March for Babies: 2011 March Photos, Part 1

2011 March for Babies,

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Overview:

I was very pleased to participate in my first March for Babies last month in New York City. It was a beautiful spring day in the City, as crowds of families, corporate groups, and walkers of all shapes, sizes, ages, and apparently species, gathered together for a good cause.

I got to Lincoln Center relatively early, checked in at registration, got a t-shirt for Tammy, and then headed up to keep an eye on things prior to the official start. There were so many cuties there, as well as obviously invested family and friends. Equally as fun to watch were the large contingents of high school kids, NYC Sanitation workers, big burly bikers and their bitches (and excuse me, I am using the correct terminology here -- as you'll see in the next few posts), Explorers, and hombres and dudes that you would usually be more afraid of in a dark back alley.

Since I was a solitary walker, I waited until the massive wave of walkers, strollers, carts, and wagons seemed to be through the starting balloon arch. Then it was through Central Park and over to the East Side to stroll unimpeded down the center of Lexington Avenue.

Now, I know that I walk fast usually, but when you think about the average speed of little kids, or parents pushing strollers, or pulling wagons, or dealing with doggies, I was a virtual Olympic champion speed-walker. Not only that, I was taking pictures AND carrying on text conversations, while I bobbed and weaved around groups of people. I started at the back of the back at Lincoln Center, slowly dealt with the bottleneck in the Park, and by the time we hit Lexington Avenue, steadily and speedily moved up to the front third of the group.

The view looking south on Lexington Avenue

We ended up at Madison Square Park off of 23rd Street, looking north at the Empire State Building. After passing through the balloon arch, I didn't stick around for any of the family craft activities, but opted to continue my walk back up to Grand Central.

All told, I probably ended up doing a good 4 miles that day, and, thanks to a last minute donation by Amelia, raised a grand total of $640 for the March of Dimes.

Next year, I may (gasp) actually consider training for this thing, and hopefully have more people to walk and talk with me. The pace might be slower, but the important thing is the cause and company.

Thanks again for everyone's support. I definitely will be upping the fund raising goal for 2012.

Please enjoy the next few posts with some of my pictures of the day. I promise cute dogs, babies, pretty purple accents, and many signs of support.