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Are you ready to support 600+ walkers? Whether you're cheering or riding, these posts are meant for you.

Biking and walking for a cure

Written by Ken on September 23, 2009 at 1:15 pm

Note: This post is courtesy guest author Jim Moran.

This was my third year doing the MS Challenge Walk, and my third year on the bike crew. Riding support is always a fun time, as I get the chance to ride with some really great bike riders; it felt like we'd been riding together for ages!

The best part of being on the bike crew though is getting to see and meet the wonderful people that walk in the event. We get a great opportunity as bike crew to frequently check in on the walkers and get to know many of them rather well.

The stalwart Jim Moran, victorious over both heel and wheel. Photo courtesy Sara Wells.

That said, this was the first year that I actually got on my feet and walked the final ten miles with the rest of the D-Terminators team and get the chance to experience the walk from their perspective. To their surprise — and mine! — there were no blisters or other anticipated aches and pains. But I did get the chance to feel the support and the kindness that's always being given by the crew we encounter on the route.

The only down side of walking was I only got to interact with the few walkers that were in the same area that I was in, instead of seeing everyone's smiling faces as I rode up and down the trail. Everyone on the walk is so great, I can't help but want to see them all!

Being on the support crew is a great way to support the walk and be a part of it. Consider registering as crew for the 2010 event. That's the way I plan to continue doing the walk for as long as I'm "young enough" to do it. Hopefully the cure we all pray for will be found before I'm "old enough" to have to stop.

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Tags: bicycle, bicycling, bike, support

Zis boom bah!

Written by Ken on September 7, 2009 at 1:45 pm

You've been walking for 19 miles — which is probably nineteen times farther then you've ever walked in your life. You hot, you're tired, your hungry, you're thirsty, and you desperately need a massage. The Cape Cod Rail Trail seems to extend indefinitely… but off in the distance, what's that you hear? Is that cheering? And not just an occasional holler, but constant and consistent hoots, applause, and merrymaking. Who could they be cheering for?

You turn the corner… and tears start streaming down your face. All the cheering? It's for you.

We walkers think we have it tough, walking 50 miles in three days. But at least we can admit it and grumble about it. The crew somehow finds the energy to be optimistic, enthusiastic, and encouraging all day long. They wear goofy costumes, employ noisy noisemakers, and never budge from either their position or disposition. They do it for the walkers, because they know sometimes what we need to keep going can't be found in a bottle of Gatorade.

If you need help in your quest to free the world from MS, the crew is there to help you, whether they be familiar faces or new ones. And if you cross the finish line and find yourself with a reserve of energy, consider giving back:return to the finish line and cheer the folks who come in after you. You needed that boost, and they might, too.

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Tags: cheering, encouragement, finish line, rest stops

We want to entertain you!

Written by Jill on July 1, 2009 at 1:17 pm

This is not the walker you're looking for!

Every year about this time, each crew starts coming up with different ideas for rest stop themes. Each stop is always a surprise for the walkers and is usually pretty amusing. Over the years, the crews have come up with some imaginative stops, with such themes as a wedding, Mardi Gras, pajama party, Star Wars, the Eighties, Halloween, The Wizard of Oz, villains, OktoberFest, and a Hawaiian luau, to name but a few. I wish I could name more, but like I said I never get to see the other stops!

I have seen some of the ideas which have come up for suggestion this year, and they are great. But the real point of this post is to ask you, the walkers, what would you like to see? Maybe a movie theme? Gone with the Wind? Maybe a profession? Doctors and nurses? Give us some ideas! Who knows, you may see your suggestion at one of the stops.

Posted in Challenge Walk, Crew | 3 Responses »
Tags: costumes, rest stops, themes

Crew training — no, not the training you are thinking of

Written by Jill on June 15, 2009 at 9:59 am

The Challenge Walk is only three months away, which means it's time to be training. But crew training is so different from walker training. For crew, now is the time we come up with our themes for the rest stops — the wackier the better for my crew!

We need to be inventive in how to keep the walkers entertained and give them a few smiles as they go through our rest stop. Who knows what costumes we'll get for this year? Over the years, I have been a pirate, a leprechaun, a Jedi Knight, an evil clown, and the world's largest Munchkin, to name a few. With the little bit of rain we got last year, my Jedi Knight costume, complete with bright yellow Wellington boots, looked more like the Gordon fisherman. I didn't look very professional in any of these costumes — but that wasn't the point. The point was to make the walkers comfortable and happy!

I'll soon be looking through the huge tote of costumes that I have been accumulating and see what I can pull out. After I've made my selections, my luggage will be about four times as much as any walker brings. How else would I fit in a military-sized squirt gun, Wellington boots, cowboy hat, and who knows what else? I'm hoping that someday, my appearance will be that of a person cured of MS — but that it won't be a costume, it will be the real me. That will be one costume that I will be happy to wear for the rest of my life.

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Tags: cheering, costumes, morale, rah rah, support

Starting the crew experience — in a van

Written by Jill on June 1, 2009 at 11:34 am

Somehow, I have become the driver of the crew van for my crew. I've been driving since that first year when we were all still trying to figure out how to manage this great new event, the MS Challenge Walk. A fifteen-passenger van filled with strangers seemed like nothing to me. My first car when I was 16 was a 1979 GMC Cargo Van. How different could it be?

Quite a bit different, it turns out. When I was driving my beloved van (black with a big white smiley face on the side) in high school, I'd have only one passenger in the other bucket seat, in addition to anyone who wanted to sit on the floor in the back. But in the crew van that first year, we were stuffed in like sardines with all our gear for the stops. People and gear there was plenty of. Sense of direction? Not so much, but plenty of back seat driving. I made so many three-point turns in that huge van, it was comical. And I managed to hit only ten curbs in the process!

As I continue driving the crew vans every year, the amount of gear increases, but fewer people means less cramming, and the strangers are now my dear friends. We still don't ever have any sense of direction, we still get lost at least twice each year, and I still hit curbs, though fewer of them. But we get there. What would the walkers do without us? And what would we do without them?

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Tags: camaraderie, humor, support, van

If you can't walk, volunteering is just as rewarding

Written by Caroline on May 25, 2009 at 3:13 pm

Earlier this month, I had my first experience as a volunteer at a National MS Society-sponsored walk. Almost 500 people walked five miles in Cohasset that Saturday. I am used to being a walker, but this time, I offered to man a table to recruit people for the three-day MS Challenge Walk, and after the walk began, I went out to one of the rest stops to cheer people on. It was an absolute blast!!!

As a walker in the Challenge Walk, I can tell you that the volunteers truly make a difference to the walkers. Just when my feet and spirits would begin to drag, I'd be motivated and re-energized just by walking into one of the rest stops and hearing a little cheer, or somebody tell me that I was doing great, having a non-judgmental friend urge me to eat more Tootsie Rolls and Peppermint Patties. But I never thought that being that volunteer could be just as rewarding as doing the actual walk. Let me tell you, it is.

If you can't walk 50 miles and you still want to join the movement, be a volunteer! You will be making a difference and will feel amazing. I now know, because I have been on both sides! Many crew spots are already full, but we still have need for a few more. Please see what jobs are available, then email Brenda Barbour or call her at 1-800-344-4867 x135 to sign up. We can't do the walk without you!

Posted in Crew | 1 Response »
Tags: volunteer

Riding the Challenge Walk

Written by Ken on May 18, 2009 at 2:20 pm

Looking to mix up your Challenge Walk experience? Consider hopping on a bike!

I received a good question today from my friend Melody, who has walked the Challenge Walk these past few years. She's decided to join the bicycle support crew in 2009 and wonders, "I am a little concerned about the training…how much do you usually ride before the walk?" I made a similar transition from walker to crew last year and discovered that being on wheels doesn't take the "challenge" out of "challenge walk"! I am not an expert bicyclist, but I'm happy to share my experience.

I rode only 2-3 times a week leading up to the event. I got accustomed to going 10-20 miles at a time, though one Sunday I did drive down to the Cape Cod Rail Trail and ride its length and back, which proved to be about 55 miles. It can be very useful if you have a little onboard computer that calculates your mileage.

The farthest I've ever ridden in a single day is a metric century — that is, 100 km, or 62 miles. Unfortunately, that was the first day I'd been on my bike in two weeks. Was I SORE!! Consistency is the most important quality of training.

Depending on how you handle being on bike crew, you may go as few as 25-30 miles a day, or as many as 50+. Since it's not hard pedaling, you may find the greatest challenge comes just from being in that seat for so long… so make sure it's a comfortable one!

Whether you're a first-time rider like Melody or have done it before like me, every crew member should sign up for the NMSS's crew training session, where you can get all your questions answered… even the ones you haven't thought of yet.

Posted in Crew, Training | No Responses »
Tags: bicycle, bicycling, biking, riding

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