Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/7AA9MBfCEzRjEdnL9

Before the start:  My 24^th race of 2024 was the San Antonio Roadrunners (SARR) Mission 5K on April  21^st, held at Mission County Park 1, San Antonio, put on by the SARR, the oldest running group in San Antonio, celebrating is 50^th anniversary this year.   This was my 2^nd race of the weekend, after doing the Our Lady of the Lake 5K the day before.  This event included a half-marathon, a 10K, the 5K, and a Kids Run. The Kid’s Run was at 0715; the half at 0730; the 10k at 0800 and the 5K at 0815. Rainy night in the late hours of Saturday, so there were a few areas of puddles and wet spots for this one. Mother Nature also provided us with a pretty stiff wind, making the upper 50s, lower 60s temp feel a bit colder.  The 5K start time was 8:15.  I arrived just in time to see the half-marathoners heading out for their event and got a photo of some of them starting out. I then got my race bib; didn’t get one of the tech tee shirts, so since I did race day packet pickup I just assumed they ran out; no big deal, I’ve already got a ton of race shirts, lol, as many races as I do in a year. After that, I wandered here and there getting a few pre-start photos. All the vendors, volunteers, etc., were in the main pavilion of the park, and pretty much just about everyone was crowding in there to get out of that wind. Between all the sponsors there, the vendors, the volunteers, friends, and participants it was pretty crowded. Per the results on iaap website, there were 263 finishers for the 5K; 200 finishers for the 10K; and 184 finishers for the half. Add to those 647 finishers all the vendors that were there, friends, relatives, MC, volunteers, etc., it made for a pretty crowded pavilion; this is also a dog-friendly event and there were also several of them attending.

On the course:  The courses did not go onto the Riverwalk.  They were all out-and-back. The start/finish line was on the main outside plaza of the park.  We lined up behind the start/finish timing mats, with some of the  farther back participants being down the pavilion stairs and inside the pavilion, since there were so many participants. After crossing the start line, we made a left turn, heading along a gravel path near the pavilion’s parking lot, and then crossed the street and went onto a sidewalk that took us to Padre Drive.  We passed by Mission County Park 2 on our left, and then turned onto Mission Parkway, with the Riverwalk area on our left. On this part of the course, we had a few mild hills, but nothing really serious and not too long, but was glad I regularly do hill work once a week, so got through these pretty easily. We went around a curve and there was a water station there, so I got a photo of those volunteers. The 5K turn-round point was just down from the water-station, right before a bridge that the 10K and half folks had to go under to continue on their courses. After the turn-round, we went back to the finish the way we had come out, but on the way back we went right into a head-wind, which was now blowing like crazy.   I stopped to take one more photo and then ran nonstop to the finish, ending with a chip time of 38:52, averaging 12:31 per mile, and I nicely had negative splits for each mile on the course. I came in 2^nd in my 70-79 males age group, largely because there were only 2 in my age group, lol. Jim, first in our age group, finished 6 minutes and 31 seconds ahead of me.

 After my finish: All kinds of post-race goodies at this one, including Kiolbassa sausages; lots of fresh fruits from my fruit vendor friend, Gilbert; all kinds of small give-away things from the various vendors and sponsors; and the age group awards were these small hand-crafted cups of various design filled with various candies and sweets.  I kept the cup and gave the candies away, lol, to a couple that had two kids with them. The vendors and sponsors had quite a few freebies too. The race shirt looks pretty nice, from what I saw of it, a nice tech tee.  I did not get one when I picked up my race number on race day I don’t     remember if I told them no shirt when I registered – I do so many races in a year, I have a ton of shirts – or I just forgot to pick the darn thing up when I got my race bib, but it’s all good.  This is a very enjoyable event, well done, and well managed, in a very nice race location. It was pretty windy before, during, and after, but still a very enjoyable course. Due to all the rain late Saturday night, there were a couple of ‘water hazards” – e.g., large puddles we had to negotiate – but for the most part the course was pretty dry. The route streets are nice and wide, accommodating nicely the participants from all 3 events. 

Epilogue:  Nicely done event by SARR, and nice quality race shirts from what I saw of them.  The course is well thought-out with plenty of room for this many participants of the three events. Personally, I like this 5K course much better than the very hilly Riverwalk 5K course, although on a good day, the Riverwalk does offer some nice views of the river. I would definitely do this one again and recommend it to others.  Mucho thanks to all the people involved that made this one happen for us and who were out there for us, e.g.,  police officers for our safety; all the many volunteers; all the many sponsors and vendors; our MC Anthony, doing his usual great job; my favorite sound-and-music man, Paul; the Race Director and all the people of SARR involved; and anyone else  involved that I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all so much! Take care, stay safe, and see you next year!