Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/UveBw1GCz96iFG8J9

Before The Start:  My 58^th race of 2022 was the Boerne YMCA Turkey Trot 5K held on Nov 19, 2022 at the Town Center in Boerne, Texas.  There was also a 10K, a 1-Mile Trail Walk that went along part of Boerne’s paved Riverwalk trail, and a Kids run. This was the 11^th year for this event and so far I am on a streak for this one, having done 11 out of 11.     Pretty nice turnout considering the weather forecast predicted a temp for this day at 41 degrees, wind and rain, and a ‘feels like’ temp of 37 degrees.   The results show 384 finishers for the 5K and 85 finishers for the 10K.  When I left home in San Antonio it was coming down pretty good.  When I got to Boerne it was cold and a tad windy, but no rain at all upon arrival.  I had gotten my packet the day before so went around and got some pre-race photos.  As I really HATE cold weather – 55 and up is my perfect running temp, lol, and I’d rather run in 90 degrees than in temps below 55 – I felt pretty comfortable as I was layered out with a base layer of some men’s running tights; then a pair of my running shorts with all my pockets – have to be able to carry the dog treats 😉 – then a pair of nice warm running pants.  I had an Under Armour winter singlet base layer shirt, then a long-sleeved Rockface gear winter shirt – I love these Rockface shirts they are SO warm and also have wick-away properties -and then my race shirt. Two pairs of socks to help keep my feet dry; my winter knit cap and a pair of sturdy winter gloves I’d gotten from a camping store. I was quite comfortable, layered up like Charlie Brown, lol, in the Peanuts Christmas show – except I was actually able to move. 

On The Course:  The course was a loop course, one loop for the 5K, two loops for the 10K.  The 1-mile walkers started first, followed by the 10K folks, and then we 5K folks started about 10 minutes after the 10K.  Right before we started, it did begin to rain, but did not last that long, maybe about 10 minutes. We started in front of the Bank of America building by the Town Square, made a short loop around part of the square, then through a nearby parking lot and then onto paved streets.  Although it did not rain on us during the race – at least it was not raining where I was on the course the whole time – you could tell Boerne had gotten some rain because there were quite a few places along the way that had large areas of water covering the streets.  The course was mainly on paved roads in some very nice Boerne neighborhoods.  Mostly flat, with 2 inclines along the way, one just past the halfway point, and the other one as we came back to the finish line. I tried to run on the paved streets as much as possible, but at various places the standing water on the street was pretty large, so, for safety’s sake, we had to sometimes move up onto the neighborhood sidewalks to bypass these very large puddles.  I don’t like cutting courses, as it does not give you the full 3.16 miles, so during my walk breaks, I often ran BACK a little bit to get some photos, and then moved forward again, so I would get the complete distance.  I think I may have overdone it, lol.  After I finished, my Garmin showed I had done 3.3 miles.  As I headed to the finish, the two lead guys doing the 1OK passed me. I jokingly told them their 10K time is better than my 5K time, lol. Out of the 6 people in my 65 – 69 age group, I ended up dead last – nothing less than I had expected at my pace, lol – with a chip time of 42:26, averaging 13:39 per mile.  Yes, I am slow, but for this one I was also one happy dog, being able to still run after just finishing the week before 15 months of treatment for prostate cancer and finding out at my last treatment appointment on November 9 that I now have a CLEAN bill of health and beat my cancer.  YAY!  Still dealing with some side effects – my running pace going way down from what it used to be is one of them but, hey, I’m still out here! – which doc told me can possibly last up to 2 years – but overall, annoying, and sometimes uncomfortable as they are at times, they are pretty mild for most of the time, so I am pretty lucky, and still running and doing races.

After My Finish:  After I finished, I got a few photos of some others coming into the finish, and got some photos with friends, and took one of the official photographer too.  They take all these photos of us, so I took one of her so she could have her own.  I wandered around post-race chatting with other participants and getting some more photos.   It did start raining on us again after the finish, and the wind picked up a little and I finally started feeling the cold a bit.  Our MC and announcer gave us the news that because of the crazy weather and to get everyone out of the cold – especially the kids, probably – that the awards would be mailed to the winners – awards given to the Overall winners and the first overall in each age group.  So everyone started packing up and leaving.   I got back to my car, got out of my wet top-layer stuff and changed into warm dry shirts I had brought.  Then, since I am a member of the Y, I drove to the Boerne YMCA – with my heat on full blast, which felt great – and took a nice HOT HOT shower….oooh that felt so great! – then got into the other dry, warm clothes I had brought for the drive home. Before I left, I enjoyed chatting with the two very nice YMCA employee ladies at the front desk for a bit. I really like the Y and membership allows me to visit different YMCA’s all over the place and run a whole lot of various running routes, and then be able to shower and change without having to drive home wet-and-sweaty. Very convenient and my personal experience is the Y staff at all the ones I have visited have always been helpful and friendly.

Epilogue:  11-for-11, my streak for this one continues! I even did it last year –  #10 was a bit tougher as I was still being treated at that time – and I plan to continue doing them for as long as I can. It really is a quality event. Outstanding race management company iaap does the course setup, timing and results; really nice quality long-sleeved race shirt; dog-friendly event; very nicely thought-out route; and plenty of post-race goodies from the vendors/sponsors, including draft beer; sausage wraps; cowboy breakfast (not sure if they had that this year, but it’s good) and lots more. Check out my blog – use search term Scottydog Reports – for the photos I took of this event; and no, I get nothing for this; I just do it fun so people can save their photos if they want to; no ads or annoying popups on the site; just my race reports. Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants:  The Boerne YMCA staff and all their race volunteers; the police officers on the course for our safety; all the many vendors and sponsors; the patience of the residents along the course as we invaded their space; and iaap for what they do; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned.  Thank you all!