Photos are here:         https://photos.app.goo.gl/ACWExGWozq7FUoC89   

 Before the Start:  My 33^rd race of 2025 was Aid The Silent held in Boerne, Texas on June 7, 2025 with an 8 a.m. start and race day packet pickup at 7 a.m.. This event supports the Aid The Silent organization which provides support and services to the deaf-and-hard-of-hearing in its local communities. There is an Aid The Silent office in San Antonio also.   Race start time was 8 a.m.  Since I am often ‘directionally challenged”, lol, I left around 5:30 a.m., and arrived at the Boerne Main Plaza about 6:15 a.m. After finding  some really good parking, I saw that they were already doing packet pickup, so got my race packet and then wandered around chatting with others and getting some pre-start photos. There was a really nice turn-out for this one with a total of 718 finishers, runners & walkers.  My friends from iaap were doing the timing and results for this event. They’ve been quite busy lately, doing the Beach2Bay Relay event last week in Corpus Christi, and then The Big Run in San Antonio on June 4^th.  Prior to the start, The National Anthem was played, and two deaf/hard of hearing ladies were on the stage in front of the plaza’s Gazebo, ‘signing’ The National Anthem; it was very cool and very moving to see. A local Reverend than gave us a prayer, speaking and signing, also cool. There was a teleprompter near the stage, so all those who didn’t know sign language – like me – could read the words they were signing.

On the course:  We started right on time, lining up on a street near the plaza Gazebo, which was to our right of our start area. I had noticed that my age group was males 60-99, wow, and so I knew I was not placing today, lol, so I just took my sweet time for this one and didn’t push it. The course was done on paved roads. After crossing the timing mat, we almost immediately went down a short hill, and then leveled out on a street going through a nice neighborhood area. We went straight out on this street to a turn-round point, and then headed back in the direction of the start/finish line. This road was open to traffic, so lots of calls of “Car Back!”, and so forth; the drivers were pretty patient about it all, driving carefully. We did not go back to the finish line, of course; we made a right turn to leave this road and then ran through a really nice neighborhood area, with pretty flat streets; at least, flat until we got to a water station; then some hills started.  We went down one short but steep hill; crossed over a short bridge and then climbed up a short but very steep hill. After getting to the top of this, we then had some flat for a bit; we got to another turn-round, came back the way we had come out, and then made a turn into another really nice neighborhood.  The first part of it was pretty flat, and then after we turned onto another street, we went down a steep hill, crossed over a second bridge on the course – with some nice water views from this bridge, and then went up a short hill. We turned left and there was a short climb there too, and then we went onto an off-road paved trail that wound us around as we went toward the finish line; and this trail had a short climb on it. After exiting this trail, we were then back on a street by the Plaza, and in front of The Kendall Hotel, which is right near the Plaza. We proceeded on the road in front of the hotel, then made a left turn – the hill we had gone down at the start was behind us – and this took us back to the finish. Out of the 48 in my 60-99 males division, I finished 28^th with a pretty slow time of 46:56; I also had “killed” a bit of my finish time, when there was a lady on the course pushing a stroller and it tipped over and some of her stuff came out of it; thankfully, her son with her was not in the stroller at the time; so I stopped to help pick some of her stuff up, which cost me a few minutes, but hey, people are more important than finish times, so it’s all good.

After My Finish:  Hydrate!  Aid The Silent folks smartly put bottled water and Gatorade and some food goodies right by the sidewalk near where we exited the start/finish area; the liquids on our right and some food goods on our left. I grabbed Gatorade and water and then went and found a shady place to sit and just relax for a bit. My friend, Alan, was there too, so we sat and relaxed for a bit and chatted. There was also a couple there with a sweet dog, so I got a photo of them as I was sitting there. After that, felt much better, very relaxed, and then wandered around the Boerne Main Plaza grounds chatting with others and getting some post-race photos and watched some of the awards. The overall and top 3 in each age group got an award. There were several people that I recognized from doing same races with them – although with my idiot old-man brain, could not remember some of their names, lol – but enjoyed chatting with them, and making new acquaintances, and getting some post-race photos.

Epilogue:  This is a very well-done event, one I try to do as much as I can, since I am a bit hard-of-earing in my left ear due to some surgery I had on it during my Air Force career – and there’s a story behind that, but too detailed to tell it here.  The event is really well done by the organizers and all the volunteers – packet pickup, course marshals, water station folks, etc. – were all great. We had two MCs, one who did the talking and another who signed everything. The race shirt is very nice quality. Since I do so many races and am running out of race shirt space, lol, I got a youth medium and would like to give it to one of my friends who maybe has a deaf child.  Several post-race goodies that included the Gatorade and water; cupcakes and various chips, etc. and there was also a company that prepared tacos that you could purchase, with some of the funds they raised going for the cause, if I remember correctly. You could also purchase “Hank The Dog” – buy one and then one free one would go to a deaf child. Since I already have a Hank The Dog at home, I did buy two and told the lady to give one each to a deaf child.   I will definitely continue to do this one as long as I am able and I would certainly recommend it to others. Just keep in mind how many participants do this event and that if you are not one of those speedy runners, you may not place in your age group, so just have fun with it. Much thanks to all who made this one happen for us: Aid The Silent, of course; all the many sponsors and vendors; all the volunteers out there for us;  the local police officers on the course for our safety; the patience of all the residents of the neighborhoods we passed through; our MCs who did a great job for us; iaapweb for the timing and results; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all! God willing and the creek don’t rise, I will most assuredly be doing this one again.