KBTV

WatercoolerDiaries::“Breast Cancer Awareness”

The part I love most about going on location to report a travel piece is all the other stories I uncover while am at it. As I mentioned in Monday’s blog, my Managing Editor, Rachael Joyner, and I hit St. Pete for the weekend in order to turn a two-part piece in advance of the Republican Presidential Debates to be hosted by CNN and YouTube in the peninsular town on Nov. 28 — which we, at KBTVonline, will be covering.

It was Wednesday (last Wednesday) and I hadn’t yet booked a hotel. I was tapping away at my Mac about how a professor at the University of Kansas was blaming the trappings of technology as the reason why roughly 25 percent of American adults are depressed. Instead of tapping away at our Macs and snuffling down Prozac or Zoloft, Dr. Ilardi was insisting we return to our caveman roots — get exercise, sleep more, socialize around the campfire (like they used to) — to prevent isolation and obsession over negative thoughts. Or something like that.

I was still sorting out the research when Rachael texted me. It read: “htl rm in st pete? salt h2o all over pants. eroding beach story. don’t’ forget htl room. we will need to sleep. st pete. this wkd.”

I later learned she was working a story about beach erosion in Boca – in a cream pair of pin-striped dress slacks – and scribbling a quote into her reporter’s notebook (she writes for the Sun-Sentinel) when a wave hit the not-yet-so-eroded beach and splashed her up to her mid-thigh.

At that point, the text message didn’t give me the entire story, but I did get the message — loud and clear. “Kate, get a hotel room in St. Pete for the weekend!”

“Ten-four!” I thought.

After surfing the Web, I phoned America’s Best Inns St. Petersburg. I spoke to a lovely woman — the proprietor — who gave me lots of good info about the town, so I booked a double room for one night. I texted Rache back: “Done. Amer bst inn St Pete… kinda b & b-ish.”

Rachael and I arrived at the Inn to find out we would be given a “double room” with one queen-sized bed because the rooms with two singles were promised to women who return every year for the Susan Komen Race for a Cure, a yearly event to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. About 14,000 runners and walkers gathered at Vinoy Park for the event. These photos hardly capture the excitement and color we saw.


The race was at 7 a.m. Rachael and I had just finished shooting a standup on the water at sunrise. We were pooped but jazzed. We headed downtown to Central Avenue for the race. I was so moved by the experience of watching all these people — in all different shapes, colors and sizes — advocates in their own right. And I hated the fact that I simply felt like a voyeur. I think it was when I saw a gentleman with a sign pinned to the back of his shirt that read, “I am running for YOUR mom,” that I decided to get involved.

We returned home Saturday afternoon, and by Tuesday I hit Google, clicked through to Susan G. Komen Race for a Cure site and formed a team — the KBTVonline team. We’re set to run/walk the 5K in Miami on Oct. 20. Click through to our team page and take a look!

Also, don’t forget to check into the “WatercoolerDiaires” for our two-part series: “Racing for a Cure” on Oct. 25 and 27.

posted by INSIDE FAU @ 8:45 PM