Talkin' the Walk (MS)!
Despite predictions of thunder storms, Gigi’s two hours worth of nightmares from 6-8AM concerning how best to dress for precipitation and low temperatures, and Stu’s anxieties regarding the warmth of his sweatpants and their lack of back pockets, we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect morning for our first MS walk ever.
A check on weather.com noted that the threat of t-storms was over and
with everyone properly outfitted, we hit the road, which happened to be
our road as the walk starting point was the Philadelphia Art Museum, which is at the end of our street.
In typical Stu/Gigi fashion, we were an anal retentive wreck at the check-in tent over whether or not we had brought the right paperwork. We had brought absolutely no paper work at all and noticed many people checking in with neatly filled out forms and envelopes (isn’t this the digital age?). Fears were laid to rest when Stu spied my name on the big list. Thanks to all of your help, we got to check in as VIPs for raising over $1,000 each! We raised $2,245 to be exact! Yay all of YOU!!
With our Walk MS t-shirts in hand, we checked out the scene for a bit and Stu took fab shots from atop the Philadelphia Art Museum steps.
Gigi threatened to run up and down said steps several times post-walk
in order to make up for missing her regular gym work out that morning...
In that vein, earlier in the morning, Gigi confessed her lifelong dream of training for something with Burgess Meredith so that she could have him tell her "You're gonna eat lightning and crap thunder!"
Soon, Gigi's time for daydreaming was over and we lined up with the masses for the start of the walk. We gathered near the podium at the starting line, at which point Gigi decided that we had a chance to WIN the Walk MS! (Note from Stu: I guess Gigi just assumed she was gonna beat the folks in wheelchairs and the babies in strollers.)
This smiling face certainly belies the competitive heart that lies within:
And here's Stu in pre-race form (Note from Gigi: Stu obviously doesn't understand that everything is a race!):
Gig's dreams of conquest died quickly, but here you can get a sense of
how many walkers were with us. A pretty impressive and inspiring sight.
The throngs ahead...
In typical Stu/Gigi fashion, we were an anal retentive wreck at the check-in tent over whether or not we had brought the right paperwork. We had brought absolutely no paper work at all and noticed many people checking in with neatly filled out forms and envelopes (isn’t this the digital age?). Fears were laid to rest when Stu spied my name on the big list. Thanks to all of your help, we got to check in as VIPs for raising over $1,000 each! We raised $2,245 to be exact! Yay all of YOU!!
With our Walk MS t-shirts in hand, we checked out the scene for a bit and Stu took fab shots from atop the Philadelphia Art Museum steps.
Gigi threatened to run up and down said steps several times post-walk
in order to make up for missing her regular gym work out that morning...
In that vein, earlier in the morning, Gigi confessed her lifelong dream of training for something with Burgess Meredith so that she could have him tell her "You're gonna eat lightning and crap thunder!" Soon, Gigi's time for daydreaming was over and we lined up with the masses for the start of the walk. We gathered near the podium at the starting line, at which point Gigi decided that we had a chance to WIN the Walk MS! (Note from Stu: I guess Gigi just assumed she was gonna beat the folks in wheelchairs and the babies in strollers.)
This smiling face certainly belies the competitive heart that lies within:
And here's Stu in pre-race form (Note from Gigi: Stu obviously doesn't understand that everything is a race!):
Gig's dreams of conquest died quickly, but here you can get a sense of
how many walkers were with us. A pretty impressive and inspiring sight.The throngs ahead...
...and the masses behind.
You can't tell from these photos, which were taken close to the starting line, but the walk was along Fairmount Park (our neighborhood is called either Fairmount or Art Museum), which is the largest urban park in the country. The sun came out soon after the start and we enjoyed a wonderful three mile walk in the park, and were treated to orange slices, cups o' water, granola bars and port-o-potties at the turnaround point!
Once again, we want to thank everybody for making this possible. It was a great experience and we look forward to doing it again next year!
Once again, we want to thank everybody for making this possible. It was a great experience and we look forward to doing it again next year!
awesome, hip hip hooray
for the good work. the
pictures are truly
representative of both
your personalities. I loved
it. bisou. bettyb.
Thanks for the pics! And thanks for walking for all of us!
Love you both!