Anchors Aweigh 5K run / walk

The local civic association has conducted a 5K run / walk for the past couple of years and I entered this year's event.

Of course, this is the winter that never ends and it was snowing as I walked down to the pavilion for check-in.

The event is well organized by Blue Cheetah who have proper timing equipment. The owner lives in the community.

If you click on the link, you can see the results.

Cars lined up near the pavilion. The organizers asked the locals to walk down and leave space to non-residents who were participating.

Check-in. I was given a T-shirt and a label with some sort of RFID device to track when I passed through the starting gate and when I finished.

Participants who got there early. It was quite cold, damp with some wind.

The gang heads up the hill to the starting point.

Champing at the bit. Eventually, there was a blast of a horn and 50 or so of us headed off. Most were runners but there were a few walkers including a lady who had gone through two knee replacments.

At every corner there was some cold volunteer with a sign who made sure we went the right way.

Arrow mark to let us know we were on track.

Despite the cold, they had actually handed out a couple of bottles of water. I declined.

Since I do a 5K walk around the community most days of the week, I doubt I would have needed a drink even if it was hot. 

Real class or should I say real arse. He's a very nice bloke actually.

The route kept to the back streets of the community and avoided the main road Route 272.

Being a kind person, I thanked each of the sign holders for standing out there in the cold. I started out walking fairly slow but when I realized that I wasn't warming up, I increased the pace so that I would get warm. My usual walk is more difficult since it includes a couple of steep hills so except for the cold, this route was easy.

It made a change.

The final turn around. This street is part of my usual walk.

Approaching the finish line.  There were a couple of people who cheered me across the line.

Considering I walked slowly at the beginning and took these photos with my camera, this is a pretty good time. The other competitors who finished walked down the hill to the pavilion. I was worried about standing around in the cold and catching a chill just before my trip to Turkey, so I walked home and had a hot shower and a hot cup of coffee.

In total I walked about five miles.