The 2013 Overnight Walk was a Success!

Thank You All for Your Participation in the 2013 Washington, DC Overnight Walk!

The 2013 Overnight Walk was an enormous success and participants from around the country joined us in the nation’s capitol to help show the nation that suicide and mental illness must be brought Out of the Darkness.

With more than 1,700 Walkers at the event and out on the route and 190 Crew Members supporting them along the way, the Overnight participants were a very large and visible crowd in the streets of Washington, DC throughout the night.

Training Tips for the Final 3 Weeks

Get Moving and Keep Training for the 2013 Overnight Walk!

We are officially less than one month away from the 2013 Overnight Walk and our Walkers are training around the country on their own and in groups to better enjoy this amazing physical event!

Whether you have been training actively for the last several months with our E-Training Guide, or you have been intending to start and haven’t gotten into a regular rhythm, we have some tips and tricks to get you set up for success on event day.

 It’s Not Too Late to Start Training!

If you haven’t been doing much training and walking yet, there is still plenty of time to get on track and help your body get acclimated to the distance and physical rigors of the walk.

Start a training schedule today and get started with walks that increase in distance as we get closer to the event itself, join or start a Training Walk in your area, or walk with friends and family around your neighborhood after work each night – start walking today!

The physical portion of the Overnight can seem daunting at first, but with a bit of training and pre-event discipline, it will be a much easier experience on-event.

Walk Often, Walk Smart

Walkers who have participated in the Overnight before will tell you that preparation and training in the weeks immediately before the event make a huge difference in your overall experience. While the Overnight is not an endurance event, it is a much longer walk than most of us are used to and we are walking during a time period that our bodies are typically not used to physical effort and exercise.

Walk Often - Getting your body used to walking long distances is the single most important part of training, and incorporating longer walks into your daily and weekly schedule will help you do this. Walk often and increase the distances of your walks steadily and you will find that your body will begin to acclimate to the longer distances with less and less effort.

Walk Smart – Be sure that you are always stretching before and after walks to avoid injury and discomfort, always hydrate before, during, and after your walks to get your body used to the idea of taking in fluids while exercising and always be aware of your body’s condition during and after your walks. If you would like more training tips and best practices, click here and take a look at the training resources.

Quick Training Tips

• Make a plan and stick to it
• Walk regularly and increase your distance
• Sign up for the E-Training Guide for ideas, route advice, and training tips
• Join or start a Training Walk
• Always hydrate and stretch
• Call or email your Walker Coach if you need ideas or have questions

Need Training Help or Advice?

If you have any questions about training, need help from your Coach, or about the Overnight Walk in general, please contact us at 888-THE-OVERNIGHT (888-843-6837) or coaches@theovernight.org and we will be glad to help.

Help Us Make the 2013 Overnight Walk A Success.

Not Walking in the 2013 Overnight? Join us and Crew or Volunteer.

The Overnight Walk is made successful each year with the help of the many dedicated Crew Members and Volunteers that help us both on the route itself and at the Ceremony Site. Assisting Overnight staff with everything from Rest Stops and Route Safety to Check-in and Registration, our Crew and Volunteers are an integral part of the event.

Crew Members and Volunteers are often friends and family of Walkers participating in the event and these are a great way for everyone to be involved in different ways.

Take a look at the different roles we still have available at this year’s Overnight and let us know how you would like to help.

Join the 2013 Overnight Crew

Crew Members for the Overnight Walk are formed into smaller teams and help us with all of the safety and logistic aspects of the Overnight Route. Supporting Walkers throughout the night with water, snacks, medical help, and logistic support, the Crew Teams are greatly appreciated by the Walkers each and every year.

We’re still looking for Crew Members in:

• Licensed Medical Professionals for the Medical Team     (Should be licensed in Washington, DC)
• Midnight Snack, Rest Stops, and Quick Stops
• Route Marking and Clean-Up
• Motorcycle Safety
• And More

Get in touch with our Coaches at 888-843-6837 or email our Crew Coordinator directly at Roze.Mota@theovernight.org and get all the details about joining Crew for this year’s Overnight Walk.

Volunteer at the Ceremony Site

Our Volunteers are a small army of several hundred people who help the staff set up and manage the Ceremony Site on the day of the Overnight event. Volunteers can be with us for one shift on either Saturday or Sunday, or work with us throughout the night and be present for both Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

We still have Volunteer roles available:

• We need licensed Medical Professionals to help us check over Medical Forms at the Check-In area and Ceremony Site (Licensed anywhere in the U.S.).
• We’re still looking for Volunteers for a variety of shifts and roles on Saturday afternoon (lasting until about midnight) and Sunday early morning (from midnight until 6:00am).
• We’ll also need help in the week before the event to canvass all of the neighborhoods that the Overnight Route goes through. If you can spare a few hours during the week and can help us let the community know what to expect from the Overnight Walk, let us know.

Get in touch with our Coaches at 888-843-6837 or email our Volunteer Coordinator directly at Kimble.Snyder@theovernight.org and get all the details about Volunteering with us at this year’s Overnight Walk.

Join Us for the 2013 Overnight Walk Season and Grow Our Movement!

Join the Overnight Community and Learn Everything You Need to Know About This Amazing Event at Our Special Grow Our Movement Event in Washington, DC.

Join the Overnight Staff and the community of Walkers, Crew Members, and local Volunteers as we host our first Special Event of the 2013 Overnight season on April 7^th.

The Overnight Staff will be on site in person to help answer any questions that you have about your participation in the Overnight Walk and we will have special presentations of the Fundraising Workshop and Information Meetings during the program to help you get all the information that you need.

2013 Overnight Grow Our Movement Event

Sunday, April 7, 2013

The Fridge: 516 8^th Street SE

Washington, DC 20003

12:00pm - 2:00pm

 Join us on 4/7/13 at The Fridge and:

• Meet Your Walker Coaches
• Learn About the Day-of-Event Activities
• Get Fundraising and Training Tips
• Meet Other Walkers in Your Area
• Win Raffle Prizes
• Be a Part of the Overnight Community

RSVP to Join the Overnight Community Today and Join us on April 7, 2013.

If you have any questions about the Kick Off Event or about the Overnight Walk in general, please contact us at 888-THE-OVERNIGHT (888-843-6837) or coaches@theovernight.org and we will be glad to help.

New Announcements for the 2013 Overnight Walk

Our Host Hotel and a New Fundraising Program!

Our 2013 Overnight season is well under way and we have continued to receive a fantastic response to the event and are getting more participants every day. In addition to the Information Meetings and Fundraising Workshops that are taking place every week, we are also adding new Training Walks and have begun sending out the E-Training Guide to help all of our Walkers get in shape for the event.

This week we have two new announcements:

• Our 2013 Host Hotel
• The New E-Fundraising Guide

Get Your Overnight Journey Off to a Great Start

Participate in a Fundraising Workshop and Kick Start Your Fundraising Campaign!

The 2013 Overnight Walk season is in full swing already and we have had many of our Alumni Walkers register for this year’s event along with all of the new faces we will be seeing in the Washington DC area this year. We have many resources to help all of our Walkers make their fundraising and training regimens simple and fun and we encourage everyone to take advantage of all of them starting today!

Join us for one of our FundraisingWorkshops or InformationMeetings and get all of the information you’ll need for this amazing event along with tips on what to expect, how to make your fundraising campaign simple, training tips, and more.

Fundraising Workshops Coming Soon

We have made attending a Fundraising Workshop or Information Meeting easier than ever before and will be setting up and adding new dates for telephone, in-person, and webinar versions of these informative and helpful presentations for participants around the country.

Upcoming Overnight Events

The 2013 Overnight Season is Here and We Have Special Events Coming Up Soon!

The 2013 Washington, DC Overnight Walk season is under way and we have Walkers registered from across the country. We are looking forward to another great season and an amazing event in our nation’s capitol this coming June and have several exciting events planned in the next few months.

Be a part of the Overnight Community and join us for the Kick Off Event, one of the Preview and Training Days, or any of the Training Walks that will be taking place around the country in your local communities. These events are a great way to get connected with other Walkers and Crew Members while you learn all of the details of this exciting event.

Upcoming Events in the Washington DC Area:

The 2013 Washington, DC Overnight Walk is Here

Join the Overnight Community in 2013 and Discover What a Difference a Night Makes!

The 2013 Overnight Walk season has started and we are excited to have the event hosted in our Nation’s capitol this June 1-2, 2013!

We are already welcoming back the Overnight community in the form of our many Alumni Walkers and Teams in addition to all of the new friends and faces that will be joining us this year in Washington, DC for the Overnight Walk.

Join the movement this June and help AFSP put the issues of suicide and mental illness on the national agenda.

New Tools and Exciting Events

We have an all-new set of resources and tools for all 2013 participants and have been getting

Preparing for Next Year’s Overnight Walk

The 2013 Overnight Walk Is Closer Than You Think

The 2013 Overnight Walk itself is still several months away, but the planning has already begun for many of our recurring teams and they will tell you that it is never too soon to start planning for your team’s fundraising and event details.

Many of the Overnight’s Teams are already making preparations for fundraising events later in the year.

Get Started Early

Planning a few details with your team early on will help make things simpler in the long run for your whole Overnight experience and will help you get to your fundraising goals without a problem and without much worry or stress.

A few tips for starting early:

Save a Spot for the 2013 Overnight Walk

Sign Up for the Save a Spot List and Save on Registration Fees

With the 2012 Overnight Walk still fresh in our minds and our spirits lifted by the encouragement, support, new friendships and bonds we formed in San Francisco, many of our Walkers have already begun their preparations for their 2013 Overnight journey and have been clamoring for news about the date and location of next year’s event.

While we have not announced the location or specific date of the 2013 Overnight Walk yet, the details will be coming soon and we want to be able to get the updates out to you as soon as possible.

Save a Spot for the 2013 Overnight Walk

Because we do not have the location and date information just yet, we have created our Save a Spot promotion and will gladly send out updates and details just as soon as we have them to those of you that are on our Save a Spot list.