Note: If the link does not directly take you to the photos, cut-and-paste the link and it should work. Seems like this link is having a problem doing a direct connection. Cheers.

Before the Start:  My 59^th race of 2024 was the Zero Prostate Cancer 5K, held on October 19^th at Our Lady Of The Lake University, with a start time of 8:30 a.m.   As a survivor myself, I try to do this one every year.  This event raises funds to help find a cure for prostate cancer.  Headquartered in Virginia,  the Zero Prostate Cancer 5K organization, with a mission to find a cure for this disease, holds this 5K in several various locations around the US at various dates and times. It also encourages participants to help raise funds for the cause.  At many of these events, fundraising teams and individuals who raise the largest amounts are recognized and often win some kid of prize.  The schedule for the San Antonio 5K was volunteers, sponsors, etc., arriving around 6:30 a.m to set up., and then race day registration began at 7:30 a.m.  There was a pre-start ceremony around 8 a.m, with the Race Director letting us know why we were all here, giving us a bit of info on prostate cancer and then we heard from a survivor and his wife who shared their story with us – very motivating – and then there was a recognition for sponsors, the largest fund-raisers, both team and individual. The National Anthem was then sung beautifully by a young lady, and then there was a kid’s run before the main event got started.  

On the course:  This was a self-timed 5K, which is okay with me; hiring timing companies costs quite a bit of change, so personally I’d rather just see the funds that would have been spent on that go to the cause for this event, especially as I am a prostate cancer survivor myself, and a survivor of two other types of cancer. For those of you familiar with the Confetti 5K held at this university each year, the course for this one was pretty much the same. We started in front of the University and then did about a half-mile on the campus that took us out a back gate to 27^th street, if I remember correctly. We stayed on the sidewalk for a very short distance and then cut across a grass field that put us on a concrete trail that runs alongside Elmendorf Lake. The lake was on our left as we went down this trail. This took us to a bridge across the lake, which we crossed. This took us onto Commerce Street, if I remember correctly. We went down Commerce Street, and that took  us back to 24^th Street.  We then proceeded back to the gate from which we had left the campus, and then went back to the start/finish line.  I did my usual 8-minutes-running/2 minutes walking and took photos during my walk breaks.  For the last mile, I pretty much did that one non-stop, ending up with a finish time of 39:50, averaging 13:14 per mile, and my last mile was a negative split of 12:12, my fastest mile. I haven’t seen that time in quite a while; even 2 years after my last prostate cancer treatment, I am still dealing with some side-effects, but they are  starting to lessen now and this run/walk affirmed to me I seem to finally be on the way to getting back to my old running self.  I was really happy with my result.

After My Finish:  I got a photo of a young lady coming into the finish that I had run on the course with, off-and-on, and then got a photo of the two of us.   She pretty much stayed ahead of me until the last mile and even then, she was pretty close behind me. We chatted off-and-on a bit as we went along.  Super-nice lady. After that, I did a short cool-down walk, got some water and a banana and relaxed a bit, and then went to get some after-photos of finishers, supporters, volunteers, etc.

Epilogue:  This is one of my ‘must-do’ events, and I will continue to do this one as long as a am able, hopefully for many years to come, the Lord willing.  In spite of the cause we are running for, this is a very upbeat event – and an emotional one too, hearing the stories of some of these survivors.  Post-race the many vendors and sponsors for this one had lots  various food and drink (bananas, water, coffee, etc) and various give-away such as caps, small towels, pens, pins, and more; and darn it, I forgot to ask Erin of Thrivewell Foundation if I could have one of those small blue rubber bear figures – I think it’s a bear, anyway – to put into my car. Thrivewell Foundation is a major player for this event, as well as the Paint The Parkway Pink 5K for breast cancer, which the foundation puts on.  The Foundation assists with ALL types of cancer.  It is one really good local organization that does a great service for the “cancer community”, those experiencing cancer and their families. Much thanks to them, and also to all the sponsors and vendors out there for this cause, including the Holt family, UT-Health, Johnson & Johnson,  Pfizer Oncology, and many more. I took a phot of the back of my shirt, which shows all these sponsors and that will be in my photo race report where you can see the names of all of them.  I try to remember to do this for every event in which I participate because these sponsors play such a huge role in assisting with race costs, providing support, etc. Thanks to all of them.  Additional thanks to all the people out there for we participants, e.g.  our Race Director, Mr. Holt; all the many volunteers; the police officers and the medics there; our DJ for the sound and music and our MC there for us, they both did a great job; and, of course Our Lady Of The Lake University for the use of the location; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!  It was a good day and got even better for me when UTSA won their football game – I am a UTSA staff member – and when Alabama lost theirs. Sweet. Hope to see any of you at future events.  Whatever your passion may be, may you always be able to keep at it and stay safe doing it.