Photos are here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4twqFLL6aSr9E3CT7

Before The Start: My 41^st race of 2022 was the Remember The Alamo Beer 5K held on August 6 at The Den in La Vernia, Texas.  The main event was a half-marathon and half-marathon relay and there was also a 10K. This race is part of The Alamo Beer Series put on by top-notch racing company Scallywompus, with sign up available for all 4 races with a nice discount, or one can sign up for each individually. The series is an 18-week long building up for people training for half and full marathons. The events started progressively, with the half and half relay beginning at 6:30 a.m., the 10K at 7:15 a.m., and the 5K at 7:55 a.m.  I had a few issues on race morning (my annoying cancer), so started out a bit later than I had planned but arrived in time to see some of the 10K folks heading out onto their route. The half folks were long gone. Thankfully I had picked up my packet the day before, so was able to get a few photos before the 5K start.

On The Course: 5K started right on time. Scallywompus is pretty good about this, very prompt with their events getting started when posted, unless there is some reason for a delay beyond their control, like a medical emergency or something like that.  Mother Nature continued her Texas Baking Session, with a temp already in the high 70s by the time we 5K folks started.  I have not run this course in a while, so found out the route had changed since I had last done it.  A much better change, too, well thought out, and very superior to the previous 5K course. The old 5K course was more of an out-and-back, but this one was more of a loop course – my personal favorite type of course – with lots of room for everyone.  Course was done on paved asphalt, with accessibility to nearby sidewalks too. Any traffic near the course was pretty light, and the drivers I encountered at any given point were all pretty polite about us being out there.  I did my usual run/walk thing, taking photos during my walk breaks, and going pretty much way slower than I normally go (stupid cancer), but all good, just happy I was still able to be there. I ended up with positive splits – which I expected – finishing 5^th out of 8 in my 65-69 males age group, with a chip time of 42:48.  

After My Finish: One funny thing, lol; got my finisher medal and put it around my neck and was walking around chatting with other finishers when our MC and my friend Anthony, announced only a very few minutes after I finished about the medals that they were magnetic. Uh oh, and here I was wearing mine right near my pacemaker. People with pacemakers should not have magnets near their pacemaker, as magnets make the pacemaker slow your heart-rate down. This was drilled into me by my doc after I got my pacemaker implant. So I quickly found a couple who had a stroller -the guy pushing his child and the kid in the stroller each got a medal – so I donated my medal to “Mom’ so each member of the family could have one. I also told Anthony about this, since I have a few other runner friends with pacemakers, and he kindly made an announcement about that, so thank you Anthony. I was not upset about the magnet thing, I thought it was kind of funny, and told one of my friends, now I have a really good excuse for being so tired post-race, lol.  I did get a few munchies, but had to behave myself – no beer, no sausage, etc – as I have a procedure coming up on Tuesday and the prep for it is the same as a colonoscopy, so am on a limited diet until after that.  Too bad, because Scallywompus throws one heck of an after-party and it included Alamo Beer, sausage wraps, and more.  Our host company, The Den, also has a fantastic breakfast menu, so I missed out on that too. However, it is what it is, so just had to deal with it.

Epilogue: Very well-done event, as all the Scallywompus events are.  And they are not kidding with their motto “Come for the race. Stay for the party.” They throw one heck of an after-party. All kinds of goodies, including various fruits and veggies, bloody mary’s, the mentioned sausage wraps, and more.  There was also a self-serve photo booth thing; and the staff of The Den, bless them, served up the beer and more. I chatted with the manager, Jennifer – who I found out is also a cancer survivor; God bless all we survivors – and thanked her profusely for some personal assistance she had given me. Very nice lady, with a great sense of humor.   Very nicely designed finisher medal – even though I can’t have one; joking, Bart and Tony, joking, no big deal – and very nice quality race shirt.  Scallywompus events are very popular, so got to see lots of friends at this one, both human and canine. Yes, these are dog-friendly events. They let me in, didn’t they?  Mucho thanks to all who had a part in getting this one done for we participants: all the many sponsors, volunteers, all the staff of The Den; officials and people of La Vernia for allowing this event to be on their turf; any police officers out there for us; Race Direct Tony and MC Anthony, who did their usual great jobs; and, although I missed it by arriving too late, I assume there was a Color Guard for The National Anthem, which is usually done for all Scallywompus events, so thanks to those folks too; and anyone else I may not have mentioned here.  If you have never done a Scallywompus event, you are missing out. Give it a try!