| Day Zero - Avon 3-Day Walk |
The video is about 50 minutes long and this is the only bottleneck of the process.
You likely will have to wait in line for a half hour or more to get in to see the video,
and you cannot continue the check-in process until you see it. Some walkers employed
their spouses and friends as line-holders for them, putting them in the video line while
they completed the check-in, pledge, and medical process.
The video covers several things:
- Pallotta TeamWorks philosophy - humankind - be both
- Safety, safety, safety, safety
- Avon 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk charities
- How the walk and camps operate
The video is a professional production that brings you into the spirit of the event. I admit that I am a jaded walker and walk organizer, and I know far too much already about breast cancer. But I was completely inspired and taken into the spirit of these unique events and the Pallotta TeamWorks mission.
It's not just a walk - it's a new world: Pallotta TeamWorks also organizes AIDSRides and other charity sporting events. But those are not just a way to make money, their aim is to change the lives and attitudes of every participant and crew member. They immerse each person in a sea of kindness and caring, strip them of their hair dryer and home and daily concerns and put them into a physical and social challenge. The events are not just charity or sports events, they are a new society of human-kind (be both).
Do This Or You Could Die
Stay Alert - Stay Alive is Pallotta TeamWorks' motto for the walkers. My bus partner
summed up the safety aspect of the video as "Do this or you could die."
Pallotta TeamWorks makes safety the absolute top priority. In the video this is
presented with good humor but insistence. Throughout the Day Zero site and along the
walk you are encouraged everywhere to drink both water and sports drink, to stretch 5
minutes each hour, and to be aware and alert to avoid accidents. To emphasize the
aware and alert part, using headphones, cell phone or radio while walking is cause of
immediate ejection from the event. Running is also prohibited because it creates
problems. The correct way to pass other walkers is given - to call out "Passing
on your left," before passing. Walking single file in areas designated is very
important - and the most ignored rule of all. Disobeying a course control volunteer
and being discourteous in any way are also 
causes for ejection from the event.
Other
rules include no smoking in camp, no open flames in camp including any candles.
And
the best rule of all - no whining.
Upon leaving the video, you are given a wristband that then proves you have seen it in its entirety (if you leave early you do not get credit and have to see it again completely).
Photo: wristband proves you've seen the video.
Next page > Registration and Tent Assignment
> Page 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 6,
Day 1, Day 2, Day
3, Photos
|
Photos copyright (c) 2001, Wendy Bumgardner, licensed to About.com
