Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/LdjkykTYRvS7fCaA7

Before The Start:  My 7^th race of 2023 was the San Marcos 5K put on by Scallywompus running group on February 5^th.  There was also a Half Marathon and a 10K. Start and finish at Tanger Outlet Stores iin San Maros, TX, about a 40-or-so minute drive from San Antonio. This was my 2^nd 5K of the weekend, after having done the San Antonio Stock and Rodeo Show 5K the day before.  I arrived with about 40 minutes to start time, picked up my packet – and found my race Bib number was “1”, lol; wow, were they way off on that – and then wandered around getting some pre-start photos and chatting with friends and other participants. The Half Marathon started first, followed by the 10K, and then the 5K started at 8:35 a.m. The weather was pretty cooperative with just about no wind, a temp in the mid-40s, pushing up to the low 50s, and plenty of sunshine, but sometimes ‘watery-looking” sunshine as we had a lot of mist and fog at places along the course, with the humidity being pretty darn high.

On The Course:  All the courses were HILLY, with the half-marathon folks having the most, of course.  All the courses were out-and-back.  All courses went through part of the Tanger Outlet Parking lot, taking us to a paved ‘country road’ – still open to traffic. As we exited the parking area we made a right turn and almost immediately began climbing our first hill.  After we crested this, we had a long downhill, and then another uphill to our turn-round point.  Naturally, after the tur-round, that long downhill became a long uphill for us on the way back.  We then had a short flat part – for maybe about 50 yards – and then did another shorter up incline.  After that it was downhill back to Tanger Outlet, where we made a turn behind the stores – looks like an area where store deliveries are made at the back of the stores – and ran on fairly flat asphalt surface on the way back to the finish.  Pretty nicely thought-out course, probably by “Moe” as this race was previously known as “Moe’s Better Half”, until he retired and turned the race over to Scallwompus, which has been taking good care of it ever since. For my race on Saturday, I kind of pushed myself on the last mile and got negative splits, so my legs were feeling that on this Sunday race. I decided for this one just to take it pretty easy, just have fun with it, and maybe take a few more photos than I normally do.  That last long climb before the finish I was really feeling it.  I ended up with a chip time of 45:42 and positive splits, 5^th out of 5 – dead last – in my 65=69 males age group, so I certainly did take it easier, lol.  So much for being Bib #1.

After My Finish  –  Cool-down walk, and got some hydration into me and just relaxed for a bit.  Then it was off to get some post-race photos. Scallywompus always has a lot going on after the race – their motto is “Come for the Race. Stay for The Party.” They are not kidding either.  Post-race goodies included sausage-on-a-stick, various type of beer and some harder drinks, also plenty of water, some fresh fruits, and more. There was also a drawing for prizes – shoes for the people who placed 1^st in their age groups – and more.

Epilogue –   Love the Scallywompus events. For each series of races, you can sign up for all 4 at one time and get a nice discount, or each one individually, which is what I do, since I am still dealing with some post-prostate canter treatment side effects, so just never know  what the da will bring for me; mostly okay, thank goodness, with the occasional bad days. It’s okay though. I still manage to run pretty consistently – a heck of a lot slower than I used to be, lol, but hey, at least  still can run – and the Scallywompus events are some of my consistent go-to events. If you have never done a Scallywompus event, I encourage you to give it a try. You will experience some of the friendlies participants and volunteers in the running community; great after-party; really nice quality race shirts; lots of post-race goodies; unique age-group placer awards and uniquely designed finisher medals for each race in the series. Tell them, lol, “Scottydog sent me.”,,,,they know who I am. Happy running and walking!