Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/kjgsebDCepD4mX4bA

Before the Start:  My 37^th race of 2025 was The Texas Tough 5K held on June 22 at Eisenhower Park in San Antonio, Texas. This was my 2^nd race of the weekend, after having done The Longest Day 5K the day before. Texas Tough, put on by local race management company e-Dragon Productions, and timed by iaap, another local race management company, included three events:  10-miler, 10K, and 5K. There were 48 finishers for the 10-miler; 84 for the 10K; and 109 for the 5K. Start time was 7:30 a.m., with the 10-milers going first; followed by the 10K folks, and then the 5K was the last event to start. This being Texas summer, race morning temp was 82 degrees, with some pretty high humidity. I had gotten my race packet the day before, so after arriving I got wandered here-and-there chatting with other participants, volunteers, vendors, etc., and took a few pre-start photos. This is also a dog-friendly event, so, with permission of their humans, I handed out a few dog treats, making new canine friends, lol.

On the course: The National Anthem was played and then the 10-milers started out, followed by the 10K participants. We 5K participants started out last. We 5K folks got lucky with our course, as ours was all on the asphalt-paved trails within the park grounds. All the courses were out-and-back. I did my usual run-walk thing and took photos during my walk breaks.  This course took us up some winding hills with some pretty good climbs, occasionally steep, but not too bad, and then around a flat circle at the top that took us past an observation tower on the top. We then went back down the way we had come up, then passed a water station, and then wound around another asphalt-paved trail that took us back to the original path we had started on after crossing the finish mat, and then back to the finish. The 10-miler and and 10K folks, because of their longer distances, had to go another way and ended up with part of their courses included being on the nearby Greenway Trails – and from having run their before, I knew the were going to have some SUPER-long up-hills-and-down-hills.  I’ll tell you what…when I crested the top of the 5K course by that observation tower and looked at the distance on my Garmin, at that moment I KNEW we would not be going on those greenway trails because that would have made the 5K distance long. I was so happy about that, lol, that after I got back down to the part of our course where the water station was, Erik, our Race Director and the guy who laid out the courses for us, was there and I stopped to him a huge hug to thank him for not putting my arthritic back onto the concrete.  I’ve done a couple of 5Ks here on that greenway trail, and some of the uphills on that thing are a HUGE climb; and very steep downhills too, which really annoy my arthritic spine.  After thanking Erick, I was off and running again. We had one more paved trail that we did a lap around – with more hills, of course, lol, but not bad at all, and then we went back to the finish line in reverse of the way had come out at the start.  I ended up with a chip time of 43:28, averaging 14:21 per mile, which was good enough for first in my 70-99 males age group, as the only other person in my age group, lol, was my friend, Keyes.  

After My Finish:  I got a couple of photos of others coming in, then got my finisher medal and some water, and then went over to sit with my friend, Gilbert – one of the vendors – who, when he is at the races I do, always has a chair and a banana waiting for me after the race. After relaxing and rehydrating a bit, I then wandered around chatting with people, treating some more dogs, and getting some post-race photos.  I had several friends who were doing the other distances, so hung around quite a while after I finished the 5K to see them come in and get more photos. I also enjoyed chatting with others and getting more photos of volunteers, vendors/sponsors. I had friends doing the 10-miler and 10K, so waited for them and watched all the award ceremonies and got some more photos after all the top 3 in each age group of those two events had finished.  Finally, it was time go to, so I headed over to Joint Base San Antonio Camp Bullis, since I am retired military and have access to the gym there, and was able to take a nice hot shower and change clothes so I didn’t have to drive home all wet and sweaty; very convenient. Epilogue: Eisenhower Park, in my opinion, is not a great park of the Greenway System or San Antonio Parks system, but it has its advantages too, depending on what you want from it; a pretty good off-road trail system from what my trail-running friends tell me; and that climb to the observation tower on the paved trail does give you some nice hill work. It does have nice “presentation’ area for the races, with a very nice covered pavilion and also indoor restrooms, water fountain, etc. This event used to be held in Helotes, Texas – a route I hated, lol, but each to his/her own – so glad they moved it here, at least for the 5K anyway. There is also a Greenway trail right across the street from the park entrance; I’ve never been on that trail, so don’t know what that is like; and the closeness to Camp Bullis is a big plus for me too, since I can use the gym showers. I think the race organizers did pretty great with what they had to work with.  The race shirt is REALLY nice quality, with a unique design; the finisher medal is really nice too and the age group and overall award medals have a code on the back that can be used for a discount when you register for another e-Dragon race. Post-race treats included Shiner Bock Beer, breakfast tacos, various fruits, coffee (BLECH!..can’t even stand the smell of the stuff, lol) and breakfast tacos.  I would definitely do this 5K again and would recommend it to others.  The 10-miler and 10K…well, I’ll let the ones who actually did that advise you on that.

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants: e-Dragon Productions/the Burciaga Family and the guy in the Dragon Costume for age group award photos- it must have been pretty warm in that thing; iaap for the start/finish line setup and all the results; all the many volunteers and vendors; law enforcement officers out there for our safety; our MC, Anthony, and our music and sound guy, Paul, doing their usual great jobs; my friend, Gilbert for giving me a nice shady seat to relax in for a while after I finished; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all. Next up for me: Big Red and Barbacoa 5K on June 28.