Photos are here:    https://photos.app.goo.gl/aB2QDjLacm36JRS57           

 Before the Start: My 21^st race of 2025 was the Confetti 5K held on April 26^th. Put on by Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) this event raises scholarship funding for OLLU students. Race start time was at 7:30 a.m.  Because of all the ongoing construction, causing some road closures in the downtown San Antonio area, I left pretty early to have as little traffic as possible; plus, I am directionally challenged, lol. I ended up making a wrong turn due to one of those road closures. Thankfully, I saw a police vehicle in the area, so stopped to ask the officer directions to get back on track. He gave me more than directions, He actually led me to the road I needed to turn onto to get to the university; now that is some service! Thank you so much. Back on track, I got to the university around 5:45 am., so had plenty of time before the start and also managed to get some good parking very close to the start/finish area.  I picked up my packet from friend Shari, whom I noticed was doing packet pickup by herself, as the packet pickup volunteers had not arrived yet; so after getting on my bib number and getting myself set for the start, I then volunteered for a bit with her, doing race-day packet pickup. Some of the volunteers had showed up, so it went quite quickly.  After a few more volunteers got there, I left them to it, and then did my usual pre-race thing of wandering around the start area, chatting with others and getting some pre-start photos. There was a kid’s run before the main event, and after that, we all lined up and got ready to go.

On the course:  Someone told me there were 500 registered for this event, so it was a nice turnout. I found out later from the posted results, there was a total of 430 finishers; 151 male and 279 female. . We started in front of the university’s main buildings, then made a left turn after the start. This took us on a winding course through the campus, with one-out-and-back section, and then onto a paved trail that looped us around the man-made lake near the university grounds, and then we went back onto the university grounds and returned to the finish the way we had first come out. I did my usual thing of run-8-minutes-walk 2 minutes and took on-course photos during my walk breaks, and, since the course was open to the public, also had a few other short stops when I saw people walking their dogs – or maybe the dogs were walking the people, lol – to hand out treats to the doggies. I like dogs and don’t want to hurt one, so I carry treats with me in case any loose dog chases me, and then toss in the opposite direction, which gives me time to walk away, since the dog usually chases the treat; hence my running name and nickname of Scotty Dogg, since some of my friends thinks it’s funny, lol. I was feeling pretty good overall – even after being on a liquid diet for 2 straight days for a colonoscopy I had on Thursday – and ended up finishing with a chip-time of 42:56, good enough for 2nd in my 70-99 age group. There was a total of 8 participants in my old-man group.

After My Finish:  I got some water into me and then wandered around getting some more photos of happy finishers and supporters and also handed out more dog treats – I was very popular with the dogs, lol –  and chatting with a lot of people, e.g., other participants, supporters, race vendors, and so forth. I also went around and thanked the EMTs there and also the police officers there for our safety. My dad was a juvenile probation officer for the county, so I am very pro-law enforcement – although I could not get away with anything, lol. If I got pulled over for speeding, for example, and the officer checked my ID, the first thing I’d get asked is “Are you Bob’s kid?” lol. 

Epilogue: This is a ‘streak’ event for me; I’ve done every one of them since it first started. Last year, I was surprised to see that my 2024 photo the official race photographer had taken was put onto the race site as the photo to announce the 2025 upcoming event, wow.  I was honored and appreciative.  This is one race I will continue to do every year as long as I am able. There was a whole lot of things at this event too, including goodies like sausage wraps; Shiner beer; lots of water, of course; fresh fruits – mostly bananas –  and all kinds of vendors there, giving away some small free items, some candies, and several other things. University cheer teams lined up at the start and finish, cheering us out and then back in; and some of the music/band students were out there too, playing for us. As noted, they nicely had one part of the university opened for us to use indoor restrooms, but there were also several porta-potties; I never did see any really long bathroom lines.  Very nice, scenic course too, as we worked our way around the man-made lake. The finisher/award medal is also very nicely done.  This is also a pet friendly and stroller-friendly course as just about all flat, with just a couple of up rises as we crossed a couple of bridges, but nothing serious.  People with disabilities would be able to do this course.  This is a really well-done and fun event.  It is definitely a keeper on my race calendar for as long as I can run. MUCHO thanks to all the people who made this one happen for we participants, including OLLU leadership; all the many volunteers out there for us; EMT and law enforcement people there for our safety; the cheer times and the music folks at the finish and start; and the patience of users of the lake course who were not participants, at the lake trail was still open to the public during our event. Thanks also to all the vendors/volunteers who provided us with lots of post-race goodies, eats-and-drinks and small give-away things; and to anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all! May you all stat safe, happy, and healthy.  See you next year at this one, the Lord willing.