Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/BBriGY2xYWwUk6zK8

Before the Start:  My 63^rd race of 2024 was the Battle of Leon Creek 5K held on Saturday, November 2, starting and finishing on the grounds of the Greenway Apartments in San Antonio, located at the intersection of Roadrunner Boulevard and Valero Way.  The event was held on the Leon Creek Greenway Trails adjacent to the apartment complex.  This event was the final event in a 4-race series, Battle of The Alamo Beer put on by local race management company, Scallywompus.  Participants could register for all 4 events at once and get a nice discount or register for them individually. I did register for all four initially, but then ended up in physical therapy for a piriformis issue,  so could not do the first three. By the time this one came around, I was running again and able to do this event. This event included a 20-miler, a 21K (13.05 miles) a 10-miler, a 5K run and a 5K competitive walk.  The 5K had a start time of 9 a.m., so I got to sleep in a bit, which I appreciated.  I arrived at race site with about an hour to start time.  The 20-milers, 21K folks, and 10-milers had started early so were already on the course by the time I go there.   I had previously picked up my race packet so after arriving I enjoyed chatting with other participants, supporters, vendors/sponsors and getting a few pre-start photos. This is also a dog-friendly event and I always carry a few dog-treats with me so I was soon very popular, lol, with the dogs there.

On the course:  Mother Nature was kind to us, all things considered, even though it was pretty darn humid with a temp in the upper 60s, low 70s, and there had been some off-and-on light rain as I drove to the course; however, after getting to the course the rain pretty much stopped, but it still was very humid. The start/finish line was in the apartment complex area.  We started right on time. After exiting the start chute, we made a right turn, went uphill on the paved entranceway to the apartment complex and then made a right turn onto a path that took us down to the Greenway trail. We made a left turn here, proceeded to a turn-round point and then to finish came back the way we had come out. The course, for the most part, was pretty flat, but we did have a few mild up-and-down inclines, but nothing I’d really call a hill, and we did cross over a couple of short bridges.  The course was open to nonparticipants doing their own thing – other runners, walkers, cyclists – who, for the most part took it all very patiently; some of those cyclists though: pretty rude, they’d just come whipping up behind us, not calling out, and whip around us, regardless of the runners and walkers on the course; I’m surprised they didn’t run into some of the participants;  several cyclists along the way did call out a “Bike Back!” to us before passing and as these cyclists passed by me I thanked every one of them for calling out. I did my usual run/walk thing – I can’t run nonstop anymore for any great length of time because of my spinal arthritis – and during my walk breaks took some on-course photos.  I was feeling pretty good and just kept at a nice steady pace.  My friend Rick was walking the course at a pretty good pace and was ahead of me for most of the way. I thought he was doing the running 5K event and just walking it, so I made up my mind to try and finish ahead of him a bit.  I did not catch up to him until just before Mile 2 – Rick is one really strong walker – and then passed him by. I found out after I was done that he was doing the Competitive 5K walk, lol, so I guess I could have taken my time. Oh well, all good. I ended up with a chip time of 40:22, averaging 13 minutes per mile and, per my garmin, Mile 2 to Mile 3 was 12:21, zowie; have not seen that pace in a while.  My time was good enough for first place in my 70-74 males age group, especially as there were only two in my age group, lol.

After My Finish:   Got some water, did a cool-down walk and then found a place to just sit for a while and relax, enjoying a post-race banana and getting hydrated again; the humidity for this event was pretty high, with dark clouds still hovering, no wind and no sunshine. After that, I wandered all around chatting with other participants, supporters, vendors, etc., and getting some post-race photos.  Some of the speedier 10-milers had also come in and pretty soon some of the faster folks for the other longer distances started coming in also; wow, how they can finish a 10-miler or 20-miler in that kind of time just amazes a slow old dog like me, lol.  They had the awards ceremony for the 5K and the 5K competitive walk.  Friend Rick placed in the Competitive 5K walk, as did my very speedy walker friend, Daisy  Her walk pace is faster than my running pace, lol. Our MC, Anthony Zamora, did a really nice job with the awards presentations.  All finishers also got a very nice finisher medal.

Epilogue:  The motto of Scallywompus is “Come for the race. Stay for the party.” They are not kidding about that. Post-race there was all kinds of goodies, including Kiolbassa sausages; bloody mary’s – I think they were bloody marys, but not sure since I don’t drink hard liquor; I stick to beer, and they had that too.  There was also a food truck on-site to purchase a variety of various foods from that. The finisher medal is very nicely done and even the ribbon it comes with is an art presentation, lol. Our sound-and-music man, Paul, was rockin’ us with some tunes, and there were all kinds of sponsors there, offering various things, such as post-race massages, various types of treats, fresh fruits, and more. Scallywompus really does throw one heck of a party; their events are very popular and usually fill up pretty fast.  The 5K had 233 finishers; the 20-miler had 116 finishers; 21K had 44; not sure of the competitive 5K walk; but, as you can see, Scallywompus events have a very good turnout.  Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us, including our Race Director Tony; all the many volunteers it takes to make these events happen; all the sponsors, vendors, etc; Push Button photography for all the ‘official’ race photos for these events; and gratitude to the residents in this apartment complex area for their patience and understanding; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here; thank you all!