Photos are here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ny5Py8mB2u4xfHTA8
Before The Start: My 34th race of 2022 was the Freedom 5K held on July 2 at the Poteet Strawberry Festival fairgrounds in Poteet, Texas, starting at 8 a.m. Put on by the TRiCity Road Warriors and the Poteet Rotary Club, this event featured a 5K and a 1-Mile walk. Start time of 8 a.m. 52 finishers for the 5K and 4 participants for the 1-mile walk. I arrived shortly after 7 a.m., got my packet, and then chatted with friends there and took a few pre-start photos.
On The Course: The course started and finished in front of the Veteran’s Pavilion at the fairgrounds on the paved access roads. This was a combination of a loop and out-and-back course. We headed in the direction of Highway 16, toward the fairgrounds access gate. Once there, we made a left turn and proceeded along a road that took us up a hill that was not too steep, but fairly long. This was followed by a down incline that took us to an intersection where we turned right to go to a turn-around point. This road was fairly flat at the start, with a couple of hills along the way; first a downhill incline; then uphill past the course water-stop, and an uphill just before we accessed a flat part of the course that took us to our turn-round point. Once there, we went back the way we had come out. Back at the intersection we proceeded straight to go to the finish line. Out of the 14 in my 18 – 99 males age group, I finished last with a chip time of 42:03. Having signed up for 2 other races for the 4th of July holiday weekend, I pretty much just took it easy for this one, stopping for more photos and also to have a chat with the very-nice guy local Constable at the turn-around point after I found out he was also a cancer survivor. Of course, this killed my time, but what the heck, I enjoyed myself.
After My Finish: Did a cool-down walk and then returned to the finish area to get a few photos of others finishing and a few photos of some of the happy finishers. After that I sat for a bit, relaxing and chatting with friends and watching the awards ceremony. Awards were given to the Top 5 male and female finishers and to the Top 3 in the Kids Division age group (5-17). All finishers got a pretty nicely designed finisher medal.
Epilogue: A fairly small event that had a lot of competition from other races. There were quite a few holiday races all over the area, from down in Poteet, up to San Antonio, and beyond, even up to Bastrop, which puts on a very popular 5K event. Also, lots of 4th of July races scheduled on the holiday, so probably several runners/walkers may have opted to wait until that day. Even so, this was a nicely organized event with a good course; very nicely designed quality race shirt and finisher medal; and treats too; participants got to take home a tub of ice cream – H-E-B Creamy Sensations – of various flavors, nice. Good location for an event, with ample parking, indoor restrooms, and an interesting area to be in. I would certainly do this one again and would recommend it to others. Hopefully, it will grow in the future. Much thanks to all those who made this one happen for we participants: all the sponsors, race volunteers, race director, the Volunteer Fire Dept guy that was there for us, the Constable at the halfway point, and any others involved that I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all!
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