Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/HTT2CJ1MisHYnUAT8       

 Before the Start:  My 44^th race of 2024 was the Rember The Alamo Beer 5K held on August 3^rd at McAllister Park. The main event was a half marathon and half-marathon relay, and there was also a 10K, a 5K, and a 5K walk for competitive walkers who would get awards in their own category, so would not be competing with the 5K runners.  The half folks were supposed to start at 6:30 a.m., the 10K at 7:15 a.m. and the 5K at 7:55 am; however, there was some kind of delay, so the half folks and 10K folks started late.  I never did find out the reason for the delay. We 5K participants went at our scheduled time, since we were going after everyone else.  Of course, by the time those half folks left, it was already pretty darn warm, with bright sunshine, so I felt for them, having to do that long distance in this heat and humidity. Thankfully, the course did have a lot of shade, but even so…

On the course:  I lined up way in the back of the pack, planning to mostly walk this one as I have been dealing since June 30 with a pulled piriformis issue (the piriformis is a small muscle in the buttocks, connecting with the sciatic nerve) so had to give up 4 races I had registered for to let this thing recover for a bit.  I did see my doc and got referred to physical therapy, which started on August 1^st. In the meantime, I talked to a friend of mine who is a personal trainer and physical therapist and he showed me some stretches I could do and those really did help. I was doing walks around my neighborhood which also seemed to help. On Sunday, July 28, I went out on my own and tried a slow-and-easy 3 miles to see what would happen and managed to get it all done; it took me a while, but that’s okay, I was just happy to be running again; so I was pretty sure I could do this 5K, as the course is pretty flat with just a few mild inclines along the way. I did my usual 8-minutes-running/2-minutes walking and took photos during my walk breaks. When I first started out, I could feel slight pressure in my piriformis area, but no pain. My pace times were much slower than when I am completely healthy, but that was okay too, I was feeling pretty good, all-in-all. I ended up with a 46:02 chip time, averaging a 14:49 pace, not too far off of my normal 12 to 13 minutes per mile pace, and came in 2^nd of the 3 males in my 70-74 age group. My speed friend George, was first, finishing 10 minutes ahead of me.

After My Finish:  First, find some water; it was warm out there!  There was quite a lot of shade along the course, but no wind at all, and the temp was already in the upper 70s when we started. Local weather stations are predicting today (Aug 3) will be San Antonio’s first 100-degree temp day in a month, and it sure was on its way, lol, when all these events started. I got a few photos after the finish but was kind of dragging – my friend Rick Rue told me “you don’t look so good, Scotty.”  Gee, thanks, lol – so  after I finished, went and found some water and then one of the race vendors kindly let me sit on her cooler in the shade of her pavilion as I got some liquid into me, felt much better after that.  I wandered around chatting with participants, vendors, supporters, and also got my 2^nd place Scallywompus souvenir glass for placing in my age group. I have a lot of these from past events, so gave mine to some kid who liked the glass.  I kept the very nice finisher medal that all finishers got.  I spent the rest of my time there chatting with friends, supporters, other participants and, of course, getting several more photos for my race report.  Some of these folks are quite an inspiration.  One lady was visually impaired but did the 5K; and one lady I talked with – a fellow cancer survivor – told me she lost her leg to cancer, but here she was on the course with her prosthetic leg and got it done; her friend too, wow.  I store these people in my ‘memory bank’ and when I start feeling sorry for myself, I bring them to mind to help get my act together and keep on keepin’ on. I have a whole lot of them in my head and they are all awesome.

Epilogue:  All in all, a very good outing.  The only thing I don’t understand is the way they took us on the 5K course. We started in front of these lower soccer fields, went past the youth baseball stadium in the park, and then turned right onto a paved trail.  This took us behind the baseball field. It’s a pretty narrow paved trail, so was fairly crowded. Normally for a 5K here, once we past the baseball field, we continue on straight onto a park road, which is very wide and can accommodate a lot of people, allowing us to spread out a bit, so I don’t know why they had us go the other way; maybe it had something to do with the start delay, some kind of thing on the course, or whatever; anyway, it all worked out and after we passed Becken Pavilion, we did start spreading out a bit, and went onto the paved trail that took us past a police substation near the park.  Our last mile, heading back to the finish, was on that wider road, going past the baseball field and soccer fields again near the finish, and then back to the finish. Post-race goodies include Alamo Beer; Tequila; Kiolbassa sausage on a stick; these frozen popsicle things in a clear bag (cut the top off, squeeze out the popsicle); those things were good and really hit the spot on this warm morning; there was also Force Water and various other things; post-race massage tables; some fresh fruits, and more. Our DJ and sound guy, Paul, was doing the tunes for us, and Pushbutton Photography was all over the place, taking lots of photos.  All in all, in spite of the heat and late start, a pretty nicely done event. Mucho thanks to our MC, Anthony; Pushbutton photography; our sound man Paul; all the many volunteers, vendors and sponsors that helped make this one happen for we participants; Alamo Beer for pre-race day packet pickup location; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!