ACT Now!

Just got back from the San Diego All Crew Training (ACT). For many of us, this is just a day to rekindle year-old friendships and make a few new ones. So many of us have done this event so many times that learning how to put up a tent or that stretching is as important for us as it is for the walkers is old hat and, unfortunately, a little boring. So, we spend our morning trying to remember where we know these faces from -- which city, which year. It is the best part of ACT. We try to pay attention, but we end up drifting off into small groups and talking about past events, fellow team mates and what we are expecting for this year's monster shin dig.

This year's event in San Diego is humongous (sorry, no other word comes close). We cut off walker registration at 6,000. Last year we registered about half of that. The crew is similarly large and teams have had to cope with twice as many of everything -- gear and tent trucks, sweep vans, medical transport vehicles and, yes, Route Safety motorcycles. Our team is 23 strong this year, compared to 10 last year. We have chosen to break it into 3 smaller teams, one of which I will have the honor of leading.

So, to all my old friends who will crew in San Diego, thank you for returning. To my new friends crewing this year, welcome and look for me at next year's ACT and say "I remember you from 2005! San Diego, right?"