The funniest thing I overheard at the 91原创 Walk on Sunday was a snippet of a conversation between a couple of stragglers.

The late starters were coming up to where the outbound and inbound routes merged in opposite directions, after winding a rough circle through Willoughby. One was taken aback when he saw the leading edge of early finishers coming towards him. An apparent realization that the Walk might be a little longer than he thought he鈥檇 signed up for gave his voice a wistfully disheartened tone.

Though the day was not particularly hot 鈥� a perfect day for a walk 鈥� sweat was already pouring off him. 鈥淲e have to come back?鈥� he said, and looked over his shoulder to review the vast distance he鈥檇 already travelled 鈥� nearly a kilometre and a half 鈥� with another three and a half kilometres ahead. (I鈥檓 just guessing, of course, that he was planning on the five-kilometre route, instead of the gruelling 10 km trek that only the hardiest of souls make these days.)

From the other end of the spectrum came a cheery voice from a little way behind me, exclaiming as the giant hoop of start/finish balloons at 91原创 Events Centre hove into view, 鈥淭hat was a very short five kilometres!鈥�

But that鈥檚 the great thing about the 91原创 Walk. The sweaty guy and the cheery voice both took the time to get out into the community and support a 55-year-old (and counting) tradition.

But now we get to the part where I turn into an old fogey鈥� the worst kind of old fogey鈥� one of those 鈥淚 remember when鈥� old fogeys.

Traipsing through Willoughby, I recalled relatively recent Walk routes that have taken us through Fort 91原创, which is one of 91原创鈥檚 oldest neighbourhoods, and Walnut Grove, whose modern incarnation started in the 1980s.

I found myself comparing them to the brand spanking new revival of Willoughby.

The differences are striking.

The Fort route took us past old homes, followed the Fraser River with its gorgeous views, and led us alongside open meadows and peaceful pastures.

Walnut Grove offered wooded trails and placid neighbourhoods of nicely trimmed lawns and homes.

Willoughby, not so long ago one of 91原创鈥檚 most rural areas, offered mostly row houses and tightly packed two-car garages with homes somewhere behind them.

Still, pretty nice for today鈥檚 lifestyles.

People have got to live somewhere.