Great Strides!

I was planning on writing about Great Strides wayyyy earlier this week, but after the long trek out to the event, the walk and the trip back, I kind of lost Sunday. Then it was back to work for a busy week!

We were up nice and early on Sunday to make the almost hour and a half trip out to New Westminster. Getting there involved a bus, a train and THEN a community bus! It was also super dead at the train station early on Sunday and kind of eerie around the whole area. I thought it weird how all of their parkades were right on the water. (You'd think people might want that view for something.)

Eventually we got there and had to play Frogger to get across the street to the park because there wasn't a crosswalk in sight. Luckily, we made it! We found the event and registered, although this year I opted not to put a sticker on myself saying that I was walking for me. We also realized that maybe shorts weren't the best choice of attire because the wait to actually walk wasn't that warm! After a brief welcome, we were all off around 11:15 am. The walk was a 5k, making two loops around the park. If I was in London, where it was flat, this would have been no big deal, but there were plenty of hills on the route that made my sad, little chicken legs very unhappy! My super "supportive" boyfriend also refused to carry me or give me a piggyback the entire time . . . lame. What was even worse was that during the second loop, you could start to smell the barbecue that was being set up for after the completion of the walk!

Unfortunately, we had to wait a bit longer for the barbecue than expected. They were making rather extravagant Philly cheesesteak burgers: a burger patty and cheese slice on garlic buttered bread. It was really tasty, but after an hour of waiting for it, I probably could have eaten two . . . and that's a lot for me! We decided to head out after getting our sandwiches, but not until after I took a picture under the fun balloon arch! Then it was back on the buses. Getting to the train station again, we passed more than ten wedding dress stores on the main street. That kind of seems like overkill!

I want to say thank you once more to everyone who sponsored and supported me for the walk! If you didn't get the chance, guess what? You still can until June 24th!