On the Streets of Indianapolis (Again)

This is a sequel. A follow-up to Friday's post about my adventures here on the Streets of Indy. A place where glucose tablets bring us diabetics together. Where we mull meetups that involve Singing & Dancing Rollerskating D-Meetups potentially rivaling the likes of #dprom. Where our centralized spot in the nation means we Hoosiers have what can only be dubbed the Diabetic Crossroads of America. You should read that post first. Please. Go ahead. I'll wait.

Now that you've read that, you're primed for Round 2.

My adventures last week continued on Saturday, with the Central Indiana JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes. More than 3,000 walkers attended, and this happened to be our first-ever walk we've participated in since moving to Indiana about six year ago. I'd been involved for years up in our native Southeast Michigan, starting with my first walk-ride back in 1985 and evolving into volunteering and mass fundraising in my college years. But once we moved to Indiana, I hadn't been involved in the JDRF and it seemed the walk in early October always ran into a conflicting event, work time, or travel plans. Since jumping back into the D-Advocacy World late last year and getting more heavily involved in the JDRF this year, we committed to making this year's walk one of our must-dos.

While the homefront of Michigan was always a good time for a Walk, this Hoosier style seemed even more special as we were surrounded by huge banners displaying big names such as Lilly and Roche - located in this very city. We ventured onto the 5k Walk around Military Park on the city's westside, near IUPUI campus and the White River State Park. Great scenery, and beautiful sunny 80-degree weather.

Suzi and I didn't do massive fundraising, but set modest goals and thanks to the wonderful generosity of friends, family, and especially several friends in the DOC, we both surpassed our goals this year! Thank you all, so much! That fit the trend with the walk, which organizers said also surpassed the overall goal for 2010!

We arrived that morning about 45 minutes before registration started, and planned to mingle for awhile before getting to where we needed to be. We registered and got our shirts, which Suzi shows off to the right there while wearing her Got Islets? hat. Wandering for awhile, we explored the tables and booths set up around the area and were even delighted to see at the food table the items had carb counts! The Starbucks coffee tent was also a must-visit for me, and it was a much-needed boost for the morning.

Some familiar faces were scattered around, too. Like Stephanie Riner, who I'd met earlier that week at a D-Meetup and who did a wonderful job singing the National Anthem - the third or fourth time she'd done so. We connected and said hello afterward, before making our ways to our respective team locations to start walking. At one point, Suzi and I were walking along one street having our own little side discussion and I happened to glance to my right and see a familiar face: fellow D-Blogger and friend, Cherise! She and her husband were there walking, pushing their daughter in a stroller! We laughed about that and said hello, and then it dawned on me that this was actually the first time Suzi and Cherise had actually met! They hit it off well, and of course Cherise managed to snap a photo of us on her iPhone while walking and Tweeted that isntantly. She also took a moment to mention to Suzi that I needed to make the switch to an iPhone myself, carrying on a conversation that had started over the summer. She also gently reminded Suzi about some now long-overdue cupcakes honoring Cherise's previous goal of hitting 20,000 tweets. (Before long, Cherise, we promise!). After a few minutes, Cherise realized that her family had managed to escape far ahead and so we said goodbye as she went to catch up.

Riley, of course, came along was with us and VERY EXCITED to be a part of an event with so many people. She loved being a part of it, though wanted off her leash so she could run around and see everyone. The PetSmart table offered some water, a tennis ball, and frisby and let her see a congregation of friends also out walking. We'd arrived about two hours before the walking began, yet despite all that advance time Riley decided that the first lap of the walk was the best time for her to squat and make me utilize the plastic baggies in my pocket. The team kept on trucking along as I cleaned up her mess, then dog and I jogged ahead and eventually caught up. This whole time, Riley was sporting not only a great JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes bandana that represented our Team s5health name. But she also had on underneath that a valued Maize & Blue bandana to honor the University of Michgian, which had a very important game against rivalling Michigan State University that day (the result of that game later that day isn't one to dwell on, sadly). My mom made both, and they turned out great for the dog to represent appropriately. So, thanks Mom! Everyone loved them, and Riley displayed them proudly!

So, that was our first Hoosier-styled Walk to Cure Diabetes! We had a great time, and look forward to making it a tradition from now on!