Dogwood 5k

On a rainy Patriots' Day, the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce hosted the inaugural "Dogwood 5k" road race in the Briarcliff neighborhood of Oak Ridge. The relatively flat course wound through the neighborhood before entering the Emory Valley Greenway to loop back toward the start.

Despite the rainy conditions, Man-Cub had enough stamina near the end of the race to sprint the last 100m (leaving me in the proverbial dust!).

This was more than enough for him to earn a "3rd place" finish in the "14-and-under" age category -- a solid showing for a 7-year-old! :-)

After the award ceremony, the rain stopped and the clouds broke. So we decided to end our "Dogwood 5k" morning with a drive along Oak Ridge's "Dogwood Trail" on the crest of Blackoak Ridge -- the only officially sanctioned "Dogwood Trail" outside of Knox County. Since the dogwoods tend to bloom shortly after Washington DC's cherry blossoms, and hold their flowers for a longer period, this is one of my favorite months to live in the Secret City!