Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/A3X3aszeaPdnumyj6     

Before The Start:  My 27^th race of 2026 was the Hometown 5K held on May 23 at McAllister Park at Pavilion 5, where the main dog park is located at the park.  After you enter the park from the Wurzbach Parkway, this is the first pavilion area you come to; it is across the street from the main baseball fields at the park.  In addition to the 5K, there was also a half-marathon; 10K; and a 1-mile walk, as well as a Kid’s Run, done before the start of the main events.  All events started together at 7 a.m.  I arrived about an hour before start time, got my race packet, and then wandered around chatting with other participants, friends, volunteers, supporters, etc., and got a few pre-start photos.  This event was put on by Best Races Company which, per their website, “has a mission to help people set goals of a 5K, 10K, or Half-Marathon”.  The company operates in more than 25 cities.  I’ve done a few of their events in the past, and they are always well managed, with some very nice routes – some a bit challenging, like today’s, with all those hills, lol , and some courses a bit easier,

On The Course:  The weather looked like it was threatening rain, but Mother Nature was kind and did not rain on us, but it was warm and humid, with a temp of 69 degrees and 90% humidity. All courses were out-and-back and all participants for all events started together. The course was done on the paved greenway trails at the park. I did my usual run/walk thing and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. The route took us past the park’s major dog park on our right and then we went downhill going in the direction of The Wurzbach Parkway. An underpass took us below the parkway and then onto a paved greenway trail where we made a left turn, heading in the direction of Ladybird Johnson Park. After coming out from the underpass, the hills began. We climbed a fairly steep hill, went around a curve, and continued to climb up another hill. Once we crested this hill, just past Mile 1 marker, we then had a level path for a short bit – a very short bit, lol – and then all participants headed down a long hill, as we proceeded toward our respective turn-round points.  The 10K and half-marathon participants ended up going into Ladybird Johnson Park for their respective turn-rounds. We 5K participants did no go that far; we stayed on the long downhill, went around a curve and then had a short downhill before reaching our turn-round point. We then went back to the finish line in reverse of the way we had come out. The toughest part of the course was after we went through the Wurzbach Parkway underpass and came out on the other side; since we had come downhill from the start, the return to the finish was a long, steady continuous climb until we finally reached level ground with about ¼ mile to go. From the 5K turn-round, I mostly ran all the way non-stop, ignoring my Garmin watch beeping at me for walk breaks; and taking just some very short stops – less than a minute each –  to get a few more photos. I ended up with a chip time of 44:05, averaging 14:13 per mile. Per my garmin, my fastest mile was a negative split of 12: 54 for Mile 3. My longest mile was Mile 2 at 15:27 – those darn hills on the way back, lol – and Mile 1 was 13:55.  My time was good enough to place 3^rd in my 70-74 Male Masters age group, which was nice, but I met my major goal, at my age: finish standing up and no medical people waiting specifically for me at the finish line, lol.

After My finish:    I got my finish line “swag” medaI, did a short cool-down walk, and then wandered around chatting with other participants and supporters and getting some after photos. This is also a dog-friendly event, so I was very popular with the dogs present, as I gave them dog-treats, with the permission of their humans.   There was no awards ceremony. I found my results by asking one of the Best Races staff members and he looked it up on his phone for me. Results for this event are also posted on the RunSignUp website.   If you did place, then you got a nice pin for placing in your age group. I’m not sure what the overall winners got.

Epilogue:  I enjoyed doing this event – even with the hills, lol – and Best Races folks and their volunteers did a nice job of organizing everything, from what I observed. This may, of course, not be the viewpoint of all participants, but from my personal interactions for this event, I was just fine and everything went pretty smoothly.  I would definitely recommend this event to others and would do it again; and I’m sure will do some more Best Races events in the future as long as I am able to. Mucho thanks to all who helped make this one happen for we participants:  Best Races folks; all the many volunteers out there for us; the EMT folks on hand “just in case”, as well as the police officers there for our safety; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Also, as the course was open to park patrons not participating in this event, much thanks for the patience of other runners, walkers, and cyclists doing their own thing, as we invaded these park trails for a long while.   

Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it safely and have much success. If you’re a fellow runner/race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out; love chatting with my fellow runners, and if you are so inclined, we can get a photo together for my race report I do for each of my events I sign up for. Stay safe, stay happy, and enjoy what you do. Cheers.