I did it! I walked the full 26.2!!! We did 13.1 miles Saturday (South Street Seaport to the Cloisters) and another 13.1 on Sunday (Randall's Island, over the Manhattan Bridge, around Brooklyn Heights, back over the Brooklyn Bridge and ending at the Seaport).

It was an amazing experience.. and thanks to your support we collectively raised $7.2 million towards breast cancer education, support, screening, treatment and research. Thank you!

more pix here

There are so many highlights. I met up with a group of other solo walkers - dubbed by Meredith the Lone Rangers - for registration and dinner on Friday night. Hi Debbie, Meredith, Corkie, Ellen, Sarah, Peggie, Jackie, Joyce (...who am I missing...?). The LR joined the Peggy's Spirit team that walk each year in memory of their mother, Peggy. I had the honor of walking a mile or so with Mike from Peggy's Spirit on Sunday. He's a retiree, a grandfather in fact, who has walked all 6 walks this year. That's 240 miles. Why? Here's what he wrote on the Avon message boards [you should go and get a kleenex now]:

There is a question, phrased in many ways, that we all ask each other as we meet: "Why are you walking, (crewing, volunteering)? Why are you involved? What motivated you to raise the money and do this walk? Why are you here? I believe the real meaning, the binding force that puts us all on common ground, is not the answers, emotional, intelligent, practical and preganant with meaning that they are, but THE QUESTION ITSELF. As well as we know or don't know our answer, we are often humbled by the answers we hear and the people we meet. I know I was. The question itself creates a new friend and meaningful partner.

For me the most significant time I raised the question was when I asked Bill. Bill was a man, older than I, not perhaps that much older at my age of 58. My legs were and still are in good shape. Bill's were not - he had had knee surgeries and as I remember replacement of both knees. He walked much like a young child walks as they first "get their legs" - one step bearly in front of the other an almost zero space between toe and heal as each step met terra firma. He was obviously walking slower than the rest of us, yet immediately on first sight you knew he was IN FOR THE DURATION. I asked him our question. Bill's answer: "My wife and her girlfriend are way up there near the front of the group and she and her friend believe in this cause. I'm here because I BELIEVE IN MY WIFE. That's why I'm here and walking."

He helped me to realize that I, like so many men, believe in our women. We don't often verbalize it; we don't often show it; we are not often enough sensitive to our women's needs, nor are we very good at listening. (Yes I know there are many exceptions - how else would we know what good men are unless we had good examples.) I believed/believe in my Mother, Peggy Coughlin McElduff. God blessed my mother. I believe in my 7 sisters who carry her Spirit for her in and through this God-given world of ours and particularly into this world of walkers,crew, etc of The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. God has blessed them through my mother and her memory. ... As many men, husbands, fathers, sons, cousins, friends, I , LIKE BILL, BELIEVE IN MY WOMEN. I will continue to walk to the cure, and I am gratefull for all the Avon Walk women who have helped me believe in them. I know more men will join this effort that you women started and continue, and we will be the better for it. Thank you God, thank you Bill,and THANK YOU LADIES, each and every one of you.

The volunteers and crew were nothing short of amazing: cheering us on, watering us, feeding us, and taking care of all aches and pains. Not only did they provide tents; they provided Boy Scouts to help us set up our tents.

At each rest stop were stickers and stamps. Mile 10 was a Christmas themed stop, with reindeer stickers, and a stamp labeled "JOY." How perfect! I stamped it on to my left hand and every time I felt tired during those last 3 miles I looked down and "JOY" looked back.

Can everyone do me a favour this week? Try something new. Act braver than you feel. Find the person who most recently hurt your feelings, and give them a gift. Or at least a smile. Perform a random act of kindness. Open your heart. Feel the joy.