With thanks to Maria Murphy for indulging us with this report when asked. Congrats Maria for walking the 5K for a great cause.
Last Wednesday 9th Sept. SOSAD Navan held their first 5K event in Navan. In August I received an invitation to the launch of the event and I had put the date in my diary with the intention of taking part. It was advertised as 5K for Life ‘An hour of your time could help save a life’. On Wednesday none of the pals were free to join me but I was still intent on going to Navan. I had registered for the event via Precision Timing (no going back now ) with the intention of walking it, so I headed up to Blackwater Park in good time for the 7pm start. Blackwater Park is situated on a 28 hectare (66 ace) site at Abbeylands, Navan between the Windtown Road and the River Blackwater. The park was opened in 2013 and more recently this year the playground was opened.
Wednesday was a lovely evening and it wasn’t long before I met someone I knew from Navan, who was also walking the 5K. The start line was outside the park on the main road and there was great support from the Navan gardai. The park has previously been used for 5K events and the circular route is simple with the route taking the road outside the park to the traffic lights, turning left towards the Round O Pub on Flower Hill, left at the pub and we continued up the road (R162) until we turned left again at a junction which brought us past the Aura Leisurelink. The pool is only around the corner from Blackwater Park so from there it was a short walk back into the park and the last km was a circuit of the park. It was a lovely walk and we chatted the whole way. The stewards and gardai were all very friendly. There was more walkers than usual (buggies included) which made the event more enjoyable. It was a good 5K walk in 50 minutes with dusk appearing as the event finished. Just over 100 people took part in the event. Hopefully as this was their first run/walk in Navan they will have more participants next year.
