Walking the walk

When there is a 5K available with a race Harry is running, I usually walk it. The one today was a 5K Race, 5K Race/Walk, and a 5K Walk. We took a bus 3 miles from the finish line - there were about 800 participants - and waited for the starting gun. There were about 7 porta-potties there, and at the last minute, I decided to go use it one last time before the walk started - the lines were finally gone!!

When I returned, literally everyone had crossed the starting line - in fact, the PrimeTime people were getting ready to dismantle it. So I hustled over it and got going - I was literally last in line!! It kind of looked like this!

I decided to jog a bit and was surprised at how long I could keep that up. Finally one knee started to express its displeasure at being used in such a manner, so I went back to walking. I eventually passed quite a few people, but I was pretty much at the end of the race - which is not a problem for me.

As you can tell from this photo, the route is not scenic at all. We crossed over freeways, and walked through areas of boarded up houses and evangelical "one-man" churches. After a bit we got into the retail and industrial section of Fontana, but there was nothing scenic at all. I was surprised at how this affected my walking.

I have done this walk several times, but usually I hook up with some other walkers and our conversation keeps me going. There was no one to hook up with today - they were all ahead of me - so I was left to my own devices. And I thought about how much I love walking around Monrovia because there are beautiful trees, gardens, lawns, houses - even the retail areas are charming.

I will try not to take them for granted in the future!!