Photos are here:    https://photos.app.goo.gl/t881pMsAPp5qQkCE9

Before The Start:   My 28^th race of the year was the American Hero 5K held on May 24^th at Comanche Park in San Antonio.  This was my 2^nd race of the weekend after doing the Hometown 5K the day before this one at McAllister Park in San Antonio, which had a very hilly course. This event was a multi-race event, with a half-marathon; a 25-K 5-person relay; a 10K Ruck event; and the 5K.  I arrived at Comanche Park a little after 6:30 pm, about an hour before the 7:30 start time.  I had already gotten my packet at the Friday packet pickup so after arrival, I enjoyed getting some pre-start photos while I wandered around chatting with other participants; supporters; race-day volunteers; my friends with event company iaap that did the timing and results for this event; and several of the race sponsors/vendors that had some booths set up.

On The Course: Prior to the start of the main events, there was also a Kids Run.  After that, all participants lined up for the race start. All participants from, regardless of which event they were doing, all started at the same time. There were 119 finishers for the 5K; 8 finishers for the 10K Ruck; 16 teams of 5 people each for the 25K 5-person relay (80 total participants); and 17 participants for the half-marathon, making a total of 224 participants for this event. The National Anthem was played, and then there was a Moment of Silence, giving thanks for those who served in the military, and in honor of those who made the “ultimate sacrifice’ while serving.  After that, all participants got started. I did my usual thing of run-8-minutes/walk-2-minutes and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks.   The course was done on the park’s paved greenway trails.  The start took us toward the park’s vehicle parking lot, where we turned left onto a paved trail that first took us past the parking area.  We wound to the left after that, going on a fairly flat course and then went downhill and under an overpass, with a view of Salado Creek on our left. After the overpass, we had some more flat terrain for a short while, passing by a water station.  After the water station the course went downhill. I saw some of my speedier friends coming uphill toward me as they headed back toward the start/finish area to either start their next lap, or finish up, if they were doing the 5K, which was an out-and-back. When I got to the 5K turn-round, I saw that my iaap friend, Jose of iaap was at the 5K turn-round; this good to see, as he’s been dealing with some medical issues, so I was happy he was feeling well enough to be out-and-about again. After my turn-round, I then headed back the way I had come out to finish my 5K. I was feeling pretty good – even though my legs were feeling a bit that hilly 5K the day before – and pretty much ran most of the last half of the 5K non-stop. I took one stop to take a photo from a bridge we ran over on the way out and then again on the way back – that darn thing shakes when several people are on it; and as I got nearer to the finish I saw my friend Krista on the course heading out again. I asked her if she was doing the 5K, and she jokingly said “Yes I am; 4 times!” lol. Well, that told me she was doing the half marathon, so I wished her luck and went on my way.  The last part of the course put us on a paved trail that took us past where the finish line was, and then looped us back onto a park service road and that road took us to the finish line.  Per my Garmin, I ended up with a chip time of 42:48 – 42:42 per the iaap timing, which is probably correct, as old-time Garmin 35 is a few seconds off, but I still love it anyway, lol. This gave me first place in my 70-99 males age group; I was the only one in this group, lol.

After My Finish:  I got some photos of others finishing and/or continuing their event if they were doing one of the longer events.  The finish line volunteers gave me my finisher medal and my “running crush” volunteer, Stephanie, gave me a nice iced-down towel to help cool down. I then wandered around getting some after-photos of happy finishers and their supporters; some of the vendors/sponsors supporting the event; and others there.  I also enjoyed sitting with my friend, Gilbert, and chatting with him. If he’s at a race I’m doing, he always has a banana and a chair for me to relax in for a little while. There were plenty of vendors there who had all kinds of goodies and drinks, including Shiner Bock Beer; these watermelon-flavored and lemonade-flavored drinks that helped really well in rehydrating; Kiolbassa Sausages; and much more.

Epilogue: E-Dragon Productions, owned by the Burciaga Family, always does a great job with their events. My experience with friend and co-owner Erik is that he is always striving to make everything “just right” for all the events his company puts on; we’re all human and sometimes mistakes are made – none that I experienced personally for this event – and the e-Dragon events are very well done; although, lol, some of Erik’s events are quite challenging as they often have some really serious hills included in the route – especially when the event is at Pearsall Park. I don’t think Erik even remembers this, but I once took a photo of the word “flat” in the dictionary and gave Erik the definition, as apparently, he doesn’t know the meaning of the word, lol. Glad he has a good sense of humor. His wife, Kristin, is also very involved and she is great too. Mucho thanks to them, and to all the people involved that made this one happen for we participants, e.g.,  all the many volunteers; all the sponsors and vendors; the law enforcement officers at the event for us; the “lead bike” people for the faster participants; our MC, Anthony Zamora who did his usual great job; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all!

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.