Photos are here:        https://photos.app.goo.gl/VJ7BzrupU6SL734e9

Before the Start:  My 4^th race of 2025 was the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo 5K Stampede held on February 1^st in downtown San Antonio, in Milam Park.    Race start time of 9 a.m. Parking can be kind of crazy in downtown San Antonio and there was parking opening at 7 a.m. at Cattleman’s Square, first-come first-serve until the lot was filled.  I did not take advantage of this. As retired military and now an employee of UTSA, I first went to Fort Sam Houston and stored some gear at the gym, so I could shower after the event.  I then went downtown and parked in the Buena Vista UTSA employee parking lot, so got to park for free, and the walk from there over to Milam Park was about 7 minutes, very nice. I’d already picked up my packet a few days before race day, so prior to the start I enjoyed getting some pre-start photos and chatting with many friends and other participants. There was quite a nice turn-out for this one, with 566 finishers for the main event.  There was also a 1-mile walk option. Also, someone told me there was a sign with the names of people who had done this event several times and my name was on it; and so it was.  I’ve done this even 6 times – not consecutively – during my running life here in San Antonio, so that was a nice touch from the organizers, recognizing participants who have done this event several times. I became a runner way back in 1983 when I was in the Air Force, assigned in Turkey  on Tax Day, lol, so this coming April 15^th will be my 42^nd anniversary of being a runner. Too bad it’s on a Tuesday, so no race for me to do that day.

On the course: The start and finish was right alongside Milam Park, so for this event we made a kind of big-and-wandering ‘loop”, with the course giving us a pretty nice tour of parts of downtown San. We started out on asphalt and then got onto a cobblestone surface for a while; the road also had a pretty good slant to it, so I tried as much as possible to stay on the most level parts of the course, as I am still going through some physical therapy after being in a boot for 6 weeks because a small stress fracture in my ankle. It also included an out-and-back on part of the San Antonio Riverwalk, outgoing on one side of the River and coming back on the other side.  We also also went through a part of San Antonio that had some really nice homes.  I did my usual 8-minutes running/2 minutes walking and took photos during my walk breaks. After getting to Mile 2, I then got ambitious and ran non-stop to the finish. After we got to Mile 2.5 I was thinking okay, just a half-mile to go;  nope….the course ended up being 3.5 miles per may Garmin, good grief; but it was okay, as for the last few weeks I’ve been able to get my training runs back up to 3.6 miles and even did a 4-miler the Sunday before this event. I did not push it, just got the distance done, and ended up with a chip time of 43:30, averaging 13:44 per mile, and my last mile was a 13:07 negative split, nice. In my 70 – 79 males category, I ended up 7^th out of 12.  I really don’t worry or care too much about placing; if I do, fine; if I don’t fine.  At my age, I accomplished my two primary goals: finish every race I start; and no ambulance waiting for me, lol.

After My Finish:  Cool-down walk and got some water, and then enjoyed going around getting some ‘after photos” and chatting with friends and other participants.  There were several “goodies” at this event, including coffee (blech), water, grilled sausage wraps, cold beer, and more.  This event was also quite close to Market Square – about a 5-minute walk from the start/finish line – so you could also get lots of food and drink choices from there too.

Epilogue:   I really like this event – in spite of a bit of crazy traffic in this area, as well as some road closures while street renovations are being done –  will do it again in the future; and certainly would recommend it to others.  The event raises funds for the  San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo Scholarship Fund. Also, after the race, you can stick around to watch the Western Heritage Parade and Cattle Drive, and they actually herd some Longhorns right up the street. All-in-all, a very nicely done event, one of my favorites. I will certainly do it again and would recommend it to others. Mucho Gracias to all the folk who made this one happen for we participants, and apologies if I miss anyone: all the sponsors; iaap for the course setup and timing results; all those many volunteers, police officers, etc., all along the course for us to keep us all safe; Race Director Carolyn, who is now a friend, lol, after we shared lots of emails, where she patiently dealt with all my questions, and I finally got to meet her in person at packet pickup; super-nice lady…and patient…very patient, lol; the costumed “rodeo clowns’ out there for us, too; and also thanks to all the drivers, business owners, residents, etc,, along the course for their patience as we invaded their space during this event. Thank you all!  Apologies if I missed anyone.  See you at the next one of these I will do; probably next year, I may just make this one of my ‘regulars’ on my race calendar. Whatever your exercise passion is, may you always enjoy it and always stay safe.