Runners come from near and far to participate in the Shelter Island 10K but at heart this annual event is a home-grown, community affair — from the local volunteers at pre-registration to the Boy Scouts' post-race clean up.

And this year the 10K Run organizers have come up with another way to involve more Islanders in the event itself: the community 5K fun walk.

A first in 2005, the walk replaces the competitive racewalk of the last 15 years and is designed for walkers who may not feel up to doing six miles but would like to have a more relaxed try at three. The idea is to open up the walk to more local people, Shelter Island Run Board President Cliff Clark said, so they can be an active part of the fun and "the joy of the event."

The fall 5K Run & Walk, now in its sixth year, attracts a significant number of Shelter Islanders. In contrast, there were only 37 participants in the racewalk last year with fewer than a dozen from Shelter Island.

The racewalk was added to the annual run event in 1990. A popular contest in England for 400 years, it was introduced in the U.S. in the 1800s and became a men's Olympic event in 1904. Two years after the racewalk came to Shelter Island, women racewalkers competed for the first time in the 10,000-meter Olympic racewalk.

Those hardier walkers who want the challenge of the 10K can still racewalk the 10K at the same start time as the runners, although they won't be competitively scored.

For this year's 5K walkers, the course for the community fun walk has been modified for the shorter 5K length but participants will walk the first and last miles on the same course as the runners in the 10K, finishing with the runners on the school's playing fields.

The staging area for walkers is also on school grounds and the start is scheduled for 4:30 p.m., exactly 30 minutes after the runners set off.
5K walkers will receive ribboned medals for finishing, a T-shirt and the complete race packet. The entry fee is the same as for the runners — $25 — although walkers under age 14 will pay only $10.

The pre-race response to the new 5K community fun walk has been very positive, Cliff Clark said — there's been "good feedback."

Mary Cordts, a racewalker last year, said the new 5K walk is a "great option for a lot of people." Although she gets plenty of exercise, walking her dogs several miles each day, she said that for many, women in particular, the difference between a 10 and 5K walk is really significant.

Jen Card, who pushed herself — and a stroller — to complete the 10K walk course in 2004, said she would sign up again this year. "It definitely was hard," she said, but "I have a good time doing it." She thinks shortening the course will make it more conducive to families participating.

There may be some who will miss the timed division for 10K racewalkers. Janine Mahoney, for example, who posted a good finish in last year's racewalk, said that she had looked forward to the challenge of the competitive walk division but added that the new walk would be a good addition.
Whether participants run or walk — for exercise or fun or to beat the clock — Ms. Card mentioned what may be the best incentive of all: "doing it for a good cause," she concluded.