big rigs for everything from hauling staging to showering.

Semis for showering (L) and semis for hauling (R)

4.  The vans!  In addition to the semis, the 3 Day Crew makes great use of conversion vans.  Sweep vans follow us up and down the route collecting walkers that need a lift.  Additional pit vans used to move around all the gear needed at the various pit stops.  Regardless of their purpose, these vans are always decorated to the nines.  Seeing the themed vans always brings a smile to my face!

Sweep vans!

Pit vans!

5.  Route safety (aka MotoCrew)!  The sweep vans aren't the only people keeping tabs on us walkers.  We are also trailed by ambulances (sorry, I didn't have a picture of that one) and the MotoCrew.  The MotoCrew ride up and down the route on bicycles and motorcycles making sure that everyone is feeling good.  They also help out at street crossings to make sure we don't get hit by cars.  They are some of the most energetic and fun people - you can't feel tired around the MotoCrew!

 

We love the Atlanta MotoCrew!

 

With characters like these, who wouldn't love them?

6. Hydration!  Last, but certainly not least, are the hardworking crew members that keep us fed and hydrated, even in the pouring rain.

 

I promise they get more business when it isn't 40 degrees and raining!

I think that Hopesmommy did a fantastic job representing all of these hardworking men and women in her 3 Day Cake.  I just wish I could have been there to taste it - it looks delicious!  

To see more of Hopesmommy's awesome cakes, please visit her blog at http://idecoratecakes.blogspot.com/.  The post for the 3 Day cake can be found at http://idecoratecakes.blogspot.com/2010/01/3day-camp.html.