Sunday, June 06, 2004
Race for the Cure: chaos for a good cause
Yesterday I got up insanely early to make my way (with my friend Maria, who got me to sign up to begin with and navigated) to Comerica Park in downtown Detroit for Race for the cure. Incidentally, if you were unable to sponsor me before, you still can up until July 9th. Check the link at the right.
There were nearly 30,000 people participating, and it was astonishing to see the number of people with pink shirts that matched mine. I actually got a Ford team shirt, the race shirt, a pink survivor shirt, a pink survivor hat, three Ford bandanas, free food, coupons for all kinds of stuff, two pins, socks (which I purchased that have the pink ribbon embroidered on them), and Starbuck's was giving away free baby frappuccinos. We swung by the Starbuck's table more than once, hehehe. I also got a hug from a well-meaning lady who thought that I was crying during the opening ceremony. I had forgotten to bring my sunglasses.
I walked all 5 kilometers. We at first thought we might do just the mile, but the half-mile turnaround point was not very clearly marked, so we missed it and just kept going. I'm very pleased that I felt up to it. It was a fantastic day. There were bands lining the route, including some local rock bands, school marching bands, a jazz band, and at least two percussion groups. One of the bands commented wearily as we made our way back to the finish line, "There are so many thousands of y'all that we have to play our set twice." In fact, the guy who won the race (in 15 minutes, 18 seconds or something like that) crossed the finish line only thirty seconds after the last person actually got started!
There was a trolley for ladies who were not up to walking the route. There was also at least one male breast cancer survivor participating who got an award for placing in the race.
I will definitely participate again.
After the race I went to a party my friends from work held in my honor to celebrate the end of my chemotherapy. There was a surprise chocolate cake--Sara said she wasn't sure what sentiment was appropriate for such situations, but that "Congratulations, Janet" seemed as suitable as anything else. I said that anything which conveys the notion "Woohoo!" is fine. I'm very grateful for all of the support I've received from people. Medicine is useless without good wishes as well.
There were nearly 30,000 people participating, and it was astonishing to see the number of people with pink shirts that matched mine. I actually got a Ford team shirt, the race shirt, a pink survivor shirt, a pink survivor hat, three Ford bandanas, free food, coupons for all kinds of stuff, two pins, socks (which I purchased that have the pink ribbon embroidered on them), and Starbuck's was giving away free baby frappuccinos. We swung by the Starbuck's table more than once, hehehe. I also got a hug from a well-meaning lady who thought that I was crying during the opening ceremony. I had forgotten to bring my sunglasses.
I walked all 5 kilometers. We at first thought we might do just the mile, but the half-mile turnaround point was not very clearly marked, so we missed it and just kept going. I'm very pleased that I felt up to it. It was a fantastic day. There were bands lining the route, including some local rock bands, school marching bands, a jazz band, and at least two percussion groups. One of the bands commented wearily as we made our way back to the finish line, "There are so many thousands of y'all that we have to play our set twice." In fact, the guy who won the race (in 15 minutes, 18 seconds or something like that) crossed the finish line only thirty seconds after the last person actually got started!
There was a trolley for ladies who were not up to walking the route. There was also at least one male breast cancer survivor participating who got an award for placing in the race.
I will definitely participate again.
After the race I went to a party my friends from work held in my honor to celebrate the end of my chemotherapy. There was a surprise chocolate cake--Sara said she wasn't sure what sentiment was appropriate for such situations, but that "Congratulations, Janet" seemed as suitable as anything else. I said that anything which conveys the notion "Woohoo!" is fine. I'm very grateful for all of the support I've received from people. Medicine is useless without good wishes as well.
