Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/jYxxCrNYF5zw6FG5A

Before the Start:  My 64^th race of 2024 was the Turkey Shuffle 5K put on by Bigfoot Running on Sunday, November 3^rd.  There was also a 10K, a 1-Mile-run and a  Kids Run before the main events started. The event was held at Southside Lions Park in San Antonio.  There were no age group awards, but the events were all timed and all finishers got a really nice finisher medal. The 5K was the largest group with 88 finishers. The 10K had 52 finishers.  The 1-Mile had 25 finishers. You can find all the results on the RunSignUp website.

On the course:  The 10K, 5K, and 1-miler started at 9 a.m. They were all out-and-back courses. It was a tad humid, but we actually had some pretty nice weather for it, with a bit of sunshine, some cloud cover, and a temp in the upper 60s, low 70s. We started in front of a park pavilion, made a left turn onto a paved trail, and crossed over a short bridge to continue on the paved trail.  The 5K and 10K participants crossed a total of 3 bridges, each one twice, as the courses were out-and-back. We also had some nice views of the waters of Salado Creek from the start/finish area and as we crossed over the bridges on the race routes. Just before the ½ mile mark we crossed over one of the park’s roads and then went over our 2^nd bridge.  This took us onto the greenway trail that headed in the direction of Comanche Park, just off of Rigsby Road.  After crossing that bridge we also began climbing.  The majority of the hills were not really super-steep, but some were fairly long and included both up-and-down.  Just after the 1-mile mark, we had a short flat part of the course, and then went downhill, underneath an overpass – I think it was part of the I-10 East highway above us, but not sure of that – and then down another incline. This took us over our 3^rd bridge. After crossing that bridge, we then began climbing again, going in the direction of Comanche Park.  Now, this was a hill, a very long hill that took the 5K participants to our turn-round point. The 10K folks continued on towards their turn-round point and, from personal experience of having done races at Comanche Park, these hills up toward that park are a pretty tough uphill climb for quite a while.  After we 5K folks made our turn-round, we then went back down the hill, back across the bridge, and then returned to the start area in reverse of the way we had come out, experiencing once again both uphill and downhill. The last up incline we did on the way back was fairly long, and then we started down again. This took us back to Bridge 2. After crossing that, we then went back to the paved trail we had originally started on. This was the flattest part of the course that took us back across Bridge 1 and then on to the finish line.   I ended up with a chip finish time of 41:45, 1^st in my age group (males 70+) mainly because I was the only one in my age group, lol.

After My Finish:  Stood near the finish line and got a few photos of others coming in. I also got a photo with a young lad I had been near for most of the last 1.5 miles to the finish. He was running with his parents.  I’d pass him when he took short walk breaks with his parents and then he’d run again and catch right back up to me and pass me, lol. I enjoyed interacting and running with him and his parents, all very nice people.  After we got to the flat part of the course, the last ½ mile to the finish, he soon left me in the dust, lol, and finished quite a bit ahead of me; future Olympian runner, lol; super-nice kid. After that, I just sat for a while, relaxing and rehydrating; then I was up-and-about again, chatting with other participants, supporters, etc., and getting some more photos.    Epilogue: Bigfoot Running made this a very nice event; I think we all enjoyed ourselves; nice course; challenging in some spots, but nice; very nice finisher medal, and nice quality race shirt. Southside Park is a nice venue to run, walk, bike, etc., with really nice paved trails, and your choice to go short or long; its trails connect with some of the other greenway trails, so you can really go a long way if so desired. The park is also a nice place to relax after your outing, very peaceful with nice water views and you can even fish there if you like to do that. I would certainly do this one again and would recommend it to others.  Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants, e.g.,  BigFoot Running staff and Race Director; our many race volunteers; the law enforcement folks out there for our safety; the patience of other park users, as this was an open course for all, e.g.,  other non-participant runners, walkers, cyclists, etc; This is also a dog-friendly event so, since I carry dog treats when I go running, I made some new 4-legged friends pretty quickly, lol. Happy running to all; hope to see you sometime on the road or at a race. Stay safe, my friends.