Photos are here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Tfc6U1tqehZDdYXR6
BEFORE MY START: My 18th live race of 2021 was the first event of the e-Dragon SA Summer Series 5k, held on June 13th at McAllister Park in San Antonio. This is the first of a series of 4 races held over the summer. You can sign up for each individually or you can sign up for all 4, which gives you a discount of getting 4 races for the price of 3. This event supports scholarships for local deserving athletes. Race start time of 7:30, which is really nice, given how quickly it gets hot in San Antonio during the summer. Temp was still in the 70s’ with a high dewpoint, making it feel very humid, but the early start did help a bit. I arrived with about 45 minutes to start time, got my packet and then got a few photos before the start.
ON THE COURSE: We started at the Becken Pavilion – named for Al Becken, a runner and community activist who did a lot for our local running community and for this particular city park. One of the friendliest people I ever had the privilege of meeting. The course was pretty much off-road paved trails, with about a half-mile of it being on one of the park roads that was closed to the public. The course is very flat, making it an opportune one for those who want to shoot for a PR. There is also plenty of shade in this park. Just about the whole course was under tree cover at any given moment. I live very near the park so have run numerous 5Ks in this park over the years that had various course routes. This 5K, in my opinion, had the best laid-out 5K course I have ever done in this park, very well thought out. Definitely going to use this course on training runs in the future. I did my usual 8-min-run/2-min-walk thing (my darn arthritis won’t let me run nonstop anymore) and took photos along the way. Very enjoyable time on this course, chatting with friends, getting photos, seeing several deer, and also not falling down or running into something – I can be a klutz at times, lol. I ended up with a 37:57 finish time, averaging 12:15 per mile, and had negative splits too, nice. I might have finished a tad faster if I had not taken a couple of on-course stops to give a treat to some doggies I encountered along the way, lol, but it’s all good. I got 2nd in my age group. I think there were only 2 in my age group, lol. I’ll take it.
AFTER MY FINISH: Got some water and enjoyed a post-race banana and rested a few minutes while my pacemaker took my heart-rate down to normal level again. After that, enjoyed myself chatting with friends/other runners, and getting some post-race photos. Age group awards were handled nicely, with each placer getting a nice medal and a professional photographer took a photo, with an e-Dragon backdrop behind each person who placed.
Epilogue: Very nice event and, as noted previously, really nicely laid out course by Race Director Erik. Entry price of only $15, which is great, with an option to also purchase a Summer Series 5K very nice quality race shirt, reasonably priced. The first 100 who register for the whole bundle (all 4 races) get a free shirt. Post-race goodies included various fruits, water, etc. Very nice race venue, with nearby restrooms, water fountain, shaded park pavilion, etc. I would certainly do this one again and recommend it to others.
MUCHO THANKS TO: e-Dragon Productions, which pretty much picks up the whole cost of this event. Thanks to the Park Police officers who were out there for us at the two places were we were on an open park road and intersection crossing for just a few minutes. The trails we used were still open to other public users of the park, so thanks to them for their patience with all the 5k participants they may have encountered. And, of course, thanks to all the volunteers that worked with e-Dragon to make this one happen for all we participants.
Scottydog Reports 