With flag in hand, Kate Middleton signaled the start of a 100-meter race Monday, as the countdown to her April 29 wedding entered its final stages.
Middleton, 29, met with young athletes and royal fans at running track during the second stop on her tour of northwest England. She and Prince William were greeted with bouquets and shook hundreds of hands at Witton Country Park.
Sarah Fawcett, 39, was there with her kids Harrison, 6, and Maddison, 3, and said it was a thrill to meet the couple – just as she had met William's parents, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, nearly 30 years ago.
"I had only just got over the shock of meeting William and the next thing I was meeting Kate," she tells PEOPLE. "She has good eye to eye contact, and the smile on her face is as if she had come just to see me."
Middleton also impressed 19-year-old athlete and Olympic hopeful Holly Bleasdale. "[Kate] said she'd be supporting me when I go to the Olympics," Bleasdale told PEOPLE. "They were quite easy to talk to. They were very interested in my training."
Inside the pavilion, William and Kate were handed a heart-shaped courting cake, a local specialty made from two layers of shortbread sandwiched with raspberry jam. Traditionally, the cake is baked by the bride-to-be for her fiancé.
Earlier, William, 28, praised his wife-to-be as he kicked off a special award to reward young people's contribution to the community.
"I know that I am very fortunate. I have the support of my family and friends, I do a job I enjoy ... and I have Catherine," he said.
Kate Middleton, Prince William Get Cake & Flowers at Last Tour Stop
Kate Middleton and Prince William
Tim Hales/AP
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