Photos are here:    https://photos.app.goo.gl/r7emoWj9SWFkCFzGA    

Before the start:    My 41^st race of 2024 was the Big Red and Barbacoa 5K held on June 29^th at Martin Luther King Park in San Antonio, with a start time of 8 a.m.  There was also a kids’ run about 15 minutes before the start. Course set-up, timing, and results were done by local race management company iaap. There were 288 finishers for the 5K.  I arrived with just over an hour to go, got my packet and then got a few pre-start photos. It as already pretty warm with a temp in upper 70s and the humidity, as usual for San Antonio summer, was right up there.

On the course:  The course was an out-and-back starting from the park’s main area and then heading down a paved trail that went toward Comanche County Park. There were not any ‘serious’ hills, but we did have a few up and down inclines along the way, and we also had to cross – and then recross after the turn-round point – a bridge that swayed a bit as the runners and walkers went over it.  As usual, the park was open to other users not doing the race – other runners, walkers, cyclists – and they were pretty patient and polite about us 5K participants invading the park for a while. I did my usual  run/walk of 8 minutes running/2 minutes walking and got some photos during my walk breaks.  I was feeling pretty good and ended up running just about all of the back half of the race to the finish, doing the last mile completely non-stop. I ended up with a 42:24 chip time, good enough for 2^nd place out of the 4 in my 70-99 males age group. I knew before the start I was not going to be first, because I’d seen Jose was there, and that guy does around a 9-something minute mile. He finished over 12 minutes ahead of me.

 After my finish:  I got some water and did a short cool-down walk, and then had to sit down, as I felt a bit woozy for just a short bit.  I noticed on my Garmin my heart-rate had dropped to 41 beats a minute…what?  Kind of scary; probably may have had an A-Fib episode,  or was  experiencing some side effects from this forehead cream my dermatologist had given me to use; and I think I won’t use it anymore until after I chat with my dermatologist next  week  – I read online later about possible side-effects, and one of them was  the cream could possibly affect the heart a bit. Thankfully, however, my pacemaker kicked in and got it back up to my normal rate in about less than a minute, thankfully.  Usually, post-race, I am just wandering around chatting with other participants and getting photos right away, but when I did not do that my friend, Sally came over to check on me.  Nice to have caring friends who watch out for you. After my pacemaker kicked in and I got a few more minutes relaxing, I felt much better after that, so then wandered around  post-race like I usually do, chatting with friends and other runners, and getting some after photos.  Also got my placer medal pretty quickly during the awards presentation, since iaap usually starts with we old folks first, which is nice, so we can get home and take our afternoon nap, lol.

 Epilogue:   iaap folks do a great job with all the events they manage, and this one was no exception.  The course was very nice; we had use of the park’s indoor restrooms instead of porta-potties, and there is even a splash-pad at the park which several participants, and kids with them, took advantage of to cool off. Every finisher got a finisher medal, and the age-group placer got a second medal for placing. The race shirt is of very nice quality, although they ran a bit large; I got a medium and it was huge, lol.  I gave mine to a friend to give to her niece.  Big Red company was serving up post-race Big Red soda and barbacoa tacos for those that wanted it, and there were ‘official’ race photographers taking lots of photos before, during and after.  My friend Liz – another friend who came over to check on me post-race – was our MC/Race Director – she actually is certified as a Race Director – and did a great job. BTW, she also is the primary person who puts on the Confetti 5K at Our Lady Of The Lake University, which just opened up for registration; a great event, so check that out; iaap does the timing for that one too, if I remember correctly.  Along with Liz and iaap crew members, mucho thanks to all who had a hand in making this one happen for we participants:  all the many volunteers; our sound and DJ guy; the bike lead guy, Eddie Otho who helped out with the event and the awards ceremony; friend Mini, of iaap, who had a really nice booth at the event, with shirts, gear, etc.  She does a great job with race shirts, btw, and has often done the printing for some of my Beat Cancer shirts. Thanks to a couple of police officers I saw there, checking in to make sure everything was going safely; to all the race sponsors, of course, that supported this event; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all!  Hope to see you at an event sometime! My next one is the day after this one, when I do a Sunday 5K at McAllister Park on June 30^th.  To all; Happy running, walking, cycling, or whatever your chosen exercise method is; may you always succeed in your goals.