New Albany Walking Classic Half Marathon, 9/7/2014

Today I accompanied Jim McGruder to New Albany, Ohio where he participated in the New Albany Walking Classic Half Marathon. That is 13.1 miles. The weather was absolutely wonderful. In fact it was so wonderful and cool that I broke out my jacket I wear most of the time in the winter. After the sun came out it warmed nicely and eventually I took the jacket off. New Albany, Ohio is just in the northeastern section of Columbus, Ohio. Jim was participating in this event with several of his team mates from the Cincinnati area. We went to the Marriott Courtyard hotel where many of the walkers were staying and rode the hotel shuttle to the competition area which was about a mile away. Race officials announced that they had 3500 walkers in the competition this year. The following are the photographs I took of the event.

 Marriott Courtyard Shuttle Which We Rode To And From The Event.

 A News Crew Is Interviewing The Cincinnati Walkers. The Cameraman And Announcer Are On The Left Of The Photograph. Jim Is The One With The White Cap On And Yes That Is A Trash Sack He Has On For Warmth. Warm And Easily Disposable. You Can See He Is The Only Male Among Lady Walkers. I Understand They Consider Him The Thorn Among The Roses. What Do You Think?

Interviewer Talks To One Of The Walkers From Cincinnati.

 Interviewer Talks To One Of The Walkers From Cincinnati.

Start Finish Line. The Blue Mat So See Across The Street Is The Electronic Timer. Each Participant Wears A Number Bib In Which Is Embedded A Chip That Records Their Time 

As They Cross The Start/Finish line.

 Local Band Plays Before The Race Starts. A Young Lady Sang The National Anthem.

Local Band Plays During The Prerace Time Period.

 Walkers Warming Up Before The Race.

 A Drone Covers The Event.

 It Never Fails You Try To Take A Picture And Some Dude Walks In Front Of You.

 Prerace Photograph.

 Prerace Photograph.

Concessionaires Set Up For Providing Free Goodies To Walkers And Information About Their Product.

 More Booths

 One Of The Early Walkers Crosses The Finish Line. Volunteers Stand Just Past The Finish Line To Hand Them Water, Their Participant Neckpiece And A Bag To Put Their " Goodies " In As They Walk Through The Concession Area.

 This Is Jim A Few Minutes After The Start Of The Race.

 A Good Crowd Was In Attendance To Cheer The Walkers On. People In The Bright 

Yellow Shirts Are Volunteers.

A Lady Crosses The Finish Line In Roughly 2 Hours And 22 Minutes After Starting

Another Lady Crosses The Finish Line In Roughly 2 Hours And 24 Minutes After Starting. Perhaps Expending Almost As Much Energy As The Walkers Were The Twenty Or So High School Cheerleaders Who Cheered And Tumbled Constantly For Well Over Two Hours.

 Look How Happy This Lady Is As She Finishes In Roughly 2 Hours And 24 Minutes 

 Jim As He Finishes In Two Hours And Twenty Five Minutes. My Times Are Based On My Camera Times.

 All Smiles And Happy The Race Is Over As They Wear Their Neck Piece Showing They Finished. Yes I Agree There Is A Thorn Among The Roses.

On the way back to West Chester we stopped at Bob Evans and enjoyed a wonderful meal. We all thanked the Lord for safe travel and safety during the event. Remember as I always say the Lord love you and so do I.