This past weekend was the first of the eight Avon Walks for Breast Cancer and I had the pleasure of being the Multiply staff member on hand for this event down in Washington, D.C. As you may have already read, Multiply has hired photographers to take photos at each of the walks. A special group has been created here on Multiply, AvonWalk.multiply.com, where all of the photos will be posted and 20% of the purchase price from all print orders will be donated to the cause.

In the weeks leading up to the DC walk, we were so focused on getting all of the details finalized that it was easy to forget about the big picture. That all changed once I got down to DC and saw the enormity of the operation and the enthusiasm of the hundreds of crew and volunteers required to pull the event off.

The walk actually takes place over the course of two days. On the first day, the participants walk 26 miles and then camp out over night in a Wellness Village set up by the volunteers. There are plenty of rest stops along the way, as well as a lunch area at the 9-mile mark. The Wellness Village is definitely one of the more impressive camp sites you'll see, with portable showers/sinks, a massage area, plenty of food, and a sea of little blue tents for the participants to sleep in.

Seeing how exhausted people were as they arrived at the Wellness Village Saturday afternoon, it was all that more impressive to know that they were going to get up and do another 13 miles the next morning!

The finish line couldn't have been in a more picturesque setting, located at the Kennedy Center right on the Potomac River. The first people came across around noon on Sunday. It was really an impressive thing to watch the groups of women (and some men too!) finish such a long ordeal. Some groups were exuberant, while others where overwhelmed with emotion. Everyone clearly felt a great sense of accomplishment.

After the finish line, each participant is given a pink t-shirt. Breast cancer survivors get a light pink, while everyone else gets a dark pink. When all of the participants file into the closing ceremonies, the cluster of light pink among the rest really makes a statement.

The walk was a tremendous success with 2,500 participants and $5.8 million raised! I'm very glad that I was able to be a part of it personally, and hopefully the Multiply staffers that attend the other walks will get as much out of the experience as I did.

- Dave Hersh