Road Blocks Are For Sissies!

 The Revlon Walk was yesterday and I thought I would share the letter I am sending off to the organization regarding my experience. I want to thank everybody who donated money for the cure for women's cancers. Although I did not officially do the walk, I did get one in! I'm expecting a form letter back, but I'll keep you posted.


To Whom It May Concern,

I signed up for the Revlon Walk after my disappointment with the organizational skills with the Avon Walk For The Cure. I knew friends who had done the Revlon walk in the past so I knew it would be a great event. Also, my sister Janet died in 2001, at the age of 44 to Colon Cancer so it had double meaning for me. I raised over $1500, got my t-shirt a few weeks early so I could write the names of friends and family, battling or who had battled with cancer and left my house at 6:45am to pick up my friend and then take the short 20 min ride downtown. I thought I had left in plenty of time. Boy, was I mistaken! I hit the traffic at aprox. 7:25am a mile before the off ramp for Exposition Park. We did not get off the freeway until 8:25am. One full hour on the freeway. We then traveled a painful 50 minutes up MLK to Vermont only to find that all the parking was full. There was nobody there to tell us if there was an overflow lot. No information at all. We drove up to Normandie hoping that there would be some signs to direct us to the event, but no luck. The race had started and we were in an "unfamiliar", not so safe, part of Los Angeles with no direction to go except north to the 10 freeway.

I'm disappointed on a few levels. The first at myself for not anticipating that kind of crowd. The second to Revlon/EIF for not realizing that there were a ton of people that would not only be able to do the walk, but also would not be at the finish line to see the vendors and get more information on Woman's Cancers. Isn't that really what the event is all about? Raising money and awareness? I feel a bit cheated out of the experience. I don't regret raising the money because I know it's going to a great cause, but next time, if there is a next time, I'll know to come extra early just to find a parking spot.

My suggestion to you is that you should pre sell parking passes to specific lots so that everyone won't be traveling to the same place at the same time and participants will know that there is a parking spot specifically for them. No walker/runner left behind should be your motto for the next one. I know I wasn't the only one who turned around and headed home.

And just for the record, we did do a walk around Lake Balboa. I wore my shirt with the names I had written on it the night before and still honored my friends and famliy, but it would have been nice to cross that finish line at the Colosseum. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.

Alyson Moore