https://photos.app.goo.gl/qEP4eCw3S4rg7L8j9
Before The Start: My 32 race of 2022 was the Dos Rios 5K Splash and Dash on June 18. Put on by Athlete Guild, this event is a 5K starting and finishing at Cypress Bend Park in New Braunfels, Texas. Start time of 8 a.m. There was also a Kids Run before the main event. This 5K gave you the option of doing a regular 5K or doing the 5K with ‘splash’ included, for which those participants stopped along the course to do a chute splashdown in a pool via an inner-tube, and then continue along the course to finish the 5K. Probably very cooling for those participants as it was already in the upper 70s by the time of our 8 a.m. start. Gotta love running in Texas spring/summer, lol., and we have had, since May, a record number of 100+ degree days. Crazy. Having done this one before I knew parking was kind of limited in the park; so I arrived early, got some nice parking close to the start/finish, got my packet and then still had time to take a short nap in the car before the start. I also did wander around before we started and got some pre-start photos.
On The Course: Started near the park pavilion and went down by the nearby river. The portion going alongside the river was nice-and-scenic, but also had to watch your footing as it was a bit of dirt-and-rock of-road trail. It was fairly short, so we soon exited off the trail into one of the park parking lots and then went up a short hill. This took us to the park’s main entrance where we exited the park and then did a route through a neighborhood. A very hilly neighborhood. Near the halfway point, we runners who were not doing the Splash kept on going while the Splash folks veered off to get their inner tubes and do down the chute into the water. Some of these folks were pretty speedy too; even with their splashdown, they still soon caught up and passed my slow self, lol. After the turn-round, the route back to the finish was the same way we had come out from the start, only now in the other direction. Yay, more hills, lol. Once back in the park, we did the trail thing again then headed for the finish after getting back on pavement on the other side of the park. I did a 41:02 chip time and was 2nd in my age group. There were only 2 IN my age group, lol. The other guy finished in 21 minutes and change. So with only 2, I was in the Hare and the Turtle group. Bet you can guess which one I was.
After My Finish: Dang it was warm. After I finished, I made sure to walk a bit and got a few photos of others coming into the finish and some of the happy finshers . I get a little bit dizzy after I stop running after a race – may be making the blood drain from my head into my legs – so find walking around for about 5 – 10 minutes after that helps a lot. Still felt pretty heated though, so went and sat in my car for about 15 mintutes with the a/c on high while drinking some water. Ahhh, much better! I then went back to the finish area and enjoyed chatting with friends and other participants and getting some more photos.
Epilogue: Very nicely put-on event by Race Director Sherri and her Athlete Guild crew. Nice quality race shirt and nice age-group medals (10-year age groups). Some pretty nice post-race goodies, including beer. Park with a pavilion was nice since you could get into some shade post-race if you so desired. Nice views of the river from this park; it was to our left on the way out and to our right on the way back. I’ve done this event before, I would do it again, and I would recommend it to others. Much thanks to Athlete Guild and all the race volunteers; all the police officers out there for us on the open roads; all the race sponsors and vendors; to the rocks and roots on the trail part of the course for not making me fall down; and to anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all. Oh, this is a dog-friendly event too, but with this weather, please be sure Fido is hydrated, etc.
Scottydog Reports 