A lot has been going on this fall, and I know I’m a little late on this, but I wanted to talk about the Susan G. Komen 3-day, in which readers of this column know I vowed to participate. Happy to say not only did we survive the 20 miles, but we actually walked 21 because we may have taken a wrong turn or two along the way. The goal was seven hours; did it in six and a half.
I wasn’t the only one. There were 700 walkers, including our four-person “Rack Pack” consisting of Bruce Odette, owner of Carpet Exchange in Denver; Mike Donorumo, Mohawk’s Southwest RVP; and Landon Lambert, Mohawk’s marketing communications coordinator. A few quick observations: Odette and Donorumo put on the jets in the first 10 miles, opening up a quarter mile on us. Odette admittedly walks about seven miles a day, so he was well prepared. Lambert is young, in great shape, played soccer for UGA (started, not a benchwarmer) and is training for a half-marathon. No surprise she was striding out in the last five miles like a gazelle while my stride was shortening by the step.
At some point along the way, I think at the seven-mile mark, I turned to Lambert and boldly declared, “There are only three sure things in life: death, taxes and we’re getting 20.” We did. I had trained a little. Walked 10 miles on two occasions. Figured what’s another 10 between friends. Bought a new pair of sneakers—actually three (couldn’t decide on Brooks, Sauconys and Hokas. Went with the Sauconys.) Had my trainer at the gym stretch my legs for a month instead of lifting weights. Loaded up on Prednisone, which wore off after mile 15, making the last five somewhat brutal. Got treated for blisters after mile 15, enough to finish.
But that’s not what the Susan G. Komen 3-Day is all about. It’s a 60-mile walk over, you guessed it, three days. It was started in 2003 to raise money for breast cancer. At one point there were 15 3-Days in a calendar year. Today, there are four or five bigger events, the largest being the final event in San Diego, which attracts about 1,200 walkers. The participants include breast cancer survivors as well as family and friends of both survivors and, sadly, non-survivors. Walkers range from 16 to 87 years old. Yes. 87. Last year I met a man named George who has walked 60 miles more than 80 times. Mohawk has been a supporter of Susan G. Komen for 23 years, donating more than $7 million among its many initiatives.
One way Mohawk supports Komen is through its pink SmartCushion. For example, Mohawk donates to Komen 2 cents per square yard of SmartCushion carpet padding sold. Every day. Every year. In addition, 10 years ago Mohawk saw the opportunity to come to these 3-Days and literally “cushion the fight” by giving the walkers a place to rest on its pink SmartCushion. Back in the day, the walkers used to camp at these events. Mohawk would provide rolls of SmartCushion they could place underneath their sleeping bags. When they are done all the cushion is recovered as part of Mohawk’s ReCover program and recycled into new cushion.
I don’t know how many of our readers have attended one of these events or the St. Jude 5k or 10k of which Shaw is a huge supporter. It’s humbling. In this case, you walk into a room of 700 people about to embark on a 60-mile walk over three days in support of the cause. The commitment is the tie the binds each and every one of these people.
So why did I want to walk? An overweight, out-of-shape person who only walks in New York City to grab a bowl of pasta for dinner? It was pretty simple. There’s something about seeing all these people put themselves through a grueling three days in support of finding a cure for breast cancer. I think about the people who live with breast cancer. I think about the people who did not survive the disease. It’s almost as though you want to show your support by suffering along with them.
Last year in this space I wrote something that bears repeating: “Maybe I’ll go through with it and maybe I won’t. I’ll tell you this: If I take one step on the road to 20, I’ll get to 20… It’s what the late college basketball coach, Jim Valvano, who died of bone cancer, left us with: Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.”
These people don’t ever give up seeking a cure.
