Photos are here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/As87bUmvpnpjHyHK9
Before The Start: My 30th race of 2021 was Race 2 of the San Antonio 5K Summer Series, a series of 4 5K events for runners and walkers that raises funds for a scholarship for a locally selected youth athlete. This event is annually put on by e-Dragon Productions, a top-notch race management company that offers several different races over the year, some of them QUITE challenging. Iaap, another top-notch company, did the course setup, timing and results for this event. Race 2 was held on Sunday, June 4, at Lady Bird Johnson (LBJ) Park in San Antonio. Nice turn out with 161 finishers. Packet pickup from 0600 – 0700 at each of these events. A kid’s run then kicks things off, with the main event following after that, usually between 0715 to 0730, so a nice early start, which is definitely appreciated with the hot days we have been getting in San Antonio. I arrived around 0630, got my packet and then got a few pre-start photos.
On The Course: After the Kid’s Run, we started around 0715 or so. We did one loop around the traffic circle in the park and then went down an incline to access the park’s off-road paved trails. The course was out-and-back, going past a business area known as Los Patios, and then to a turn-around point near the frontage road of local highway Loop 410. After the turn-round, back the way we had come out and then finishing by going around the park’s traffic circle one more time before going over through the chip-timing finish line. I took it pretty slow and easy for this one, after pushing myself a bit at the 5K I had done the day before this one. The course at LBJ park is pretty flat with just a few inclines along the way, nothing you can really call a hill. This park also nicely has a lot of shade, which was a blessing with all this hot weather and ‘abundant’ sunshine we’ve been getting lately. Temp was already in the 70s by the time we started. I did my usual run/walk thing and took photos during my walk breaks. There were only 4 people in my 65 – 69 age group and I ended up 3rd with a chip time of 40:22, averaging 13-minuute-miles.
After My Finish: Cool-down walk for a few minutes and get some water into me. I then enjoyed chatting with other participants, and also the supporters and volunteers there, and getting some post-race photos. Some nice post-race goodies of water, various fruits, and other sundries. Age group in 5-year increments, which is nice, allows participants a better change of placing. As an example, for the race I did the day before, my age group was males 55 to 100, lol, so I knew I had no chance of placing at my slow pace.
Epilogue: The Burciaga family, owners of e-Dragon Productions – and they also have a really good print shop too, where I get all my printing done for my race shirts – always put on a really good quality event for all the races they manage. Nice quality race shirt for these events. The age group winners also get a nice, unique e-Dragon coin as the age group placer medal. It has a coin number on the back which, if I remember correctly, can be used for a discount when you sign up for other e-Dragon events. This is the second year I’ve done this series of events and they really are nicely done. I certainly will continue to do them and would recommend them to others. Mucho thanks to e-dragon, all the race volunteers and sponsors, and my race volunteer friend Gilbert for bringing all that tasty fruit he has to each of these events. Thanks also to Camp Gladiator representative – I think it was Camp Gladiator – who led the pre-race warm up session for all who wanted to do that. Thanks also to anyone else involved that I may not have mentioned here.
Scottydog Reports 