Photos are here:     https://photos.app.goo.gl/vm6NqofnGK83gK8y8

 Before the Start:   My 27^th race of 2025 was the Freedom 5K Veterans Tribute Run Held on May 17^th, this event was in New Braunfels, Texas, put on by The American Legion, Walter F. Hoffmann Memoria Post 179, with co-sponsors Veteran United to Help Veterans, and Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 7110, New Braunfels.  I believe this was the inaugural race of this event.  There were 43 finishers for this 5k, so a fairly small event.  I had only registered for this event the day before race day, so printed out my registration confirmation and drove up to New  Braunfels – which took a while with all that darn ongoing construction on I-35 in San Antonio, so glad I left very early – and then picked up my packet. After that, I chatted with some friends I knew who were also there and also made some new friends and got some pre-start photos.  This is also a dog-friendly event so, since I carry dog-treats with me when I run/race – hence my nickname of Scotty Dogg, lol, bestowed upon me by a running friend after I stopped near the finish of a race to hand out a treat – “Darn it, Scotty, we’re doing a race here!  Get back here, you darn Scotty Dog!”  lol.  I added an extra “g” to it, just to be different – , and now that is how my running community knows me and all they ever call me now; which is fine by me.

On the course:  Course start time was 8 a.m.  The course was done on the roads in the neighborhood around the VFW Post on West Coll Street. We had an overcast day with no sunshine, around 73 degrees, and VERY humid. To start, we exited the grounds of the VFW, made a left turn and the hills started right off the bat with a long downhill. At the bottom of this, we made a left turn, went to the next street, made another left turn, and then climbed a very long uphill.  We then went to the next street; right turn; down a hill; left turn; next street, up a hill; good grief, lol. At the top of this hill we finally had some flat for a while, which lasted maybe about ¼ of a mile.  Then it was down another hill and then you guessed it, lol, up another hill. After climbing this hill, we then made a left turn and had some flat again for a bit, going once again past the course water station, and then made a right turn onto Santa Clara Street – another hill to climb, lol. After cresting Santa Clara, we then made a left turn onto a fairly flat street, and then made a left turn that took us up yet another hill.  After getting to the top of this, we crossed over Coll Street, with the VFW building on our left, and then went downhill on the street we had initially started on and then made a turn back onto the VFW grounds to finish. WHEW!!!  I ended up with a chip time of 43:59, which was good enough for 3^rd in my 70-99 males age group, as this was a fairly smaller participant event. I think I did okay and was pretty glad that I include regular hill-work in non-race training runs; this helped a lot with this course.

After My Finish: Got some water and relaxed a bit and then wandered here-and-there chatting with other participants and also supporters, volunteers, etc., and got a few post-race photos. Unlike a huge event, with hundreds of participants – I like those too, but it’s nice too, but it’s nice to do a smaller event once in a while – this felt like a group of friends who had all gotten together to get a run or walk in and be with each other before, during, and after.  The age group award is the coolest thing ever! It’s an eagle made by one of those 3-D computers; very detailed, and well-made. I do so many races and get so many finisher medals that I usually donate them to either kids with cancer, or to the disabled kids being helped by Morgan’s Wonderland in San Antonio, since I was born a disabled kid myself; I was a March of Dimes baby; but this award I am going to keep; it is very unique and quite awesome. Epilogue: The course is challenging, but it is well laid-out on wide streets, with very little traffic in this neighborhood, so plenty of room for both runners, walkers, and vehicles to safely pass by participants. The neighborhood is really a very nice place to get in a run, walk, bike ride, or whatever your exercise passion is. The race shirt is really very nice quality and, as noted, that age-group award is a thing of beauty. I really hope this event grows; it is really nicely done and well-organized. I would definitely do it again and would recommend it to others.  Much thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants, including the American Legion Post; the VFW; all the people who organized this for us, including the registration folks, the course marshal volunteers making sure we were going the correct way; the police officers out there for our safety; our water station guy; race results.com – if you did this one, you can find your race results at:  https://www.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=127&RId=354&EId=1&dt=1&top=0  and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!  Nap time for me now, lol. I have another 5K to do the day after this one.