Photos are here:

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

BEFORE MY START: My 10^th race, and 2^nd race of the March 5-6 weekend, was the LFR Memorial 5K Run held on March 6 in Shavano Park. This race was in memoriam of Lisa Starr Rosenstein (LFR), who passed away on May 2, 2021 in a tragic hit and run accident while out on her morning run. The course was held in Shavano Park as this was her neighborhood where the tragedy occurred.  Race start time of 8 a.m., with the start and finish from the grounds of a local Shavano Park business building just down from the corner of Lockhill Selma and De Zavala Road. A nice turnout for this inaugural event, as 400+ registered. There was also a nice turnout of  employees/police officers and firefighters/EMTs from the Shavano Park Police Department and the fire department. There was a pre-start ceremony with speakers that included Lisa’s father, if I remember correctly, and also Mayor Nirenberg.  The weather cooperated for us – no cold and no rain, but we did have a bit of wind, with overcast skies, 65-degree temp and humidity around 77%. I arrived on-site with about 45 minutes to go and got a few pre-start photos.   

ON THE COURSE – Out-and-back course. From the building where we started, we turned right out of the parking lot and went about 1/10 of a mile up to the corner of Lockhill Selma and De Zavala Road.  We turned right on De Zavala, proceeding down a hill, then up a hill, turning right into one of the Shavano Park neighborhoods. This is a very nice neighborhood with wide streets, really nice homes, and lots of room for everyone.  We wound around the streets in this area, going to our turn-round point and then came back the way we had come out.  This course has a bit of everything; small incline to Dezavala starting out; downhill and then uphill to the turn into the neighborhood; both flat places and inclines on the way to the turn-round point and back from it; and then downhill-and-uphill on De Zavala as we headed back to the finish. As we turned into the finish to head to the chute, we also climbed a very short incline – kind of like going up a ramp for the disabled – just before we got to the finish line. This is a very well-thought-out course laid out for us by Tony Garcia, and included a bit of everything, lol.  After doing the day before this one a 5K that also included some hills, my legs were feeling this one, lol.  So I just took kind of relaxed for this one and took a couple more walk breaks than I usually take to get a few more photos. I ended up with a chip time of 41:09, 8^th out of 16 in my 60-69 males group. I might have finished faster, but the people pushing baby joggers on the course refused to give me a ride when I asked. 😉  All good though; I met my two primary goals – finish standing up and no ambulance specifically waiting for me at the finish. 😊   After I finished, I got a few finish photos of some others on the course I’d been interacting with.

AFTER MY FINISH – Got some water and enjoyed a post-race bagel. Had a nice chat with two EMT techs at the event while enjoying my goodies, and we shared some stories and laughs. Then I wandered around getting a few more post-race photos and chatting with other participants.  The wind really started kicking up too, after we finished.  So glad that did not happen while we were on the course! Anyway, lots of smiles, lots of goodies, lots of laughs and – as my running friends who have known me for a while can tell you – lots of photos taken.

Epilogue – This 5K had a really nice turnout for an inaugural event. I don’t know if everyone who registered showed up, but there was a really nice crowd of both runners and walkers. The course, as noted previously, was really done well, very participant friendly as far as the route and space for everyone to maneuver, and a really nice area to be in. From my viewpoint, everything seemed to go very smoothly. I don’t know if this will become an annual event but I sure hope so, it is really a very nicely done 5K. Very nice quality tech-tee race shirt and a nice medal for all finishers. Race Director Lisa Soler and her crew of people helping her organize this one really did a fantastic job. MUCHO THANKS TO:  All the people that made this one happen for us; all the sponsors, the many volunteers out there for us, local race management company iaap for course set up, timing, results, etc; Lisa Soler/Soler Sports and her crew for getting this one all put together; the people at Crossfit Optimistic, where pre-race day packet pickup was held; Tony Garcia for the course; and all the police officers, firefighters, and EMTs who supported this one; and, of course, to Lisa’s family members, who were a big part of this one; and so so sorry for your loss. . If I missed anyone involved, my apologies.  Thanks to everyone who made this one happen for we participants!