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Finally a few pics

2 of our new favorite people (Helen disappears for pic time)

Need I say more?

Crossing the finish line together

A Weekend To Remember

As most of you know, the 3-Day did not turn out exactly as planned. The terrible weather cut our walk from 3 days to only 1 day. Actually, it cut the walk to 1 official day, and 2 amazing "unofficial" walks on Friday and Saturday. We met some amazing people over the course of this weekend. I am still at a loss for words right now. I have no idea how to even begin to explain how amazing this journey was or how great the people we were fortunate enough to meet are. Once I can actually process all my thoughts, I will attempt to write a post that makes some sense. For now I'll simply leave a list of amazing/crazy things from the weekend.

*Friday and Saturday are canceled
*We email a girl named Jennifer and decide to meet her at the Willow Grove mall and walk Friday
*Jennifer and her teammate Sandie quickly become our unofficial teammates for the weekend. (we are a team of misfits)
*Helen, a survivor, and one of the toughest people I have ever met also joins forces with us.
*I dress like an idiot

*Day 2 we go to KOP
*We walk into a sea of pink and everyone is going crazy
*I now have a pink mohawk and look even worse than the first day
*Robyn looks crazy also
*We got to see Joe, www.keepjoewalking.homestead.com he actually remembers us from the get started meeting. He says he's been keeping track of our efforts. (Joe has no idea of the impact this had on us)
*Helen invites us to stay at the Hampton Inn with her. Our team of misfits spends the night together and we leave for our first official day around 6 am Sunday
*I torture everyone reading this by stopping now, without talking about the final day...Stay tuned

Bring On The Rain

I drive past the willow grove mall every morning on the way to work. Luckily, Robyn and I live right down the street from the mall, meaning we don't have to get up as early as some of the other walkers. 30 minutes is a big deal at 5am! Anyway, the whole mall parking lot is filled with 3-Day trailers, trucks, and tents. It's a pretty cool sight, I can't wait to see what it looks like packed with thousands of people tomorrow morning.
Also, I heard that it is supposed to rain a little bit this weekend. By a little bit, I mean it's supposed to be looking like Seattle this weekend! Woo Hoo. Oh well we really can't complain. This isn't anything compared to what everyone fighting this disease goes through every single day. We just had to pack a few more things, and buy a whole ton of more stuff that we didn't expect to bring. Well, back to work talk to you later today

Taking A Break

We took a break this past weekend, from all things involving the 3-Day. This was the last weekend before our 60 mile journey, so we used it to relax with our family and friends. We took Liam pumpkin picking and carved some pretty cool pumpkins together. We also went to my grandfather's 80th birthday party. It was nice to just relax and not worry about fundraising or training or anything like that. Here are a few pictures from our NON 3-Day weekend.

Robyn and her Dad

Fightin' For Funbags

My Mom and me

The Cake

One Week Out

This time next week, we will already be a few hours into our 60 mile journey. I know I said I would be putting pics and video up from the beef and beer, obviously that has not happened yet. I swear I will do it this weekend. My brother sent me a message today telling me that he will be at the Manayunk cheering station with some friends on Saturday. I can only imagine the scene they will cause, and I can't wait. Hopefully we trained enough for the walk (we didn't). But I know that we will be able to get eachother through it. 60 miles is nothing compared to what our moms deal with everyday. Stay tuned for pictures....maybe

Beef and Beer

Our 1st annual beef and beer has just passed. They only word that can describe the turnout and the money raised is "WOW!!!!" Over 250 people showed up for this event. Our friends, relatives, parents' friends, and friends of friends were all in attendance! We raised about $4,000 to donate to the 3-day. These donations once again put us in the top fundraisers in the Philadelphia region! Everyone had a great time at the beef and beer. I will be posting pictures and videos over the next couple days. Thanks to all who came out and showed support.

Robyn, Brian, and the Moms

Even celebrities want to come party with us:

Elite XC Bantam Weight World Champ, Wilson Reis

More with the moms

Today is the day

Wow, the beef and beer is here! People have donated so many great baskets, gift certificates, sports tickets, and other items to raffle off tonight. We are really looking forward to getting everyone together tonight and having a great time. See you there

The Route

The Philadelphia Breast Cancer 3-Day will begin with an inspiring Opening Ceremony in Willow Grove. Walkers will travel through beautiful suburban neighborhoods. Once in the Philadelphia, the route will go through Chestnut Hill and Manayunk, two popular areas filled with interesting architecture as well as many small shops and restaurants. We'll take advantage of the most scenic view of Philadelphia’s skyline before officially entering camp for the night

On Saturday morning, we'll rise and shine, ready to hit the trail. Enjoy the beautiful neighborhoods of Haverford, Lower Merion and the Main Line. From Haverford and Bryn Mawr College, to the Haverford and Baldwin Schools, the walk will include some of the most prestigious schools and affluent neighborhoods in this area. With many small towns filled with shops and restaurants, there will be plenty to see along the way.

The final day of our journey will showcase Center City. The day begins with a stroll down Main Street Manayunk, complete with endless shops, restaurants and coffee houses. The rest of the day is filled with all the hotspots and hidden treasures Philadelphia and Fairmount Park have to offer. From the Art Museum & City Hall to the Liberty Bell and the Japenese Tea House, there is much to see and enjoy. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Philadelphia walk without South Philadelphia and Pat’s Steaks. At the end of the journey, enjoy sharing Closing Ceremonies with your family and friends at Philadelphia historic Navy Yard.

It's Almost Time

The beef and beer is creeping up on us. It's really starting to get nerve racking now! We still have tickets to sell, raffles to get, details to iron out, and so on. Are we ever going to be ready for this? Are we going to be able to pull this off? No one will see or hear from me until after October 2, 2009. Unless I am harassing you about the beef and beer, then you will hear from me more than you want to!

Shirts Are In

Extended Family

Let me start off with a quick little background story for everyone. I have been training numerous different martial arts since I was 5 years old. I have actually been involved in them since the day I was born, seeing as my Dad was already a very well known Tae Kwon Do black belt by then. During that time I have trained at schools all over the country and even some in other countries. A little over 2 years ago I decided to focus solely on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai. I trained at a gym for a few months before I found BJJ United in Jenkintown. I was hooked the second I walked in the doors.

Fast forward to January 2009. Jared Weiner, my BJJ instructor called me about something and I informed him that my mom had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. He didn't hesitate to tell me that whatever I needed, he would be there. Lots of people say things like this, few actually follow through on their promise. Needless to say, Jared is one of the few that is actually down to do anything to help. The first step was to sponsor Robyn and I. But it didn't stop there, not even close. I got a call from Jared last night after class, offering to put our team shirts in the gym, sell them and donate all the money to the 3 day! This is just the beginning of what BJJ United has done for us, but I don't want blow their spot up to much.

Anyway, enough rambling. It just amazes me that after only knowing people for about 2 years, they are willing to do so much to help out. I truly believe that during hard times such as these, people show their true colors. And let me tell you the people at BJJ United have showed me that they are some of the greatest people I have ever met in my life. The place is just one huge family and is truly down for each other whenever, where ever, and for whatever.

Check it out for yourself: www.bjjunited.com

Hardcore Training

We are really picking up the training now. Time to put in as many miles as possible before the big 3 Day! We also just got our Team Shirts in. I will post pictures of them later, after I get back from training Jiu Jitsu

Peace Out Radiation

My mom just finished her radiation treatments and is now going back to teach full time starting this week!!!

Thanks For Making Us a Power Team

It's official, "Fightin' For Funbags" is a top power team for the 3 Day! It's possible to be recognized as a power team when each team member has raised a minimum of $3,330. This is a huge honor for us, especially considering that there are only 10 power teams in Philadelphia!!! Thank you to everyone who has helped us reach this fundraising milestone. This is just the beginning of our journey. Click on the picture below to see a screen shot from the 3 Day page. Look towards the bottom of the screen shot on the left hand side. Also, take a look at the top fundraisers in Philly!!!

We Are a Power Team!

It's hard to look this good!

Training Time

We got some good walking in this weekend! Our plan was to walk about 10 miles on Saturday, although we got nowhere near that, due to the weather and lack of time. By the time we were done, Brian looked like he dove head first into a pile of mud. We made up for our slacking on Sunday, when we did the art museum loop with Christine from BJJU. This was a great time and the weather was perfect. We got in 10 miles on the loop and of course a ton of streching! It's time to really step up our game now. We will be down in Avalon this weekend, hopefully we can get some training in on the beach also. Either later tonight or tomorrow we will put up some pictures from this weekend's training.

Of course we have raffles!

Robyn's brother was generous enough to donate this brand new snowboard for us to give away at the beef and beer!!! Not only will you get the chance to help find a cure for breast cancer by coming to the beef and beer, but you can get a ton of awesome stuff through our raffles. Just wait and see what else we have for you....We can't tell you everything now, that would be too easy. Stay tuned...

Beef and Beer

We will be hosting our first annual beef and beer on October 2, 2009 at the North Penn VFW from 8pm-12am. 2519 Jenkintown Rd. Glenside, PA 19038
Tickets are $25 ahead of time and $30 at the door. Hope to see you there!
Contact us for more info:
Brian 215-313-4192
Robyn 215-429-2832

What is the 3 Day?

Taking place in 15 cities in the USA, the Breast Cancer 3-Day is a series of three-day, 60-mile walks that raise millions of dollars for breast cancer research, education, and community health programs. Breast Cancer 3-Day participants raise a minimum of $2,300 and walk an average of 20 miles a day, educating thousands of people about breast health.

The net proceeds of this event fund breast cancer research, education, and community outreach programs. Since its inception, more than $400 million has been raised. As the primary beneficiary of the Breast Cancer 3-Day, Susan G. Komen for the Cure receives 85 percent of net proceeds, and the remaining 15 percent goes to the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund.

Lets start off with a little introduction

We are a two man team, both from the burbs of Philly.

Robyn likes long walks on the beach, puppies and the color green. While Brian prefers Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, and watching anything on tv that stimulates the mind. We started our relationship in January of 2009 and have been going strong ever since. We share many of the same interests and have too many things in common to mention. Unfortunately, there is one thing in common which not to many people have. Within the past 10 months, both of our mothers have been diagnosed with breast cancer. This is Robyn's mom's 2nd bout of this horrible disease and Brian's mom's only time. With the help of people like you we hope that this will be their last.

One thing that both of our mothers wanted to accomplish this year was to walk the 3 day. Realistically due to treatments of chemo that they have endured it is physically impossible for either of them to participate. One night we were sitting around, and on Brian's coffee table sat the information packet to register for the 3 day. We picked it up and the rest was history. On July 22, 2009, the team: Fightin' for Funbags was born.