Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/EgoU43WSofXmAGTN7

Before the start:  My 26^th race of 2024 was the Siesta 5K put on by Scally Wompus, a local race company that puts on several events over the year.  It also has a program where it puts on a series of races that includes 4 races in each series. Participants can register for all 4 at the same time and get a nice discount or can register for each one individually.  The Siesta even was the 4^th event in the Texas Hill Country Series; as you can tell from the title, all these events in this series had hills, including this last one, which was held a Mission County Park #1 in San Antonio.  The event included a half marathon, a 10K, a 5K, and a competitive walk, if I remember correctly. I had picked up my packet the day before, so when I arrived I chatted with friends, other participants, etc., and got a few pre-start photos. I had watched the weather report the night before and it was mentioned that a ‘front of rain’ may be moving into the area around 6 a.m. or so.  As I started out for the race, sure enough, right around my house, it did start raining, and there was lightning also; so I waited to see what would happen and it passed by pretty quickly.  I went on down to the park and by the time I got there, the light rain was there also, but not too bad.  However, shortly after arrival at the park, right before the half was to start, there was a rain delay, so we all waited under the park pavilions – there are two of them – hoping it would soon stop. While we waited for the weather front to move on, our MC, Anthony, kept us entertained by having a pull-up contest, and other things going on.  The original schedule was 7:30 am start for the half, 8:15, 10K and all walkers, and 5K, 8:35 . It did not quite work out that way as it just kept raining and raining.  I seriously thought about just changing to Virtual and going home because, although I am cancer-free now, my immune system still has not totally recovered from my cancer treatments, so my medical team had warned me to be careful about being out in cold weather, heavy rain, etc.  My friend, Max had a weather app on his phone and showed me how fast the front was moving, so told me to just wait it out. Well, I trust Max, so I did. It took a while, but the rain finally did stop, and the race organizers got us out there pretty quickly about an hour after the originally scheduled start times. The half first, then the 10K and competitive walkers  went, and then we 5K folks started around 9:20. And we were off!

On the course:  Although a bit humid because of the storm, the weather actually was pretty nice, with a temp of 67 degrees, and very little wind. All events were out and back and started in the same direction, so the half and 10K folks pretty much did the 5K first, then did a turn-round and went back the way they had come out, passing by the park pavilion and going to another turn-round farther down the Riverwalk. With 3 races on the course going on at the same time, it could have gotten pretty crowded, but several participants had decided to head out instead of waiting for the storm to pass on, so that made for a bit of ‘lighter traffic”.  Even so, there was a total of 226 finishers for the 5k, so a pretty nice turn-out in spite of the weather delay. Since we 5K folks started last, we could see some of the half and 10K participants coming toward us as we made our way to the turn-round. The 5K course was the hilliest part of the 3 courses, which was nice, because with all those hills, the pavement was pretty dry, all things considered, with no standing water on it, and the river in most places was not as close to the 5K course as it was for the Part 2 course that the half and 10K folks had to do.  After my finish, friend showed me some phone video he took, where a part of the half/10K course was under water, good grief.  I was feeling pretty good overall and did my usual 8-min-run/2-min-walk, taking photos during my walk breaks. The 5K course – which all the main events participants did – started with a downhill from the start area; then an uphill, then a short fairly flat part; then another downhill, and then a not too bad uphill, then another flat for about 2 blinks of the eye, then a loooong uphill. going underneath a bridge. This took us onto a flat part of the course that got us to the turnround, and the we did the course in reverse.  With the back-and-forth hill repeats, we ended up doing 6 total hills, with the last one being the climb back up to the Riverwalk entrance to the park to get to the finish line. That one was not the steepest on the course but, lol, after all those other hills done, you sure could feel it.  I ended up first in my 70-74 males age group with a chip time of 40:28.  There were only 2 in my age group.

 After my finish: I did a short cool-down walk and got some water, and then stood near the finish line and got some photos of others finishing, including my friends Max finishing his half, and Carolyn and Lucy Dog finishing their 5K. After that, enjoyed the after-party for a while. The Scally Wompus motto is “Come for the race. Stay for the party.” They are not kidding either. There were all kinds of post-race goodies, including beer, fresh fruits from my good fruity friend, Gilbert, energy drinks, margaritas, if I remember correctly, Kiolbassa Sausage-on-a-Stick, and lots more.  Music and sound provided by DJ extraordinaire, Paul. Some of the sponsors/vendors also had free give-aways, and there were also 3 different backdrops for photo opportunities. Scally Wompus throws one heck of a party.

Epilogue:   Scally Wompus events are very popular and they are one of the few race companies that has a competitive walker division, so the walkers get their own awards without competing against the runners. All finishers get a really nice quality finisher medal.  Age Group winners get a very nice souvenir Scally Wompus glass.  Very nice quality race shirt, although I opted out of getting that; I do so many events over the year, my shirt drawers are starting to overflow, lol. I keep some of them, but donate most of them to charitable organizations, such ad Disabled Vets of America, Street2Feet, etc. If you have never done a Scally Wompus event, give it a try; I am sure you will not regret it.  Mucho thanks to all the ones who made this one happen for we participants, including Race Director Tony Garcia, Bart Childers and his wife – whose name I can never remember, lol, even though she is one of the nicest people I have ever met, but I think it’s Sarah; all the many volunteers, and the many sponsors and vendors who help pay for it all; the law enforcement officers that were out there for our safety; Pushbutton Photograph for all the photos they took – much better than mine, I am sure, lol, with my hand-held ancient Canon camera – and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned. Thank you all!  I wish all my fellow runners, walkers, etc., fulfilling and safe race and exercise outings. Keep getting out there as much as you can and Never Give Up! Hope to see you at a race sometime.