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Project Bread - Walk For Hunger, Boston, MA - May 2003
In May, 2003 we went to Boston, MA to participate in the Project Bread - Walk For Hunger. This is a 20-mile walk-a-thon from which the proceeds are used to support hundreds of Soup Kitchens, Food Pantries, Food Banks, and Food Salvage Programs. It was Ernie's 7th and Dale's 5th year participating in the Walk.
We took a train into Boston, since anyone with any sense does not want to drive in Boston. We got registered and stretched our legs and we were ready to start at 9:00 AM. It was a beautiful day for the walk, temperatures in the 50's, mostly sun, and a little breeze.
About 2 miles into the walk, Dale tripped and fell on a very uneven section of sidewalk scraping her knees and the palms of her hands. Ernie thought we should go the ½ mile to the first checkpoint and take a bus back to the start. When we got to the checkpoint Dale had some first aid done on her hands and decided she wanted to continue. When we got to the second checkpoint (mile 5) Dale cleaned up the scrapes on her knees and said they were not bothering her so we continued.
At checkpoint 3 (mile 7.5) Ernie ate one of the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and changed his socks. Dale ate a banana and said her knees were still doing good.
At checkpoint 5 (mile 10.5) snacks are provide. We each got a granola bar, snack bag, and a cookie. Dale also got a can of grape juice, Ernie decided to stick with water. Dale's snack bag contained Ripples potato chips, but Ernie's had Cheetos. We decide to shared the Ripples. Dale changed her socks. We got our water bottles refilled and began the second half of the walk.
At checkpoint 6 (mile 13.5) Ernie decide it was warm enough to remove his jacket and added more sunscreen.
At checkpoint 7 (mile 16.5) we had some lemonaid and Ernie got a lemon which he ate along the way. Ernie again changed his socks.
At about mile 18 Dale started to get tired and her legs were bothering her a lot. Ernie had shin splints and sore calves.
We made it to the end and sat down to eat the remaining sandwiches and the Baked Lays Dale had packed. The eating was a good idea, the sitting might not have been. When we got up Dale's legs were still sore like before, but Ernie's had completely tightened. It took the ¼ mile walk to the train stop to get Ernie's legs to loosen up again.
We got on a train that was extremely crowded but after 3 or 4 stops some people got off and Dale was able to sit.
Just before the half-way point in the train trip, we smelled something burning and the train driver stopped the train and walked to the back. She went back to the controls and started off again. At the next stop there was a really strong smell of something burning and when Ernie noticed smoke coming up in front of the train he said to Dale "I don't know about these other people, but I am getting off the train." We got off by the train driver and Ernie was saying something to Dale about not wanting to be on the train, we do not know if the driver heard him or coincidentally chose that time to suggest everyone get off the train, but she made the announcement and everyone got off. A repair person came in on a train and loosened the brakes. It was determined that we should all get back on and they would continue the trip as an express with only 2 stops between where we were and the last stop. We got to the last stop where our car was parked and started the car trip home.
Dale took some Tylenol and Ernie took some aspirin and we went to bed early, about 9:00 PM. When we got up in the morning Ernie felt almost no discomfort and Dale's legs felt really good, but her lower back was sore. Dale's legs got sore again during the day, but not really badly.
Dale's idea of packing nutritious snacks that contained simple and complex carbohydrates and protein was a great help in keeping us going. A main reason why we were not extremely sore was that we stretched our legs 3 or 4 times during the walk as well as at the start and finish. Ernie was able to avoid the blisters that gave him problems last year by wearing better socks, changing them a couple of times, and adjusting them at just about every checkpoint.
We are looking forward to doing it again next year.
Thanks to all of our friends, family, and co-workers who sponsored us.
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