AIDS Walk NYC 2010

This weekend we participated in the 25th Annual AIDS Walk in New York City! Approximately 45,000 walkers raised over $5.7 million dollars and I was thrilled to be a part of it! Our team was made up of six walkers(though we had a few surprise visits from friends) and raised over $1,800 for the event!  It was great to be a part of such a large, organized effort! The night before the walk, we had a get together to make our team T-Shirts (which we made with Target tees and iron-on letters), karaoke and play board games.  The following morning we were up bright and early, with Starbucks  in hand, in preparation for the long day ahead of us.  Central Park was buzzing with people and positive energy! And given the large crowd (even though they reported 45,000 registered walkers, there were plenty more unregistered walkers along for the ride), the event organizers did a fantastic job of planning and executing the walk without a glitch! There were teams from all different organizations, ages and walks of life, but we all came together for this incredible event!

Even though we all know “Girls Rule”, for this event, the boys on our team ROCKED!!  They each raised over $500, with Vince (middle) raising the most of our entire team!  My hat goes off to them for a job well done!

The energy was mostly optimistic throughout the event, but there were moments of sadness, especially when we visited the dedication mural. I only photographed a portion of it, but it was huge and it was completely covered with personal messages from walkers.  Unfortunately, a lot of them were dedicated to family members or friends that had passed away from this horrible disease. There were many tears as people remembered those loved ones who had fallen along the way.  This moment was probably the most humbling of the entire experience and the one I will never forget.

The walk itself was no piece of cake!  Luckily, it was not a race, but six miles is still no joke! However, thanks to the official morale team and playful banter among friends, the walk went by quicker than I expected! Also, our team would have never made it across that finish line without the careful planning of Team AOZ Walker, Adam!  While the rest of us only arrived with our walking shoes and high spirits, Adam was smart enough to plan ahead and pack an entire feast for the walk in his *magical* tote ( I call it magical because it was the endless bag of homemade goodies and healthy treats)!  The food never stopped coming out of the tote for the duration of the walk and it did wonders for our stamina and morale! What would we have done without you, Adam?!

After six miles of laughs, tears, achy feets and let’s be honest…a few tantrums, we finally made it across that finish line!!! And it was a wonderful moment indeed! Afterwards, we celebrated with an incredible three course meal and bottomless sangria at Don Pedro’s! It was the perfect way to end the day! I am not only grateful for participating in something  so inspirational, but also for having experienced it with my friends.  I’m looking forward to walking next year and I hope to do it with the same fabulous group of people!  I love you guys!

A big THANK YOU to everyone who helped out with monetary contributions and moral support!