Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/Y9QYTYBnw4nsHUha7

Before The Start:   On Saturday, Sp 16, 2023, I did my 51^st race of 2023, the Battle of Fredericksburg 5K, the 2^nd race in the Scallywompus Alamo Beer Series of 4 races. The race venue got moved from Fredericksburg to Comfort, Texas, kindly hosted by Hill Country Distillery. This event included a half-marathon, a 10-miler, a 5-miler, a 5K, and a Competitive Walkers 5K,   There was a very nice turn-out for this one with about 600 or so total participants for all these events. Since the 5K started after all the other events, I got to sleep in a bit, arriving in Comfort a little after 7 a.m in time to see the half-marathoners start, and wish my friends Jorgina and Krista good luck with their 100^th half marathon.   The 10-miler folks went next, then  the 5-miler participants, and finally the 5K participant arounds 7:15 or so.  Prior to the 5K start, I wandered around chatting with friends and getting some pre-start photos.  

 On the Course:   The weather was actually pretty nice with a temp of around 71 degrees and did not feel too humid at all. We had mix of sunshine and cloud cover. The 5K course was out-and-back, starting from the Distillery grounds and going through a part of the Comfort business area and then a pretty nice residential area with wide flat roads. I heard after the race that the ½ and 10-miler folks had a couple of fair-sized hills – not sure about the 5-milers; the biggest “hill” on the 5K course was a fairly short incline with maybe an elevation of 5 feet, lol, if that.  I did my usual 8-min-run/2 min walk  thing and took some photos during my walk breaks – and once in a while at other times. I was feeling pretty good and ended up 4^th in my age group with a chip time of 42:16, averaging, with the photo stops, 13:36 per mile.  Even if I had gone slower, I still would have placed, as there were on only 4 in my age group, lol.

After My Finish:  Got my finisher medal and some Gatorade and then went to my car and sat for about 10 minutes with the a/c on while getting rehydrated.  Felt very refreshed after that and then it was back out to get some post-race goodies and some “after’ photos and chat with other participants, volunteers, supporters, etc. Several of us stuck around also to ‘welcome in” to the finish of the half our friends Krista and Jorgina, each of whom were completing their 100^th lifetime half-marathon.  I suspect Race Director Tony Garcia’s hand in this nicely done gesture – there was a banner made for the occasion that both Krist and Georgina got to “run through” as they each completed their 100^th half; lots of people cheering them in, lots of photos of them. Well-done, ladies, and big congratulations!

Epilogue: The Scallywompus race motto is “Come for the race. Stay for the party.” They are not kidding, either. Post-race activities included a kind of crazy dance contest, lol; lots of backdrops for photo ops; and all kinds of post-race goodies that included Kiolbassa Sausage, Alamo Beer, bloody mary’s, and some other concoction – I think tequila-based – and lots of other stuff.  All participants got finisher medals, which Scallywompus does not skimp on, the things are very large, with a magnetic back and a bottle opener on the bottom.  The race shirt is nicely designed and of a very nice quality, Some of the vendors around the Distillery were open, so you could get a drink in those places too, as well as use some indoor restrooms, nice. Age group race awards are given 4-places deep for each event, as well as awards to the overall finishers. This is also a dog-friendly and stroller friendly event. The chosen course roads are very wide, so plenty of room for everyone.  I don’t remember why the course was moved from Fredericksburg to Comfort, but I do know that now that I am familiar with both courses, I like the Comfort one a lot better. So maybe next year it will be Battle of Comfort; I hope so and, the Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, I’d certainly do this one again, and recommend it to others.  It was also really nice to see out there my fellow cancer-survivor, Mr. Scallywompus himself, Bart Childers; nice to see him running again. We both went through our treatments about the same time-frame and had ‘supportive chats” with each other in-person, online etc., and that really helped me a lot to stay focused and keep on ‘keepin’ on”. NEVER GIVE UP! All right friends, nap time now.  I have another 5K scheduled the day after this one.