And she's off!

Did you know that...

1 in every 7 women will receive a breast cancer diagnosis.
Every 3 minutes a woman receives a breast cancer diagnosis.
Every 13 minutes a life is lost by breast cancer.

As many of you know, my mom has been training for months in order to complete the Avon Walk....39 miles of walking in two days in a fight against breast cancer. This cause is close to our hearts as we lost Grace Hanley, my grandmother (mom's mom) to breast cancer. My mom walked in memory of her.

Originally she had signed up for the Houston walked, raised $1,800 to donate to the cause, trained, and was ready...until she came down with pneumonia a week before the walk. Luckily, the nice people at Avon allowed her to transfer her registration to the San Francisco walk which worked out well b/c the weather is more conducive to walking 39 miles.

She hit another "snag" during her training called "Dr. Fagalhi"...my mom's cardiologist. He told her about a month before the race that he did not approve of this long distance walking and was only going to allow her to walk 3 - 4 miles a day! It was something about heart disease, stroke, and her pacemaker...blah, blah, blah. Well, apparently, it has been determined where I get my stubbornness from b/c here's a picture of mom at mile 12 on the first day:


Take that Dr. Dr. Fagalhi!!! She has to answer to him next week.

Mike and I (and the dogs) had a blast following her around the bay area over the weekend. It was truly amazing seeing how many people came out in support of the race. People dressed up in all kinds of costumes, drove decorated cars, honked, yelled, played music, cheered, handed out food, and drinks. There was so much love and support for the 2 days as 3,200 walkers made their way from Golden Gate Park over the bridge to Sausalito and Mill Valley and back....then to Crissy Fields, Lombard Street, Financial District, SOMA, Potrero Hill, Duboce Park, and back to Golden Gate Park.



The walkers crossing the Golden Gate Bridge:



And here's mom crossing the bridge on the first day at about 6 miles (look for the blue hat):

And walking through Sausalito:

On the second day, Sandy and Jerry came out all decked out in pink to support their grandma.

Here's a picture of mom and a friend she met along the way taking a break once they reached us at a cheering station in Potrero Hill:

Among the many volunteers were a few men dressed in pink: the San Jose Police Officers! What a fine group of men! They do not get paid for their service yet there is a waiting list down at the San Jose station to be one of the honorary officers to work the Avon walk every year. They were so kind, supportive, and served as great motivators for all the walkers...and they even had pink shirts made for the event! Here are some San Jose officers "on duty":

And of course mom couldn't leave without hanging with the men in uniform...

All in all, my mom walked a total of 21.5 miles and we couldn't be prouder! Here she is at the finish line (we missed her actually crossing it...she was too fast....it had nothing to do with the San Francisco traffic):

Sandy was the first to congratulate her for finishing!

And guess who signed up for next year?? It's a mom/daughter team!

And the dogs learned how exhausting it can be to support grandma...