Manulife Heart & Stroke Ride for Heart, Toronto, ON

Today I participated in the Manulife Heart & Stroke Ride for Heart ... it's the first time I've done it.  The company I work for was putting in a corporate team and I signed up (so the registration fee was waived).

You could do a 25 km, 50 km or 75 km bike ride or a 5km walk ... I did the walk.  There were about 12,000 bikers and 2,000 walkers.

It started and ended at the Enercare Building.

I checked in and got my teeshirt and bib.

My teeshirt

My bib ... my father passed away from a heart attack in 1971

A buffet meal was served before and after the event.

There were lots of things to check out.

I ran into a former colleague, Liz ... nice surprise to see her!

The walk started at 10am.  Alan Frew of Glass Tiger was on stage as we headed out.

There were lots of friendly volunteers along the way.  This fella was handing out balloon hearts.

And we're off!

We walked through Exhibition Place

One km done!

We went down the ramp onto the Gardiner ... and a band was playing

The water was appreciated

We headed east along the Gardiner

The "We the North" sign was a popular photo opp

The turnaround point

Snacks and juice

Heading west at the turnaround point

Heading west

Three kms done!

High fives!

And the band was still playing

Back in Exhibition Place

Four kms done ... one more to go!

Almost done!

The finish line is in view!

Finished!

Alan Frew was still on stage when we returned.

Everyone received a medal.

I would have done a 5km walk today regardless (to get my daily 10,000 steps done) so doing it for the Manulife Heart & Stroke Ride for Heart made it that much better!  I look forward to doing it again next year!