Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/UyxtogXWUnSp98xB7

Before The Start:  My 40^th 5K of 2023 was the Stars and Stripes 5K held on July 22 at the Stars and Stripes Drive-In Movie Theater in New Braunfels, Texas, with timing, course set-up, and results done by Athlete Guild, a top-notch area race management company that puts on quite a few races over the year. There was also a half-marathon and a 10K. The Half started at 6:30 a.m., the 10K at 7 a.m. and the 5K at 7:15 a.m.  This is a fairly popular event in the San Antonio-New Braunfels Corridor and had a nice turn-out, with 138 finishers for the half, 102 finishers for the 10K, and 182 finishers for the 5K.  There was also a competitive walk, so the walkers did not have to compete for awards with the runners. The competitive walk had 13 finishers. I arrived on-site around 6:15, got my packet, and then got a few pre-start photos, of the 10K and 5K folks, as the half started right on time, so by the time I got through the line to get my packet, they had already started.

 On the Course:  I did my usual 8-min run/2-minute walk thing and took photos during my walk breaks.  The course started from one of the movie theater parking areas, proceeded on the theater’s entrance/exit road and then made a right turn onto Kroesche Lane, the road used to get to the theater entrance. Going out on the move theater access road was quite flat, but once we got onto Kroesche Lane, we then began to climb.  At the top of Kroesche, we then turned right onto Westmeyer Road and this took us on a long downhill. We passed the Mile 1 marker on this part of the course, and I could see the super-fast 5K runners were already coming toward me, heading back to the finish. The overall first guy winner had a time of 16 minutes and change. After finally arriving at the bottom of the hill, we turned on Airport Road – a nice, flat tree-lined road with lots of shade – and went to our 5K turn-round.  Faster runners than me – much faster, lol – were coming toward me, heading toward the finish, including some of the speedier 10K folks too.  After making the turn-round, we then proceeded back to the finish the way we had come out.  Of course, on the way back, that long downhill on Westmeyer was now a long uphill and there was virtually no shade at all on this road.  Even so, I ran pretty steadily – so thankful I do regular hill training at least once a week, lol – and felt pretty good overall.  I did stop at the Mile 1 marker water stop and get a cup of water, and had a nice short chat with my friend, Scott – co-owner/co-founder of Athlete Guild – who was at the water stop for us.  Got to the Mile 2 maker just before we finally crested the hill, and then it was downhill on Kroesche Lane as we headed back to the theater entrance road. Downhills are harder for me than uphills – darn spinal arthritis – so I am usually slower going downhill than uphill, lo.  I also thought it was funny that a young lady – maybe about 7 years old or so – and her mother both passed me on the downhill, and left me eating their dust, lol.  That young lady was running quite a good pace, good for her!  I did take an extra walk break also, to get a photo of the downhill. Finally got back to the theater entrance road and ran nonstop to the finish.  I finished with a chip time of 43:38, averaging 14:08 per mile, but still ended up being first in my 65-69 males age group, as there were only 2 in my age group, lol.  What the heck, I’ll take it.

After My Finish:   The temperature when we started was around 78 degrees, and very humid.  By the time I finished, it was at 82 degrees.  First thing I did was get some water, then went and sat in my vehicle for about 10 minutes with the a/c on full blast while I got rehydrated. Felt much cooler after that, lol.  Then I went back to the race area and enjoyed chatting with friends and other finishers and getting several ‘after’ photos. This is also a dog friendly event.  I did not see dogs on the course, but there were several at the event, so they got treats from me, of course with the permission of their humans. Very nice after-party – there was even cold beer, nice – and Drive-In staff members served up burgers, fries, etc. to all who wanted that.

Epilogue:  This is really a nice event put on by Athlete Guild and has been going on for several years. I remember doing the first one and, at that time, the theater entrance/exit road was not paved yet, so we ran on dirt/gravel at the start and at the finish.  Stars and Stripes Drive-In owners and staff are so very hospitable about opening the lobby area for us, so we had access to a nicely air-conditioned interior and indoor restrooms and could sit in the theater’s lobby restaurant booths before and after, which also helped us cool off post-race. Very nice finisher medals to all finishers and also those who placed got another medal for placing. Participants also got a very nice quality tech-tee race shirt. This event is usually done in July every year, so of course it is warm, but the organizers are very good about having lots of water available and that air conditioned lobby is a real help too.  I will definitely do this one again and would recommend it to others. MUCHO thanks to all those who made this one happen for we participants:  Athlete Guild; Two Rivers Running store who did the pre-race day packet pickup; all the many sponsors, all the Stars And Stripes theater staff, and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!