Challenge Walker Hires New Training Coach

by Jackie Piper

How many of you out there are logging miles this winter in anticipation of Challenge Walk 2014? If you are like me, you are using this ridiculous weather as an excuse to postpone training. I mean, really, walk when there's 18 inches of snow on the ground and it's -39 wind chill?? While this excuse has been working really well for me, I finally decided I needed to do something to get moving in spite of winter. So, I went out and found a Training Coach to get me motivated. 

When I first approached Goofy and explained the purpose of Challenge Walk MS and how much I needed him to motivate me, he said: "Garsh"!  

Then, he tried to put on my T-shirt to show how excited he was to help.

We couldn't get it over his nose.

He was super enthusiastic about holding up the Challenge Walk MS T-shirt for a photo, though, against the wishes of his handlers. And, he gave me a big thumbs up about being my Training Coach to get me in shape to walk 50 miles. All I could say was, "Garsh, thanks Goofy!"

If you think you would like a "Training Coach" to help you get moving, there is an entire cast of characters hanging out with Goofy ready to sign on. I would be happy to return to Orlando and make the arrangements for you!

On a more serious note, the arrival of my T-shirt in the mail gave me a push to start walking now and not wait for the snow to melt. I don't have a treadmill or belong to a gym, but our local mall is open early every day for walkers. Time to tie up my shoes and get walkin'! 

Jackie Piper with her celebrity Challenge Walk MS Training Coach.

Training T-shirts Are On the Way

This year's training T-shirts are packaged, posted and waiting for the mail carrier to pick them up today. If you've already registered for the 2014 Challenge Walk MS (Sept. 19-21 in Door County), watch for your shirt to arrive next week.

Just how many have registered? As of this week -- 90; and 21 of those are new participants! (By comparison, there were 50 people registered at this time last year.) That means you're doing a great job of telling others about the event and encouraging them to give it a try or return for another year.

Haven't registered yet? Sign up during the month of February and receive a certificate for a free massage during Challenge Walk MS weekend. We'll also send you your very own T-shirt to wear while you're training.

How have you been training?
Share your best practices and fun ideas for training. Those tips are especially helpful for rookie participants who have never prepared for Challenge Walk MS before. Email your suggestions and advice to maureen.waslicki@nmss.org. Include a photo of you in your training T-shirt, too!

A Fun Way to Warm Up and Fundraise

Challenge Walk MS team Multiple Screwballs is holding a Zumbathon fundraiser in January.

Looking for ways to increase your fundraising total? Visit the fundraising page on the Challenge Walk MS website for ideas and resources.

A Shout Out to Challenge Walk MS Volunteers

In case you didn't see it, Challenge Walk MS volunteers Pat Heller and Sloth I were featured in the December and January editions of the Wisconsin Chapter's Volunteer e-newsletter.

Here's part of what Pat had to say about volunteering: 

“Six years ago, in the MS connection magazine, I read about the first Challenge Walk that was to be held in Door County. I thought this was something I could do to help raise money for research and programs for those living with MS in Wisconsin. I recruited my husband, sister, and aunt and uncle. The five of us raised $6,000 that first year and provided five rest stops that weekend. We were hooked. Over the past six years our team, the Multiple Screwballs, has grown and we have raised over $200,000.

“Our team enjoys coming together every year for the walk. It is a time for celebration and renewal in our commitment to make the world a better place for those living with MS."


And here is part of what Sloth said:

"I’ve been involved with special events for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society for about 15 years now. As you probably know, the Society organizes numerous sporting events to raise money for the battle against MS: Bike MS, Walk MS and many others. Without those cyclists and walkers out there raising money and creating the momentum, we wouldn't have much of a fundraiser. But you know what really makes these events tick? The volunteers!

"Volunteering is of course a bit of work. But it can also be incredibly fun and – especially for the uninitiated – an inspiring job. ...When you see what some folks are capable of – even in the face of major obstacles – it makes setting up a rest stop pretty easy. Or assisting with check-in. Or simply cheering on our athletes as they approach the finish line. Whatever your job may be, know that it has a real, visceral effect on the fight against multiple sclerosis … and brings us one step closer to a cure."

For those who don't know, Sloth volunteers as a Support and Gear (SAG) bike rider for Challenge Walk MS as part of his volunteer team, Team N3kk1d, which has raised $10,000 for MS.

Crew and super crew members are important to the success of each year's event. Thanks to everyone who volunteers -- in whatever way, shape or form -- to support Challenge Walk MS walkers!

Ways to Say Thanks

Thanking those who donated to your Challenge Walk MS fundraising goal is important, especially if you plan to ask them for their support again next year. Sending thank you cards that incorporate photos from the weekend is one way a number of Challenge Walk MS participants choose to show their gratitude, and websites such as Shutterfly, Snapfish, Walgreens and Walmart offer easy ways to create cards along with a variety of design options. Here are three samples from this year:

Message: Thank you for supporting me in the MS Challenge Walk 2013!

Message: With your help, our team raised $50,000. 

Message: Thank you for your donation to the National MS Society! This year, Team Marty & Clyde & Nancy raised $7,108! That money will help fund research and brings us one step closer to a world free of multiple sclerosis.

What is your favorite way to thank those who made a donation?

The 2013 Challenge Walk is Over…Now What?

by Marian Rezel

Celebrate and share pictures

• Send your supporters a thank you card. Include how much $$ the walk raised or how much $$ you or your team raised. Include a photo from the event. Supporters really appreciate this and are more likely to support you next year. 

Members of Marian's team at the
Challenge Walk MS 2013 finish line.

Plan for next year

• On our way home from Door County to Milwaukee in Car #1, two of my daughters brainstormed ideas for a rest-stop for next year. Meanwhile in Car #2, my other daughter and I talked about what went best and what we could improve on for next year.   
• Plan fund-raising ideas for next year. I am back at my sewing machine, filling orders for hand-made purses and aprons. I’m hoping to actually get ahead this year and open an Etsy shop on-line. We are also finishing the final hand knit hat orders for Tadpoles in Delafield, Wis. The lovely shop owners have been supporting our mission for the past three years; stop in if you are in the Delafield area.
  
• We are also planning a major fund-raising event in the Milwaukee area, more to come on that as soon as it develops. 

Keep connected

• Read the blog, go ahead and post a comment or two, too (or is it tu-tu?). We love hearing back from you.
  
• Create a Facebook group for your team. It’s an easy way to share thoughts and ideas and plan fundraising.
  
• Participate in another MS event. My girls and I participate in Walk MS each spring and sponsored a rest stop at the Bike MS: Best Dam Bike Ride last summer (awesome, going to do that again).  Don’t forget the MS Snowmobile Tour January 23-25, 2014.  

INSPIRE HOPE......check!

by Jackie Piper

I have to say I really loved our Sunday T-shirt for this year's Door County Challenge Walk MS. When I unfolded it in the cabin on Thursday night, I thought, “Cool, I like that message.”  And then, as the weekend progressed, I thought, no, this isn't just a cool T-shirt. This is the perfect message to express what Challenge Walk is all about. The dictionary defines hope as “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” Here is how I define hope, brought to you by Challenge Walk 2013:

I HOPE YOU CHEER FOR ME:  What an amazing job the volunteers who man the rest stops do. On Saturday, at a particularly painful point in the walk, a chocolate candy necklace and row of silly cheerleaders made all the difference.

Jackie at the 49-mile marker on
Day 3 of Challenge Walk MS 2013

I HOPE I HAVE FUN:  What's more fun than an entire team in orange evening gowns and menswear? I really can't explain how much fun we all have doing this ridiculously long walk, but we all do.

I HOPE I MAKE A DIFFERENCE:  OK. Here's my theory: Someday there will be a research project funded by a grant with money from the Challenge Walk that will find a cure for MS. That money will be raised by individuals who collected money in dozens of different ways. Maybe someone's $10 donation will be the difference between a $500,000 grant and one for $499,990. That walker who made the effort to ask for that donation will have made the biggest difference in the world. It's just my theory, but every time we raise one dollar for MS, we make a difference.

I HOPE I FEEL LOVED:  The group hug on Sunday afternoon – what a visible way to show the people who are dealing with this disease every day that we care. 

I HOPE I CAN HOPE:  On Sunday at about mile 48 I encountered a couple who were walking alone together and we struck up a conversation. It turns out that she has MS and has been on the same medication as my son-in-law since 2001 without a relapse in all that time. Wow! I felt at that moment, “So this is why I came”...to listen to a story that inspires hope for Dylan who was diagnosed just four years ago.  

And so we take a little breather now before we roll up our shirt sleeves and get to work on the business of fighting MS at Challenge Walk 2014. 

I HOPE I see you all there.