Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/ReJM9gUsJzNHF2ER8

Before The Start:  On Saturday, Sep 30^th, 2022, I did my 55^th  race of the year, the Race For The Rescues 5K in Alamo Heights, which supports SNIPSA (Spay Neuter Inject Project San Antonio) in their mission to spay, neuter, and vaccinate and also help unwanted animals in the San Antonio and surrounding area.  This is SNIPSA’s biggest fund-raiser and a very popular event, as exhibited the total number of finishers:  770 this year. I arrived with a little over an hour to go to start time. It was still fairly dark when I arrived, so  I dropped off with the race day volunteers a jar of dog treats I had brought and then enjoyed a chat with friend Mark Purnell, who was serving as the MC for this event. After it got a bit lighter, I wandered around chatting with other participants, friends, vendors, volunteers, and so forth, and getting a few pre-start photos.

 On the Course:   There were two events, the 5K with no dogs, starting at 8 a.m. and then the 5K participants with dogs started about 5 minutes after the non-dogs participants had left. The course started near the Alamo Heights Swimming Pool, taking us past the pool and out onto the street in front of it. We made left turn, went down a short hill, and then turned right into a section of the Alamo Heights neighborhood.  The first street was flat, winding us around a bit to street that had a fairly short uphill. We then turned right onto a street that gave us a bit more of a climb.  After topping that, we turned right again, went downhill and then made our way onto a road that was almost directly across from the dead-end Alamo Heights Pool Road – I think it was Alamo Heights Blvd, but not sure.  Anway, we went down this road quite a ways, then made a right turn that took us up another hill. At the end of this road a left turn took us on a little stint along Broadway, and then we turned onto College Boulevard, if I remember correctly.  After a short way, we went down a steep hill, crossed over the intersecting road at the bottom of the hill and then then the hills really began, lol.  Up a hill on College Boulevard down another hill, then left turn onto another street with a short, steep hill, and a water station at the top, where we reached the halfway point.  We then went down this street and began a series up up-and-down hills, going down one street, making a turn moving to the next street, going up, then turning onto the next street and going down, and so forth, making our way across this part of the neighborhood. We finally got back to Alamo Heights Boulevard for the last part of the course. At the end, we made a left turn and then went back to the road the pool was on…and since the end of that road was downhill on the way out, we of course has a last uphill, thankfully short, lol, and then after getting up that, flat back to the finish.  WHEW!  I ended up with a chip finish time of 42:39, finishing 10^th out of 18 in my 60-69 males age group and was really surprised to see I had actually done a negative split for mile 3, 13:01.  Have not seen that time in a while, almost back to 12 minute miles, so that was encouraging for me that I really am starting to finally get a bit stronger again, as my side-effects from my recent prostate cancer treatments seem to finally be subsiding a bit, so YAY. Happy dog, happy dog.

After My Finish: I sat in my vehicle for about 10 minutes with the a/c on full blast, sipping my Zero Gatorade and cooling down a bit….ahh, felt great after that.  Then it was back out into the crowd for post-race chat and photos with friends, other participants, volunteers, supporters, vendors, etc.  Overall winners and top 3 from each age group got awards, so none for me, but I never expect to get one anyway. I met my two race goals: finish standing up and no ambulance waiting specifically for me, lol.  Anything after that is a bonus.    

Epilogue:   I love this event and have done it for several years. It is really a very well-organized event done by the SNIPSA staff and volunteers, with a really nicely designed race shirt, and a unique race bib design and, of course, a somewhat challenging course and lots and lots of post-race activities.  There was a multitude of post-race vendors/sponsors giving away all kinds of things – H-E-B was even giving away free dog food and dog supplies – a food truck onsite and also some kind of ice-cream cone type of thing; there was also a whole set of wading pools for the dogs post-race and several of them were having blast post-race lying in the cooling waters, and playing in the water too; shoot, I wanted to get in there myself with them, lol. There were also sausage wraps – those Grill-Masters were already there setting things up when I got there early, so they must have been really early getting there – and all kinds of other things, like face-painting, booths that had all kinds of various things you could purchase and so much more, it is just too many for me to remember.  A very worthwhile cause and a very nice after-party.  I will definitely continue to have this one on my race calendar and would certainly recommend it to others. Both walkers and runners welcome, so bring your dog if you are so inclined and join in. Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants: all the vendors and sponsors; SNIPSA, the Race Director, and all the many-many volunteers; the police and safety people out there on the course for us; iaap, a top-notch San Antonio race management company – and personal friends of mine – who did the timing, results, etc; or MC Mark, for another great job done;  the patience of all the residents in this area for putting up with us during this race; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!  Hope to see you out there next year! Give me a shout-out if you see me, and if I don’t hear you – I’m a little hard of hearing in one ear – just throw something at me, lol.  To all of you, happy and safe running, walking, cycling, or whatever your chosen health method is. Stay safe and stay healthy; and if you have a dog, cat, or whatever pet, give it a treat for me.