Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/o98EAbWUuEV6YsSd9

Before the start:    My 13^th race of 2024 was the Viva SA 5K on March 2^nd, held at Mission County Park #1 in San Antonio, with a start time of 8 a.m.  There was also a 10K, and  kid’s run before the main events started. This event supports the Junior League of San Antonio (JLSA). From its description on its website, the Junior League of San Antonio is “an organization of women whose mission is to advance women’s leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer action, collaboration, and training. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.” It is associated with Junior League International, which has several chapters in the US and other country locations. JLSA also awards annual grants to local nonprofit organizations that align with its mission. You can visit their website to see the types of activities they support.  Race start time was at 8 a.m. The weather kindly supported us with a start time temp of 57 degrees, very low humidity, and blue skies-and-sunshine.  I arrived with about an hour to go and got a few pre-start photos and, of course, lived up to my name by handing out treats to any dogs that were there.  This is a dog-friendly event

On the course:  The National Anthem was played – thank you for that – and then we got lined up and got started right on time.  The course was on the paved concrete trails of the riverwalk adjacent to the park.  The trails are fairly smooth and well-paved so accommodate strollers nicely and there were a few participants there pushing those – although I bet they got a workout on the course hills. I did my usual 8-min-run/2-min-walk thing and took  photos during my walk breaks.  We started at the main pavilion area of Mission County Park 1. Prior to the start I had seen the directional sign for the 5K so, having done this course before with other events, I knew we were going to have a few hills along the way. The 10K folks had even more, as they first went in the opposite direction of the 5K, crossed  a bridge over the river, then went to a turn-round point, came back onto the start side of the river, and then had to do the 5K course hills too; zowie!  After leaving the pavilion we 5K participants made a left turn that put the river to our right. We then went down a hill, then had a short flat part for a bit, and then up another hill. We then had a short winding part of the course, fairly level – but not for long, lol – and then went down another hill. After rounding a curve on the path – yeah, I knew what was coming, lol – we then climbed the longest uphill on the course. There was a water station at the top.  After the water station we then went down a hill, under a bridge, and then had a flat, short part of the course as we went toward a bridge crossing that was near our turn-round point. We did not cross the bridge; we made the turn-round and then went back to the pavilion the way we had come out. Of course, this meant that right before we finished, that downhill we had at the start was an uphill climb for us right before we made the turn back into the pavilion area to go to the finish line.  Race Directors sometimes have a wicked sense of humor, lol, when it comes to courses.  I took it kind of easy going to the turn-round point but then found my ‘mojo’ on the way back, getting up all the hills quite handily, and running Most of Mile 2 to the finish nonstop.   Also, we started encountering some of the 10K participants now on their way to the turn-round on the 5K side of the river – several of whom were friends – so I called out encouragement to them and did a few low-fives as we passed by each other, and just kept running and running, just about nonstop for that whole last mile. I ended up with a finish time of 38:11 chip time, averaging  12:17 per mile, and my last mile was done in 11:25, zowie!! I have not seen a time like that since before my prostate cancer treatment during 2021 and 2022, so this was a really nice ZING to me that I am finally starting to get back to my pre-cancer running self.  I ended up 2^nd out of 5 in my 70-99 males age group, very nice.

 After my finish:  Did a short cool-down recovery walk-about, drank some water, and then enjoyed getting some more photos, including ones of some others finishing, and interacting with other participants, supporters, volunteers, etc. and of course still had some treats for the doggies.   I really enjoyed chatting post-race with several participants, several of whom were fellow veterans, so we swapped stories of some of our experiences; and getting more post-race photos.

Epilogue:  This is a really nicely done event, put on by my friend Lisa of Soler Sports and timed, as noted previously by iaap, a top-notch race management company – in my estimation one of the Top 3 in the local San Antonio – New Braunfels area; they do events all over Texas and do them darn well too.  A challenging but well-thought-out course, with lots of maneuvering room for everyone and some really nice riverwalk views. Every finisher got a very nicely designed finisher medal. The age group award was not a medal, it was a packet of items that included hydration crystals for recovery, a headband, and other small items, all very handy to have. Very nice quality race shirt; and there was even post-race beer for those that wanted to enjoy that at 9:30 in the morning – and time of day is not necessarily a factor for some of we military folks at various given situations, lol; it was pretty good beer.  Pet-friendly and stroller-friendly. Very nice venue with indoor restrooms – no porta-potties required; water fountains; play area for the kiddies for those who have kids and were waiting for someone to finish.  The JLSA and other volunteers were all great.  Mucho thanks to all that made this one happen for we participants: JLSA; Soler Sports; all the many volunteers; the Bexar County Constable officers that were out there for us; the event official photographers; iaap, of course; our MC/announcer; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  I think this one would have had even more participants if it had not been competing on the same day with the Krispy Kreme Alamo Donut Dash 5K and 10K which had its events on the same day as this one, and that one is quite a popular local event. Even so, I would choose this one over the Donut Dash any day – especially, lol, as Shipley Donuts happen to be my personal favorite donuts – and they are a Texas-founded company. Anyway, I would definitely do this one again and would certainly recommend it to others.  Happy running/walking to all, and hope to see you at a future event sometime.