Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/svnUiQsWiobfxn5RA   

Before the start:  My 33rd  race of 2024 was on May 26^th at Comanche County Park in San Antonio. The American Hero races, usually held during the Memorial Day weekend, is a series of races honoring our veterans, especially those who sacrificed their ‘all’ during their service time. Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who gave their lives in service to our country. The event was put on by e-Dragon, with local race management company iaap doing the timing and results. The 25K Relay had a team of 5 members, each doing one leg. The 25K Challenge was one in which participants do the whole 25K solo; a 10K Ruck; and a 5K.  There was also a 400-meter kids run before the main events started. I did the 5K Race start time was 8 a.m. I picked up my friend, Carolyn, who also did the 5K, and we then went down to the park, arriving just after 5:30 a.m. and then had to wait a bit until someone came and opened the park gates at 6 a.m.; thus, we were there in plenty of time before the start, lol.  We had already gotten our packets the day before, so after getting parked, I wandered around, helping here-and-there, and also getting some pre-start photos.   

On the course:   The courses were out-and-back, so the individual 25K participants had to do the course 5 times, wow; I admire their patience and determination. As noted, the 5-member relay teams each did one leg, carrying a baton that had a timer on it, if I remember correctly; then, again, sometimes I forget my own name, so apologize if this is incorrect. The 5K participants did one out-and-back. The course was nicely thought out, taking us on the paved trails of the park; the San Antonio greenway trails are made with asphalt and concrete, so they’re usually a nice, firm setting to run, walk, or bike on. San Antonio area has been having a very warm spring; not even summer yet and the temp at start time was near 80 degrees. Thankfully, we did have a lot of gray skies, so the sun was not beating down on us as we went along; and the park trails are pretty well shaded, too, by lots of trees along the way. The race folks also had on hand a lot of water and Gatorade and even had a Med Tech on the course, just in case. The course was fairly flat, for the most part, with a few inclines to climb, but nothing one could really call a hill. Even so, I could feel those a little as, the day before this event, I had done a very hilly 5K. I did my normal 8-minutes running/2 minutes walking thing and took some photos during my walk breaks. I managed to do fairly well, averaging a 13:08 pe mile pace and ran the last mile almost nonstop, ending up with negative splits. I finished 2^nd in my 70-99 males division with a 40:46 chip time. The first guy in my age group finished only 2 minutes ahead of me. Guess I should not have stopped for that last photo, lol. It’s all good, I enjoyed myself.   Per iaap posted results, there were 83 finishers for the 5K; 17 finishers for the individual 25K challenge; 10K Hero Ruck had 5 finishers; and the relay had 21 teams.

 After my finish:  First thing, rehydrate! It was warm out there. Got some Gatorade and sipped that as I did a slow-and-easy cool-down walk. I then went and sat with my friend Gilbert for a while at his tent area and just enjoyed relaxing for a bit and chatting with him. After that, I wandered here-and-there, like we dogs do, lol, chatting with participants, vendors, supporters, etc., and getting some post-race photos. Also enjoyed chatting with my friend Miguel, who had grilled up some Kiolbossa sausages, which were pretty good -my favorite brand of sausage; and also chatted with lots of other participants and supporters. Since this is a veteran-oriented event, lots of fellow veterans were there, active duty, former, and retired, to chat with, and we chatted a lot about our various experiences during our military time; and btw, spouses of military members are pretty veteran-oriented too; while some may not have been actual military, they served too in a lot of ways, such as having to relocate with every assignment the military spouse received; setting up households and taking care of the kids, and so forth, while the military member is doing his/her military duties, and a lot more; so honor them as veterans too, in their own way.

Epilogue:  This is a very nicely done event by E-Dragon and all its affiliated helpers, sponsors, volunteers, etc. This event too, also gives out cash awards to overall placers, if I remember correctly, for the overall winners in a few of the events. You can check the E-Dragon website to see which events are eligible for cash awards. All finishers get a really nicely designed finisher medal, and all placers got a nicely designed award medal.  The race shirt is very unique with a great design, and depending on how soon you register, the race bibs can be personalized with the name of your ‘hero’. In my case, for example, I had on my bib, the name of my late dad, a veteran of both WWII and The Korean War.  As usual for events they do, iaap did a great job with the timing, results, etc;, as did our MC, Anthony Zamora, and our music-and-sound man Paul, and, of course, Erik and Kristine of E-Dragon, the driving force behind this event.  The Burciaga family is awesome. All the many volunteers there were also great. Mucho thanks to all of them and to all of the sponsors and vendors that helped make this one happen for participants.  This event is definitely a keeper on the race calendar.  Hope to see you out there next year.