https://photos.app.goo.gl/yKKAcjAJHTRHz6ii9

Race photos are at the link above.

BEFORE MY START: My 11th race of 2021 was the “Life Is Good 5K/10K” held on May 1st at River City Church in Selma, Texas, and incorporated city that borders onto the City of San Antonio city limits out near Retama Horse Racing Track. This race supports the San Antonio Pregnancy Care Center, “a life-affirming ministry helping people facing unplanned pregnancies.” It provides a variety of services, including lab tests, counseling, etc. Some crazy weather the night before the event – thunderstorms, high winds, and a heck of a lot of rain. Race morning it was still raining, but then cleared out for a bit, so the race went on as scheduled. I think there were quite a few registered for this one – someone told me something like 435 initially – but the turnout was smaller than that, probably due to the weather situation. Temp was in the low 60s, but the dewpoint was crazy high with all this storming, so it was pretty humid. Even so, still a fairly nice turn-out, and Mother Natured did cooperate. I rained just a bit before the start but then stopped; so after that we did not get rained on the while time we were on the course or for the post-race events.

ON THE COURSE: 10K and 5K participants started together, after the Kid’s Race was done. The course is all on River City Church grounds – the place and its property is huge – starting near a stadium, then going down a hill. After we went out the entrance/exit gate of the church grounds, we then proceeded along a route that took us around the very large parking lot areas of the church. Not too scenic, but effective since, as noted previously, this place is huge. We did not get rained on the whole time, but there sure was a lot of standing water on a couple parts of the course, so a lot of splashing in these spots. Overall, though, not too bad at all. I did my usual run/walk thing, taking photos during my walk breaks, and ended up with positive splits. I really have to work in getting that reversed, lol. My pacemaker did fine – thank goodness there was no lighting, people knowing I have a pacemaker might have avoided me, lol – and despite being slower than thick mud transported on the shell of a turtle, I felt pretty good and did fine, finishing in 38:03, averaging 12:34 per mile. The course was also just a tad short – several of us had 3.01 on our timers/garmins – but all good, still a nice outing.

AFTER MY FINISH: Really nice after-party with Kiolbassa sausage wraps, bottled water, flavored water, Gatorade, various types of nutrition bars, coffee, and several kinds of cookies including my favorite, oatmeal raisin, bananas and other fruits, and more. With my mouth munching away, I wandered around chatting with friends and other participants and taking some after-photos.

Epilogue: Very nicely done event, organized by Race Director Charysse and her crew of supporters and volunteers. Finisher medal to all finishers and a nice quality tech tee race shirt. Very nice location for an event, with lots of room for everyone; actual indoor restroom facilities. It there had been inclement weather before the start, nice, very large, covered stadium and also other covered areas to be under. This is a very nice facility. I’ve done this event in the past; would do it again; and would recommend it to others.

MUCHO THANKS TO: Race Director Charysse; our announcer/MC Bob, who did a a great job; and all the sponsors, volunteers, supporters, etc. who made this one happen for all we participants. Also, thanks to River City Church for the use of the property; and, of course, anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all!