What to Buy and Bring
Avon provides a list of suggested equipment, clothing, and toiletries that each walker should bring. The required items include shoes, socks, sleeping bag, towels, water bottle, sunscreen (tho Avon provides this at medical tents), and a flashlight. Not required but necessary are a fanny- or waist-pack, rain poncho (the disposable, fold-up kind), slippers for wearing at camp (you will NOT want to wear your walking shoes—or any shoes, for that matter once you finish for the day), a small notebook and pen, disposable camera, and foot powder.
Don’t forget a towel (quick-drying camp towels are the best), pillow, watch, deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste, some small plastic bags, and a list of phone numbers in case of emergency. If you have a cell phone, it’s nice to call your loved ones in the evening and also at lunch or pit stops to let them know when you might be approaching a cheering station. BUT! walkers are not allowed to use phones 
during the walk. Also, don’t bother bringing the blow-drier. There t’ain’t no electricity at camp, so learn to love your hair au naturel.
Probably the biggest dilemma for me was what type of clothes to bring. Obviously, a lot depends on the weather. For the 2000 walk, it was mostly cloudy and coolish-warm on the first day, sunnier and warmer on Days 2 and 3. Avon asks all walkers to wear their 3-Day shirts on Day 1, tho many people changed into tank tops later. I wore bike shorts and sleeveless T-shirts every day, and packed a lightweight long-sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt, underwear, a second pair of shoes (nice to alternate), extra socks so I could change halfway through each day (makes a big difference), and I intended to pack sweatpants, I distinctly remember standing in my closet and looking at sweatpants, but somehow they didn’t make it in the duffel bag. The second night was very chilly, so a big THANK-YOU to Candus for lending me a pair of her sweatpants to sleep in. A hat/cap is also a good idea as shade from the sun. This is not the time to work on your tan.
No, you don’t have to carry all of this on the walk. Each walker packs a duffel bag weighing no more than 35 pounds that is transported between campsites by gear trucks. Walkers are responsible for loading and unloading their duffel bags and carrying them to and from the truck to their tent. Think you can’t manage to pack only 35 pounds worth? Think about carrying any more than that after walking 20 miles in one day.
A good fanny-pack is essential, because once you drop off your duffel bag, you won’t see it or its contents again until you hit camp at the end of each day. So, find a pack that will fit everything you want to carry with you (medications, tissues, lip balm, bandages, money, and ID). I was soooo glad I brought a small bottle of anti-bacterial hand sanitizer—the kind that can be used without water. Although most of the port-o-potties had the little moist towelettes, some didn’t. Plus it was just nice to have the hand sanitizer whenever I wanted it. I’m a bit freaky about washing my hands. (In fact, once I finished the walk and got home, the most satisfying experience wasn’t diving head-first into a steaming pizza or even into my comfy bed, but rather washing my hands with real soap and hot, hot water. Mmmmm!) Practice walking with your loaded pack to make sure it’s comfortable and doesn’t strain your back. I bought Avon’s pack (available on their Web site), which has 3 compartments and a water bottle holder. It worked out just fine. Annette carried a fairly large pack, and Pam used a backpack, and neither of them had any problems
Socks
Regular cotton socks are frowned on. In fact, they’re practically forbidden. “Cotton absorbs eight times its weight in moisture,” according to Avon’s training information, which is a simple equation to figure out: cotton + sweat = blisters. Find socks with synthetic “wicking” material that will draw moisture away from the foot. Buy your socks first, and wear them when you try on shoes. I bought Thorlo brand, made with CoolMax wicking material. These socks are not cheap, unfortunately, but don’t underestimate the importance of good socks. Elma’s husband Steve, who did the walk with her in 1999, swore that his blister downfall was due to the seams in his socks rubbing the wrong way.
Shoes
The big debate: running shoes or walking shoes? Avon recommends running shoes, because they “tend to incorporate in their design technological advances that address most bio-mechanical issues with walking style. They are supportive and corrective.” However, my podiatrist and one of the shoe stores I visited prefer walking shoes, because, quite simply, they are designed for walking. It’s really a matter of personal preference. The important thing is to try out shoes until you find the perfect pair. Most shoe stores affiliated with the 3-Day Walk know what you need and will let you try out the shoes for a few days as long as you stay indoors. If you have any foot problems or suspect you might, I’d really recommend seeing a podiatrist. In addition to diagnosing my problems, my doctor offered a lot of helpful advice on insoles, shoes, and stretching.
Avon also urges walkers to attend their shoe clinics to learn what to look for in a good walking shoe.
We had also heard that it was a good idea to carry around some blister bandages. Elma ended up giving me all of hers for the few tiny blisters I developed by the end of the walk. (I didn’t get one blister during training). I stopped at a medical tent on the 3d morning, and they urged me to ditch the bandages and just use Vaseline. They said the bandages can rub against the blisters and cause even more problems. Just my experience. None of my other walking buddies had blisters. I have a bunion (something I did’t know before my podiatrist appointment), and I used bunion pads on the walk, with good results.
During training: avoid isolated areas; carry your ID, phone numbers, and change; walk with a friend whenever possible—if walking alone, let someone know where you’re going and when you expect to be back; leave your jewelry at home; be alert and aware of your surroundings. Avon also recommends not wearing a walkman during training (and forbids it on the walk), but this is one rule I flouted. Because I’m accustomed to walking with a walkman, and because my neighborhood is safe and has relatively little traffic, I feel pretty confident about using it. I’m just that much more careful when I cross the street.
On the walk: No running! This can be difficult to remember, especially if you see someone up ahead that you know, or are trying to catch up to a friend. Other walkers will “rat you out” (in a nice way), if you run. Other, more obvious warnings: no drugs or alcohol, no violent or threatening behavior, no pets or kids.
At camp: Each walker must check in and out of camp; guests are allowed—but discouraged—to visit the campsite; no littering; no radios or noise after 9:00 PM; be respectful of others.
The food provided on the walk is filling, healthful, and pretty good. The Grab and Go’s provide water and Gatorade only, and Pit Stops have food (bananas, bagels, orange slices, granola bars, salty snacks, chocolate), beverages, and medical tents. Both have plenty of port-o-potties (altho lines are inevitable). G&G’s and Pit Stops are situated about every mile and a half along the route. Someone said that in a helicopter, you could follow the walk route by following line of port-o-potties.
The most important point is to try all these things out at the beginning of your training. Water, Gatorade, Bodyglide, foot powder, shoes, socks, etc. You’ll find out what works and what doesn’t in plenty of time, and your body will become accustomed to whatever choices you make.
Nutrition
Medical Support
2000 Breast Cancer Facts
The extraordinary fundraising success of the Crusade has enabled Avon this year to increase funding for community-based breast health programs, and add new funding for breast cancer medical research; support services for breast cancer survivors, patients and their families; and educational seminars. In March 2000, Avon awarded $14 million to seven beneficiaries, representing the largest single corporate gift ever made to the breast cancer cause. The recipients of this historic gift include: Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University (Chicago); Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center (New York City); The Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of California, Irvine Medical Center; Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University and Grady Memorial Hospital (Atlanta); the University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center; Cancer Care, Inc. (New York City); and the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund (Washington, DC).
In addition, the Avon Crusade will award some $4 million to non-profit, community-based breast health programs throughout 2000, and has awarded a grant of $1 million to the National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations. Funds raised by the Avon 3-Days are disbursed by the Avon Products Foundation.
2002 Walk |
2000 Walk |
2001 Walk
More foot stuff
Vaseline or Bodyglide? Or foot powder? Or both? Again, a lot depends on your preference. Bodyglide rolls on like deodorant and is used to prevent chafing. In addition to other chafeable parts of the body, many walkers use it (or Vaseline) on their feet to help prevent blisters. (We all got a kick out of the fact that Bodyglide is available with sunscreen. Exactly what parts of your body that are exposed to the sun are in danger of chafing? Anyone?) Also recommended is foot powder, for the same reason. I never trained with Vaseline or Bodyglide, only foot powder, which feels reeeeeally good on a hot day when you stop midway through your walk, take off your shoes and socks, and sprinkle it on. Staying Safe and Healthy
More debates: water or Gatorade?
The advantage to sports drinks is that they help to replace minerals (electrolytes) that are lost when you sweat, primarily sodium and potassium, but also, to some degree, calcium and magnesium. But several walkers I talked to found sports drinks didn’t agree with them. Luckily they found this out before the walk. You can’t go wrong with water; you just need to get used to drink more than you think you need. Avon told us that if we didn’t have to stop at EVERY port-o-potty, we weren’t drinking enough. Let me be clear: we definitely drank enough. It’s good to get used to drinking a lot on your training walks. Just be sure your route includes enough places where you know you can stop. Luckily Elma, who had done the walk the previous year, knew all the best bathroom stops for our training routes. Sometimes, tho, it was a little too close for comfort. One of us practically got run over in her haste to get across the street to the Bahá’í Temple to use their bathroom. A brazen flouting of Avon’s safety rules!Flouting Avon’s Safety Rules (Brazenly or Not)
Don’t do it! Those rules exist for a very good reason. Because we’re just “walking,” we tend to think we can never be in any kind of danger, both during training and on the walk. Walkers are reminded—in the Avon training handbook, in the mandatory safety video shown on Day Zero, and continuously by volunteer crew members along the route—safety comes first.
Even commonsense stuff that we all take for granted, like paying attention to traffic signals, looking both ways (left-right-left!), and, one of the more important points: making eye contact with drivers as they approach an intersection. Do they see you? Even if they have a stop sign, don’t assume they will automatically give you the right of way.Be Kind
Pretty simple, really. When you get this many people together, most of them tired, sore, cranky, and sweaty, things could get ugly. However, my experience on the 2000 walk was that each and every person I encountered was truly kind, cheerful, respectful, and caring. Elma had told me how amazing it was—the way people treat each other for these 3 days is how the world should work all the time. But you just can’t believe it until you experience it. Not only do you get to see human nature at its best, but it brings out the best in you.The Food!
Yay! Onto the interesting stuff. Well, I already said I didn’t lose any weight, so don’t even go there. Neither did anyone else I know who did the walk. Was it because we trained so hard we felt obligated to stuff ourselves? Was it really all muscle? Who knows. The important thing is that we all stayed healthy during training and the walk itself. Sometimes we brought fruit or “power bars” along on our walks and we often stopped for lunch on longer walks. This is an especially good idea, cuz you will be stopping for lunch (and snacks, water, stretching) on the 3-Day, and you need to know how it will feel to sit down, eat, feel nice and full and sleepy...and get up and walk for 4 more hours.
Breakfasts included scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, ham, fruit, yogurt, oatmeal, juice, coffee; lunches were salads, sandwiches, fruit, cookies, chips; and suppers were spaghetti, veggie burgers, potatoes, salads, chocolate eclairs. You won’t go hungry. Even tho only 1 in our group of 5 was a vegetarian, we all opted for the green bracelet that bestows veggie power (you have to sign up in advance), since Elma told us that the previous year the lines for veggie meals were much shorter.The Bonk
From Avon’s 2000 training manual: “Avoiding a bonk: Adequate intake of calories and fluids is essential for safe long-distance walking. Eat before you are hungry and drink before you are thirsty. ‘Bonking’ occurs when you have completely depleted the glycogen stores in your muscles. Your body runs out of fuel. When this happens, disorientation, headaches, and loss of body control set it. This can be a very serious situation. If it happens to you, sit down and start eating and drinking to immediately replenish you fuel stores. Better yet, consume enough food before and during your long walks so that you never bonk in the first place. ” So...even tho it sounds fun, don’t do the bonk.Stretching
As with everything else, Avon provides an abundance of helpful information about the correct way to walk (yes, there is a right way and many wrong ways), injury prevention, and stretching. 
Stretching is kind of like drinking enough water, you don’t always know you need it until it’s too late. If you’re new to exercise, obviously, stretching is important. But even if you’re a seasoned workout-aholic, don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s “just” walking. It can be hard to make yourself stop and stretch often enough. Avon recommends stretching for 5 minutes every hour. Listen to your body. You may need to stop more often or stretch longer. 
3-Day Estimated Facts Per Event
The 3-Day
Number of walkers: 2,000
Approximate number of miles covered over three days: 60
Average miles per day: 20
Estimated number of donors: 90,000
Number of volunteers and crew: 500
Number of pairs of shoes: 4,800
Number of tents: 1,400
Gallons of water / sports drinks: 36,400
Meals served: 25,200
Pounds of pasta: 5,600
Pounds of chicken: 8,200
Dozens of bagels: 700
Quantity of bananas: 8,300
Number of energy bars: 14,000
Podiatrists: 15
Doctors & Registered Nurses: 50
Massage Therapists: 40
Physical Therapists: 15
Most common form of cancer
in women in the U.S.: Breast Cancer
Percentage of women
who are at risk for breast cancer: 100%
Number of new cases of
female invasive breast cancer: 182,800
Number of women who will die
from the disease this year: 41,200
Number of lives that could be saved annually
if breast cancer had been detected earlier: 17,400
A woman’s risk of being diagnosed
with breast cancer in her lifetime: 1 in 9
Number of ways to prevent breast cancer: ZeroWhere the Money Goes
This is verbatim from Avon’s Web site (hope they don’t mind). There is quite a bit more information on their site, but this gives the details of the Chicago walk.The Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day series is one fundraising initiative of the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade, which was launched by Avon Products, Inc. in 1993 with the initial mission to support non-profit, community-based breast cancer education and early detection programs. In addition to the Avon 3-Days, the Avon Crusade raises funds through the sale of special Avon Breast Cancer Crusade Pink Ribbon fundraising products. Between 1993-1999, more than 500 community-based breast health programs have been funded nationwide by the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade, including programs in the Chicago area.
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