Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/AXpXoyvdQtasWa2N6

Before The Start:   My 63^rd race of 2022 was the Santa Antonio 5K put on by local running group San Antonio Roadrunners, the largest running group in the San Antonio area. This event, held on Dec 18^th, supports cancer research in hopes of someday finding a cure.  Besides the 5K, there was a 1-mile walk and a Kids Elf Run.  The event started and finished at local brewery Alamo Beer near the Dignowity Hill area of downtown San Antonio. Start time of 9 a.m.  This is a very popular event, with the majority of participants wearing Santa Suits, which are included in the race registration.  I can’t wear one because the thing makes me itch like crazy, so I got a small in my packet and am going to donate it to a kids group. The weather was a bit more cooperative for my Sunday 5K than my Saturday 5K the day before, with temps a bit higher – in the 40s, and a lot less wind.  I arrived with about 45 minutes to go and got a few pre-start photos. The brewery grounds were packed with both Santa-suited and non-Santa-Suited participants, and several in other types of costumes. There were 548 finishers for this one, so that is a lot of Santas, lol.

On The Course:   We started on a street in front of the Alamo Brewery, then made a left onto Nolan Street.  We were on this street for a short while and then turned onto Burnet Street..uh oh, lol. I’ve run in this neighborhood before and knew after that turn onto Burnett, we were going to have a major hill climb….and so it was  After cresting the hill, we then proceeded to a turn-round point near the end of the street, and then went back the way we had come out. After going down the hill on Burnett, we then went to the historic Hays Street Bridge – yay, another hill, lol – climbing up the ramp, then crossing over the bridge; down the other side for a short way to a turn-round, and then back the way we had come, recrossing the bridge.  We then made our way back to Burnett Street, and had to climb that darn hill a second time. After making the turn-round one more time, we then went straight down Burnett Street, crossed over Cherry street (I think it was cherry), and then went back to the Brewery to finish up. This sounds like a lot of out-and-backs and repeat areas we ran in, and it was, but I get it.  There is a lot of ongoing construction in this neighborhood, with several street closures, so the folks that laid out the course did a pretty darn good job of getting us a route that had 5K distance. I actually did a negative split for Mile 3 – go figure,  lol – ending up with a chip time of 40:44, 6^th out of 9 in my 65-69 males age group.  I am now 5 weeks out from having finished my last cancer prostate treatment and feeling pretty darn good. I still have a ways to go to full recovery – doc told me the side effects alone could take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to resolve, especially since I had some other health issues too – but I am starting to slowly feel like my old pre-cancer running self.  Yay!     

After My Finish: Got some water, ate a banana, even enjoyed a beer from the brewery, and then had lots of enjoyable time chatting with friends and other participants and taking several after-photos.  Santa was there too – lots of Santas were there, lol, but this was THE Santa with Mrs. Claus, which the kids enjoyed – shoot, we all did –  and there were a whole lot of vendor booths, goodie booths, games, live music, food and drinks available from Alamo Brewery; dog-friendly event, so the jar of dog treats I brought with me started emptying really fast, lol.  This is a very well-organized event by the San Antonio Roadrunners, and a very enjoyable one – even with all those darn hills, lol.

Epilogue:   I will certainly do this one again and would recommend it to others.  Very nicely done; nice finisher medal for all finishers; good course – all those out-and-backs, you see your friends and fellow participants quite a few times, and it makes for great opportunities to encourage each other on – and lots of post-race activities and goodies. For the age group winners, the award was a unique holiday bulb/light for your holiday decorative purposes; even the race bibs – smaller than a usual race bib – was holiday decorative. Mucho thanks to all the people that made this one happen for we participants, including all the sponsors and vendors; Alamo Beer for hosting – thanks to owner Gene and his crew! – all the police officers out there for our safety; our MC Anthony, who did his usual great job; the sound and music guys who entertained us; Santa and Mrs. Claus for being there; iaap web who I think did the course setup and results; and anyone else involved that I did not mention.  Thank you all!