Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/ixaijFPr5mb37yfX9      

Before the Start:  My 13^th race of 2025 was Free-da’s Run, a 5K run/walk for the arts, held at McAllister Park on Sunday, March 9^th, with a 9 a.m. start time.  Put on by local race management company iaap that did the course setup, timing, results etc., this was my second 5K of the weekend with iaap, after doing the Active 5K on Saturday, for which iaap also did the course setup, timing, etc.  Unlike my Saturday 5K that had over 1300 finishers, this one was a tad smaller with a total of 209 finishers, so probably a bit easier for iaap to manage than the Sunday on.  As usual, iaap did a great job for both events.  Free-da’s Run honors Frida Kahlo, a Mexican painter and feminist icon known for her vibrant self-portraits and works inspired by Mexican nature and artifacts  I arrived with about 40 minutes to start time and got a few pre-start photos. Several participants were in Frida costume, and there were also Frida backdrops for photo ops. This is a dog-friendly event too, so I also handed out treats to the doggies there.

On the course: The weather for this one had changed pretty drastically from my Saturday 5K, which had temps in the 60s and lots of sunshine.  We had sunshine for this one too, but a cold front had come in overnight dropping our temperature to the mid-40s, with a blowing wind of 15 – 20 mph, making it feel a bit chillier than the actual temp – Weather Channel listed the temp as 43 degrees with a ‘feels like of 39” due to the wind. The course started and finished at the park pavilion near the lower soccer fields in the park. It is a very flat out-and-back course, which my legs appreciated after the few inclines on the Saturday 5K.  We started in front of the soccer fields, passed by the park’s youth baseball field, and then proceeded up a wide park road, with the wind gusting around us. After about a half-mile or so, we went around a curve in the road and then had woods on either side of us, which made for a nice windbreaker on this part of the course. This road took us toward Becken Pavilion in the direction of Jones Maltsberger Road.  A short ways down from the pavilion, we went off-road onto one of the park’s paved trails and made a right turn going in the direction of Becken Pavilion.  There was a water station here – I jokingly asked the volunteer “No beer?” and also a Park Police Officer I knew doing road duty for our safety, who gave me a shout-out, so stopped for a few seconds, as it was nice to see him again…friendship man-hug, and then I was on my way again.   Just before the pavilion we then made a left turn onto another trail that would have taken us past a nearby police substation if we had gone that far, but we did not; we had a turn-around before we got that far and then went back to the finish in reverse of the way we had come out.  While we were on the trail, as noted previously, we the woods on either side of us protected us from the gusting wind. Once we got back on the park road we had come out on, we passed the Mile 2 marker and headed back the way we had come out to get to the finish, again with very little wind until….we rounded a curve and were back on the first part of this road we had come out on…and the wind was right in our faces, whipping steadily at us all the way to the finish line, wow.  I pretty much ran the last mile non-stop, ignoring my watch beeping my walk-break signal, with just one short stop to take a couple of photos on this windy return part, and then went non-stop to the finish. I ended up with a chip time of 41:28, gun time 41:49, good enough for 3^rd in my 70-99 males age category, especially, lol, as there were only 3 in my age group.

After My Finish:    I got a few photos of others coming into the finish, including one of two Team Beef ladies I had been running on-and-off with on the course. On my way to the finish, I kept expecting they would catch up with me but that didn’t happen, not because they were slower than me, but because I think they did a little extra walking along the way.  I then wandered around here-and-there getting photos of happy finishers and supporters; handed out more doggie treats; chatted with friends and other runners; and got photos of some of the age-group placers – several of my personal friends placed – and photos of my friends Ceci – the founder of this 5K – and Lana, another iaap family member who was our MC for this event – and got had some photos taken of me too.    After that, it was time to go home and take a hot shower, after being in this cold wind for a while.  This did not take long at all, as I only live 5 miles from the park, so very convenient. Believe me, after that wind

Epilogue: iaap does a great job with all the events they put on and this one was no exception. Very well organized, nice course – that darn wind though, but even iaap can’t control that, lol – colorful race bibs, very nice finisher medals for all and a very unique age-group placer ribbon with a small head on the end of it, black head for males, blue for the ladies. There was also food served up, primarily some kind of Mexican food dish, which was enjoyed by many. I had to pass on that since my first cancer – colon – screwed up my digestive tract a bit, so the spiciest thing I am allowed to eat is simple yellow mustard; no onions, no garlic, tabasco sauce, etc., anything with a ‘spicy kick’. It’s all good though; as you can see from my photos I am not starving, lol. Mucho thanks to all the people who helped make this one happen for we participants, including the Iniguez family (owners of iaap); all the many volunteers there for us; the park police officers there for us; all the race sponsors; and also thanks for the patience of the non-participating park patrons who were in the park during the event, as we invaded their space for a while, as the park was still open for all users during the 5K, and to anyone else involved not mentioned here. Thank you all.  Next event coming up for me is March 15 Shamrock Shuffle at Ladybird Johnson Park, another park only about 5-miles from where I live, very convenient.   Happy running to all my fellow runners; stay safe and have fun.