Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/WYzUrcXRW1tPGmru9 

Before the start.  My 4^th race of 2024 was the Time Travel 5K, put on by Bigfoot Running race management company.  Held on January 27^th at Eisenhower Park in San Antonio, this event included a 15K, a 10K, and a 5K.  There was also a kids run. All the events started together a 9 a.m. Texas time.  If I remember correctly the race sold out; there were 163 finishers in the 5K alone, so a very nice turn-out for this event. The weather was pretty cooperative with lots of sunshine and a temp o 54 degrees; however a really stiff wind, with periodic big gusts made it feel a lot colder than that. I arrived on site with about 45 minutes to go, got my race packet, and then got a few pre-start photos.

On the course:  As noted, all the races started at the same time.  All were out-and-back courses. We did a very brief stint in the parking lot and then went onto a paved asphalt trail.  This wound us around for a bit, and then we went onto a paved trail that I recognized from running here before.  On this trail we began climbing, and this is no baby hill either. If we had gone all the way to the top we would have reached a plateau at the top that has an observation tower which provides some nice views of the surrounding area. We did not go all the way up to the top. Instead, we were diverted off the paved trail onto a short, off-road trail.  The off-road trails in Eisenhower Park are  some serious trails with lots of rocky ground and very few ‘smooth trail’ areas.  It makes for some difficult going so, like many others, I walked quite a bit on this part of the course. After doing a stint on this, we then went onto a concrete paved trail. This concrete trail took each of the participants to their various turn-around points.  This is a fairly new added trail to San Antonio’s system of Greenway Trails. If we had kept on this trail without turning around it would have taken us to the Shoppes at La Cantera and to The Rim, another shopping area.  Thankfully, lol, we did not go that far.  After making the turn-round, it was back to the finish the way we had come out. Back on the asphalt paved trail was the Mile 2 marker and I pretty much ran most of the last mile nonstop – mostly all downhill, since it was uphill – with just a couple of brief stops to hand out treats to a couple of doggies I encountered who were out walking their humans.  I ended up with a 44:21 chip time, and a negative split for Mile 2 to the finish; 2^nd in my 65-69 males age group.

After my finish:  Got my finisher medal, got something to drink, and then wandered around chatting with other participants, supporters, volunteers, etc., and got some post-race photos.  I was trying to hang around to wait for my friend Krista to finish her 15K, but started getting a bit cold so decided I better just go.  After I got in the car I then saw Krista come off the paved trail and onto the parking lot, heading for her finish. I went back to the start/finish area and got a photo of her, and we got a couple photos together.  After that, it was time to go home and warm up.

Epilogue:  This is the second Big Foot Running event I’ve done and it was very well done, with the exception that the darn 5K turn-round sign was placed where it was not easily seen. I only saw it because I had stopped at that point to take a photo. After they finished, a couple of the 5K folks told me they had missed the turn-round sign and ended up doing the 10K.  The Bigfoot people were good about that, though, and updated them in the computer as 10K finishers instead of 5K finishers. Other than this glitch, it really is a well-done event, with a very nice quality finisher medal – which ‘growls” like Bigfoot, lol, if you push the button on the back of the medal – a good course – challenging, but still good – and a very friendly atmosphere, which includes dog-friendly and stroller-friendly course  – although those hills were probably challenging for the people pushing strollers up those things.  Lots of facilities too, including the park’s indoor restroom and there were also several port-a-potties, water fountains, etc.  I can’t remember if there were any post-race treats-to-eat since I bring my own, so didn’t pay attention. I would certainly do this one again and recommend it to others – but I’d like them to take us all the way up to the Observation Tower next time; we should get that view reward for all the hills.  😝  Mucho thanks to all the people that made this one happen for us: Bigfoot people, all the volunteers, the police officers out there for us, our timer and race announcer, and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!