Tomorrow is the big day! Tomorrow morning, for the second year in a row, I'll be joining about 2,000 women and men as we walk 60-miles together over the next 3 days!
With the help of all of my sponsors, we have raised an astounding $7,435.00.
This is a HUGE amount of money. I am so grateful to all of you who donated, as well as all of you who have supported me with your words of encouragement over the past few months.
I had several people caution me as to how much more difficult it is to raise funds after the first year, especially given the economical times that we’re in. With this in mind, I originally put my fundraising goal at $5,000 – still a LOT of money, but under the $6,240 that we raised last year. Imagine my surprise and gratitude when we surpassed that amount this year. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I had planned all along to make a t-shirt with the names of everyone who has donated to my walk. I had the shirt made last week (to be delivered this week), and it turned out great! For those of you who have donated since then, I will write your names in. :)
I plan to wear the t-shirt at camp at the end of each day, and possibly during the walk as well - depending on the weather. (I've been training wearing water-wicking shirts, which this is not, which is why I will most likely wear it at camp.)
It’s been a great year of training and preparing for this weekend’s event. I became an official member of the Warming Hut Hotties this year, after having had the pleasure of training with them last year. So far, the San Francisco team of 76 members has raised $169,958.02!! That number keeps going up, so we’ll see how high it gets by the end of the weekend. You can see the team’s fundraising page here.
Our team has been training together since the first weekend of April, and has become quite a close-knit group. I have met so many wonderful, interesting and inspiring people, who have become friends. This is what happens when you spend 6-16 hours a weekend talking and walking with the same people for 5 months, all working together towards a cause. As our excitement has built as we get closer to our walk, it plummeted when we found that one of our own, Rita, had just been diagnosed with Breast Cancer last week. Rita and her friend, Tana, both lovely, energetic women in their 70s, have been training with us all season. Tana will continue to walk, but Rita will not be able to participate in the event. Now, we have one more very special reason to walk.
I want to thank you all again for making the fund-raising part of this experience such a pleasure. With each donation that came in, I felt more and more motivated to train each weekend. I have trained more than 250 miles with my team since April. (This does not include the numerous miles I walk by myself during the weekdays.) You all have carried me along on this amazing journey, right up to this weekend's event!.
I will carry each of you with me as I walk the 60-miles over the next 3 days. You will be with me in spirit, helping me along the way.
I will certainly be taking a lot of photos all weekend long, and will try to post to my blog routinely. You can follow those posts here (as well as see all of my previous 3Day-related posts).
I promise to do my very best to complete this 3-day journey, and I hope to make you proud!
Thank you again for all of your generosity, support and encouragement!
With Gratitude,
-Trina
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