Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/utkNkXpuhP2D3rx69
Before the start: My 29th race of 2023 was the inaugural Power of Caring 5K on May 11th. This event was held on the campus of Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) put on by the hospital nurses, which was appropriate as this past week was Nurses Appreciation Week. I really wanted to do this one because I owe the BAMC staff so much for so many things and certainly do appreciate the BAMC nursing staff that was a big part of taking care of me. BAMC is my servicing hospital for my military retirement and the staff there have literally saved my life over the years, via procedures that include inserting my pace-maker; prostate cancer treatment; skin cancer treatment, along with Wilford Hall staff on this one; putting in the mesh across my abdomen for my double hernia; and, of course, all the scheduled tests and lab work to make sure I continue being healthy and to things in the early stages if I have any recurrences. I signed up for this one as soon as it was announced. The start and finish was at Freedom Park, a really nice park on the BAMC campus. The park opened on the BAMC campus in 2013. It includes a walking/running trail of about a half mile or so; picnic area; volleyball “court’ on natural grass surface; restrooms; exercise stations; picnic tables and benches; and even a small amphitheater. The race start time was 8 a.m., with packet pickup on race day only. This event was also open to community runners/walkers and a message was sent out to participants that if you were not military related – e.g., no ID card, etc – then to provide requested info so the gate guards would know you were doing this event and give access to the base. Race start time was 8 a.m., with packet pickup on race day only. I arrived at the gate around 7:15 and noticed the guards were directing a few drivers back to the visitor center, so apparently not everyone heeded or got the email. I’m not sure how many were registered for this one, but the results show there were 75 total finishers, so not a bad turn-out for a base run/walk open to the public. I got my packet and then got a few pre-start photos. Since it was the Power of Healing 5K, several people had on various super hero costume items.
On the course: Hey, this is the military, so we started right on time, lol. One of the race volunteers gave us our instructions, and then The National Anthem was played and then we got started. I did my usual thing of 8-min-run/2 min walk – can’t run nonstop anymore because of my arthritis these days – and took photos during my walk breaks. We began the 5K by going around the trail, then exited the park via a frontage road near the park. The course then took us up toward BAMC – the top of which we could see in the distance – and then we made a left turn and proceeded along a road to that took us to our turn-round point, which was a closed back gate on the campus that was near the I-35 frontage road BAMC gate, which we could see from our turn-round. I noticed the turn-round was at the 1.3 mile mark, so was wondering how the organizers were going to make up the distance to get a full 3.1. I soon found out, lol. After going down this road we had come up, we then made a left turn that took us past one of the BAMC parking lots and then turned onto a BAMC driveway entrance, running directly toward BAMC. We passed by the BAMC main entrance and then went back down the driveway on the other side. At the end of the road, we turned left, and then went down to a road that took us past the Center for the Intrepid, a rehab treatment center for Wounded Warriors, etc. We then crossed the road and could see Fisher House – a lodging place for family members of patients who are being treated at BAMC for various things – and then did a short out-and-back that brought us back to a road to the side of the Center for the Intrepid. This took us back to the road we had first started on and that took us back to the start/finish line. I ended up with a chip time of 41:15, good enough for 2nd place in my 60-and-up males age group; there actually were only 2 in my age group, lol. The other guy in my age group was way ahead of me, finishing in 32 minutes and change.
After my finish: Got some water and did a short cool-down walk, and then wondered around chatting with finishers and supporters and getting a few photos of what I call the “Happy Finisher” photos since more people seem to be smiling after they are done than before and during, lol. I also continued to hand out some dog treats that I had left. I was very popular with the canines, lol. During the awards ceremony I sat with friend Deborah, who also placed in her age group. She and I have known each other for quite a while and over the year we do a lot of the same events. She may do even more events in a year than I do.
Epilogue: For an inaugural race, this one was really well done. Excellent pre-race instructions sent to all the participants; really nice course – very flat too, with only a few small inclines, so a good course to shoot for a 5K PR for all you speed demons out there, lol. All the organizers and volunteers were awesome. I don’t think there was a race shirt – if there was I probably just missed that – and there were finisher medals for all finishers. This is a dog friendly and stroller-friendly course. The course roads are pretty wide, so there is plenty of room for all. Traffic is still open on some parts of the course – especially on BAMC’s main road which we were on for just a very brief time – but all the drivers I saw at any given time were pretty patient about it all; a couple of them, after reading my Cancer shirt even gave me a shout-out, nice. Post-race there was a table full of some goodies and a spinning game where you could win some items displayed on a picnic table; my spins kept landing on “Coffee” which would make my coffee-fanatic running friend, Woody, laugh like crazy since he knows I can’t stand the stuff, lol, not even the smell of it. All participants got finisher medals, and the age-group placers got an additional medal. I don’t know if they will hold this one again – the Race Director, when she thanked us all for being there told us she would not be here next year, so I assume she is being reassigned which, of course, is part of the military life at times; so I really do hope someone steps up and we can have this one again. I’d really love this to become one of my regular To Do! Races each year. Much thanks to all the people that made this one happen for we participants, e.g., all the organizers, volunteers, sponsors, donors, our race director and our MC and all the other BAMC staff members and anyone elsle helping with this one; the vehicle drivers on the course for their patience with us; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all so much! Hope to see you next year at this one.