Our weekend started on Saturday August 13th with opening ceremonies at the Round Up
Centre at Stampede Park. It was there we were told that there were 2,281
walkers and that we had raised 7.1 million
dollars! AMAZING! After a tear filled ceremony, the large
side door was opened and we swarmed out into the bright sunshine. The air
was cool, but the excitement was high! You can imagine the
"fun" as we all waited our turn to get off the road and onto the bike
path. Before we knew it we were at the first stop with a chance to use the
ever present port-a -potty's and to fill up our water bottles with water or Gatorade.
Thankfully not everyone stopped and the stream of people thinned out a bit
more. Through-out the day we were guided by volunteers as we followed the
blue signs with white arrows. Our route took us through Bridgeland, up to
Confederation park, across to the University, past the Foothills Hospital,
and along Memorial drive to 14th street. Then we zig zagged through
Mount Royal, crossed Crowchild Trail and explored the Glamorgan area (I think!). We
were so thankful to finally get to the Currie Barracks and our hot supper! Some
people stood in line to take advantage of the chiropractors and massage
therapists but I don't think anyone in our group did. Although Marian and
Lisa arrived at camp a bit earlier, Kim, Sherry and Denise didn't get there
until around 5:30. We were only too happy to sit down on chairs at a
table!
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| Stopping for lunch at Parkdale Elementary School. It felt great to
get the shoes and socks off ! |
We were welcomed to lunch by a bagpipe band. |
The serenade continued as they walked through the school grounds. |
After lunch we were off to walk beside the river on Memorial
drive. |
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| Starla, Chantelle and Tyler met us on route and took a few
pictures of us. |
After training together for 5 months it was so great to
accomplish our task together! |
And we're off again! Re-energized after our little
visit. |
We had to share the path with other Calgarians enjoying the
beautiful weather. |
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| Supper was served at camp. We were treated to BBQ'd chicken,
mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and salads! |
We're smiling again after a good supper and something to drink that
wasn't Gatorade! |
There were line ups all weekend. This one was for
those needing medical care. For most that was blister care, ice, or
maybe some kind of pain reliever. Kim was hoping for something to
make her forget her feet, but we didn't think they'd have marijuana! |
Kim had friends everywhere, including those on the medical crew. |
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| Sherry Schneider, Kim Undin, Marian Mann, Denise Esau, Lisa Adair
Sherry is from High River and Lisa is from Innisfail.
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Here we are again. We were happy to have Lisa and Sherry join our
little group of friends. It was neat to see how God had worked that out
for us. |
The Tent City. Sherry was the only one in our group
who stayed night in the tent city. Unfortunately, it was hard to
sleep amongst the sound of tent zippers being zipped and neighbors
snoring! |
Sunday morning was cool when we started our route at
7:00A.M., but we were anxious to get started and complete the remaining 25
Km. We soon warmed up under the beautiful sunshine. |
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Sunday morning went very well for most in our group, with the exception
of Sherry who hadn't slept well. In spite of that we were were all
half way done the course and ready for lunch by 10:30. We were
walking in south Calgary on Sunday and got to walk by the Rockyview
Hospital, the Glenmore reservoir and through many beautiful
neighborhoods. There were a lot of people sitting out in front of
their houses or at parks and school grounds to cheer us on.
The afternoon proved more difficult for both Sherry and Kim, as they had
to deal with blisters that popped while we were walking. They
managed to keep going in spite of the pain so that was quite an
accomplishment. The end of the walk was so emotional. We
walked through the gauntlet of people cheering us on and giving us high
5's. Then we got to collect our t-shirts and find some coffee!
Somehow it wasn't nearly as hard to walk to go get that!
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| Our closing ceremonies were held in the Corral at Stampede
park at 4:00. Lots of our friends and families came out to
celebrate with us. |
It was an incredible experience to file into the Corral with
our hands held high. All the walkers were given a long sleeved
t-shirt when we completed the walk. Most of us got navy blue shirts,
but those who have survived cancer got pink t-shirts. |
It's hard to see much in this picture except the reflective
components on people's shoes and clothes! The middle of the arena
was eventually filled with the survivors who had walked, and then the crew
who had supported us all weekend. |
The triumphant 5! How quickly you can become close
with people when you spend the weekend supporting each other. |
