Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/u5pTTCCgoYXPMsAZ6

Before The Start:   On Labor Day, Sep 4, 2023, I did my 48^th 5K of the year. Put on by the San Antonio RoadRunners (SARR)– the oldest running organization in San Antonio – the SARR Whine 5-Miler and 5K. The event was held at Tuscany Venue in San Antonio, a wedding venue located just off of the I-10 East highway frontage road, and about 2 miles or so from the Shoppes at La Cantera. This is a very popular Labor Day event SARR has been putting on for many years. There was quite a nice turn-out for this one with 215 finishers for the 5-Miler and 275 finishers for the 5K. I had picked my race packet up the day before so after arrival on race day I went around chatting with friends/other participants and getting a few pre-start photos.

 On the Course:  The 5-Milers started at 7:30 a.m., with the 5K participants starting 5 minutes after them.  Both courses were out-and-back. We started from the grounds of Tuscany Venue, went over a short rock-and-gravel area and then turned left onto the paved road in front of Tuscany Venue. A short downhill took us to a trailhead of the Leon Creek Greenway Trail.  After making a left turn onto the trail, both 5-milers and 5K participants went respectively to each of their turn-round points and then came back to Tuscany Venue in reverse of the way out had been. The course had a few uphills on the way out, downhill on the way back, but most were fairly short climbs, with grade of about 5% – 7%, so nothing major like a couple of those really looooong uphills at Eisenhower Park.  I had done a race on the Saturday before this one and pushed myself a bit, so my legs were still feeling that a tad.  I am already a pretty slow runner (darn these cancer side-effects, and since I had prostate cancer, my testosterone was purposely lowered also to help beat the cancer; so no more testosterone), so not going to hurt anyone at my pace if I run into someone, lol; even so, I took it a bit more easy for this one, just kicked back  did my usual 8-min-run/2-min-walk thing, enjoyed myself and even took a couple of extra photo stops. The course was a tad long – 3.24, so not too bad, although my old-man legs felt it, lol.  I ended up with a chip time of 48:06, averaging 14:52 for 3.2 miles; and I had a negative split for Mile 3, nice. I was 13 out of 14 in my 60-69 males age group.

After My Finish:  Pretty humid weather for this one.  SARR had some ice-down small towels at the finish to put on your neck/head to help cool down.  I got one of those and then went to my car and just sat in it for about 10 minutes with the a/c on full blast, drinking a bottle of iced-down water I had brought with me. Felt much better after that and was off to get some post-race photos. Lots going on, with backdrops for photo ops, free wine glass to all participants, and lots of vendors with post-race goodies, including  wine, of course; Shiner Beer and Alamo Beer; various electrolyte drinks and sodas; Kiolbassa Sausage; various fresh fruits from my friend Gilbert, Fruit Vendor Extra-Ordinaire; and lots more.  Very nice after party and age-group awards for the top 3 in each age group and for the over-all winners.

Epilogue: Very nicely done by SARR, with iaap doing the timing and results.  Nice race venue and a pretty nice course too. I did not do this one during the last 2 years, since I was still getting cancer treatments, so it was nice to be back this year.  First time I’ve run the trails in this area but won’t be the last; now that I know where it is, will definitely do some running on these trails on my own; btw, for those who have dogs, there is a very nice dog park just up the road from Tuscany Venue.  If there are dogs around, count on me to find them, lol. I will definitely do this 5K again and would recommend it to others. Mucho thanks to all the people that mad this one happen for us, including SARR; IAAP; all the many sponsors; Tuscany Venue for the use of their grounds – I assume there was some kind of fee to pay, but even so, still nice of them; all the volunteers out there for us; friend Anthony Zamora once again doing a great job as MC; Pushbutton photography for the ‘official’ race photos; and any others involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all! Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, hope to see you all at this one next year.