Photos are here:    https://photos.app.goo.gl/CuB5Vp6Tv28kYKp69

Before the Start:   My 2nd ^t organized run/race of 2025 was the Coffee Lovers  5K, put on by The Best Races on January 18^th, held at Lady Bird Johnson Park.  There was also a half-marathon and a 10K.  Best Races puts on their events a little differently than most race companies.   You sign up for an event and then they give you an option of choosing your start time.  They usually do their events in ‘waves”; so, with this one, for example, one could choose a start time of 7:30  a.m.;  8 a.m., or 9 a.m. Because their event was the longest, the half-marathon folks did have to show up for the first wave.  I chose to sleep-in a bit and selected a 9 a.m. start time. By the time I got there, the majority of participants had already finished, having chosen the earlier waves.  I got my race bib, got a couple of pre-start photos – including one of the two KSAT-TV folks that were there doing a filming – they remembered me from the Brain Cancer 5K, where Steve Spriester interviewed me post-race – and then got going.

On the course:  The laid out courses were designed to be out-and-back courses of  two laps each. I really hate doing out-and-back laps, so asked one of the organizers if it was okay if I just used the usual out-and-back 5K course that was used by most race companies at this park. They told me that would be fine, just as long as it was 5K distance. Nice.  I got my bib and off I went using the 5K route that iaap uses for its races here, which took me to the 410 frontage road and then back.  Because I started with the last time available I pretty much had the course mostly all to myself, although I did see some other participants out there, some doing the 10K, others the half; and, as the park was open, of course, to all users, I also saw some cyclists, walkers, and other runners doing their own thing. I did take a few photos along the way, and also stopped to treat some dogs, so my time – as usual, lol – was pretty slow.  With my late start, the weather was actually not too bad at all; sunny; a very light breeze; and 54 degrees. I did my usual 8-min walk/2 minutes run and felt pretty good. With my stops along the way – dog treat stops mainly, and one stop to take a photo of a friend of mine and his friends who were out doing a group cycling thing – I ended up with a finish time of  46:43, averaging 14:53 per mile, and had a negative split for Mile 3, nice.

After My Finish: There was no official timing, as these events are mostly “fun runs” although you do pay a registration fee to help with expenses. I did a short cool-down walk and then enjoyed chatting with one of the organizers post-race, a very nice lady, who gave me my finisher medal, which all participants got. Also available was coffee – lots of coffee, which my coffee-fanatic friend, Woody, would have loved. As for me, I can’t even stand the smell of the stuff, lol, so found it ironic that I signed up for an event named for coffee; mainly because I only live about 5 miles from LBJ Park, so very convenient.

Epilogue:   Thebestraces.com pretty much organizes these events in local communities all over the US so that participants can just do their own thing at their own pace – so kind of like a big “get-together run” like running clubs do, except there is an entry fee to help pay for expenses.  It is different, and kind of nice for those who would like to do a relaxed ‘fun run” with no pressure. Registration is usually done through RunSignUp.  They put events all over the US and you can do them virtually to. My personal preference is to do ‘normal’ races, lol – I like BIG races with lots of people –  and am always skeptical at first of these types of events, but once I get there and do them I manage to enjoy myself; also, the staff folks representing the company really are very nice people and they took very good care of everyone, from what I observed.  Also, like other events, you can also choose to do these virtually. I don’t see myself doing a whole lot of these, but I probably will do some more at some time or other.  Mucho thanks to the two besraces.com people out there for us, who had to stand there the whole time waiting for the finishers – and with all those wave options, that’s a lot of patience, lol. Next up for me is the MLK 5K the day after this one – and the weather for that is supposed to be VERY different than for this one….start time of 9 a.m. with a temp of 41 and a ‘feels like” of 29..WHAT?!! I am not a fan of the cold. I’ll probably be in so many layers, lol, I will be hardly able to move.