https://photos.app.goo.gl/PHxU5b3Q7F12HNKA8
Race photos are at the link above.
BEFORE MY START: My 9th live race of 2021 was the Run With Purpose 5K held on April 24, starting and finishing at Landa Park in New Braunfels, Texas. This event supported the New Braunfels Christian Academy school. 170 finishers,, 76 male and 94 female Start time of 8:30 a.m. Very nice day for it, temps in the low 60s, blue skies, sunshine, no wind, humidity around 54%. I got a late start so arrived with about 20 minutes to start time. Just enough time to get my packet, get my bib number on and just a few photos right before we started.
ON THE COURSE: Not the normal 5K course for a Landa Park race, as the road by the golf course was under renovation, so closed to the public. The route today took us out of the park and past a baseball field across from the park and then into a really nice residential area across from the park. Wide streets, very little traffic, lots of maneuvering room. I dropped my darn music player so had to go back to get it, so that kind of killed my first mile, lol. Oh well, not like I was going to win anything anyway, lol. Settled in after that, did my usual run/walk thing, with photo taking during my walk breaks. Course was pretty flat the whole way except for one small incline near the Mile 2 marker. As we headed back to the park to finish up, I checked my Garmin and thought, “What…no way do I run/walk this fast anymore.” I assumed the course would end up short and it did, with 2.7 miles instead of a full 5K. Even so, nicely laid out course – just need to add a tad bit more to it – in a really nice area. I was 6th out of 9 males in my 60-69 age group, with a finish time of 35:19, averaging 11-something per mile. First mile was my slowest and I had negative splits after that, nice.
AFTER MY FINISH: Got some water and a banana, sat for a while enjoying the park atmosphere and my post-race goodies. Then off to get some photos of happy finishers and supporters. Also got a few of the park area. Have not been here in quite a while and forgot how really pretty and relaxing this little park is.
Epilogue: Very nicely organized event, that included a Kids Run after the main event. Nice quality race shirt and medals to the top 3 in each age group. Lots of goodies too. Chik-Fil-A was handing out breakfast biscuits; there was quite a large selection of fresh fruits/veggies, nutrition bars, and more. I think there was also coffee somewhere, but did not pay much attention to that since I can’t stand the stuff, lol. Several vendors too, showing their products, and had some free give-away items. So nice to run again in Landa Park. Definitely going to make plans to run here more often, and a very nice place to relax post-run. Definitely would do this event again, and would recommend it to others.
MUCHO THANKS TO: Athlete Guild for the race setup and timing; race director and all the volunteers and sponsors that made this one happen for us, as well as to the New Braunfels/Comal County officials for allowing a live event again in the park during these times. Thanks also to the New Braunfels police officers that were out at the intersections for us, keeping us all safe; and to anyone else I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all.
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