The 5K Walk

So my participation in the "run for the cure" event at Maisonneuve Park wound up being a stroll rather. My team opted towards the walking option instead of running. It took us over two hours to complete the five-kilometre path while some sprinters completed the course in twenty minutes! I was getting pretty tired after just three kilometres but watching this woman keep at it encouraged me.   

There were 20,000 participants overall.    Together, over $2 million was raised. Our team personally raised nearly $8000 dollars. We're aiming for $10,000 next year.

I'd consider doing it all over again. Partaking in a positive cause feels pretty good. But there are some things I'd want to avoid. The obligatory registration process that same morning was hectic. Thousands of people scrambled all over the place trying to figure out where to go. There weren't any visible signs outside the park for participants to follow. 

At the end of the course there were two white tents set up where complimentary snacks like bananas, bagels and cheese were distributed to participants. It was much needed at that point. But up ahead there was a much larger, colourful tent set up by the CIBC sponsors exclusively for its employees. They had an entire barbeque station available to them. Some participants were disappointed by the segregation, especially kids who didn't understand why they couldn't have what some of the other grown-ups were having. How do you explain that to children?

Anyway, I'm signing off with a few more photos from the Sunday, October 3rd event: