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

Before the Start:  My 40^th race of 2025 was the Let Freedom Run 5K on July 4^th.  Held in Schertz, Texas, this event was put on by Athlete Guild Productions, a very high-quality race management company. Race start time was around 9:15 a.m. For this event, as well as the regular age groups, there was also a Military Active Duty/Veterans Category, with age group awards given in that division. That category usually has some pretty darn speedy people, and had a total of 95 finishers, 60 male and 35 female. I just signed up for the “regular” 5K, in my age group of 70-99 males. For the 5K, there were 267 finishers, 115 male and 152 female. The weather was pretty bleary and pretty humid, with some very light rain,  a temperature of 82 degrees, and the humidity was 82%. Because of the local 4^th of July Schertz Parade, the roads of the parade route were being closed, so participants pretty much had to come down Schertz Parkway and then turn into the parking lot of the Community Center Area where the start and finish was located. I arrived around 8:20 or so, got some pretty good parking and then got a few pre-start photos.

On the course:  The course was on the route of the 4^th of July Jubilee Parade in Schertz.  We started at 9:15 a.m., with the parade starting at 9:30 a.m. The 5K started behind the community center building on a paved road, went past the parking areas, did a short bit in the lot in front of the community center building parking lot and then entered onto Schertz Parkway heading down the street in the direction of FM 78, a road that goes in the direction of Randolph Air Force Base.  By the time we got to this point the rain had stopped, but that darn humidity sure did not let up.  We turned right onto Main Street before the FM 78 and headed down this wide road going in a direction that would take us past Pearsall Park on our right.  After passing Pearsall Parke, we made a right turn on Aero Drive, which took us past the 2-mile mark. We then proceeded all the way up Aero Drive. This brought us back to the Schertz Parkway, where we made a left turn, and proceeded back to the start/finish line the way we had come out.  Well, most of us anyway, lol. After getting closer to the Community Center, I was following a few runners in front of me and we all went past where we were supposed to turn back into the Community Center Parking area and go back the way we had started out. Instead we kept going down this road, past the Community Center area, until we got to one of the Parade volunteers at a corner, and he told us we were going the wrong way, we had to go back to the Community Center Parking lot.  Well, shoot, I never saw a sign about ‘finish this way” – maybe I just missed it – and volunteers – I think they were volunteers – didn’t shout at us to come back, so I thought I was going the right way; of course, “Directionally Challenged” me does this a lot on training runs, too, lol; I probably need a guide dog, lol. Anyway, after the parade volunteer got us going back, I ended up running along the road by the fence-line, with parade vehicles on my left. This actually turned out to be pretty cool because I could see on the parade vehicles all the displays on the back of the trucks and on trailers the vehicles were pulling.  Well, shoot, I knew I was going to be over 5K distance from coming down this way, so I just kicked back and walked a few extra times and took photos of some of those parade displays – and all the parade participants on the trailers and displays were cheering me on, lol, which was pretty cool.  Per my Garmin, I ended up with a total distance of 3.96 miles in 54:08, ending up 4^th out of 4 in my 70-99 males age group.  Not exactly sure what my chip time was, as Athlete Guild results only list the Top 3 in each age group. Per my Garmin, however, mile 2 – 3 for me was my fastest mile at 12:34. I told my friend Sherri, I didn’t see any sign such as ‘this way” to the finish, and the volunteers at that corner – if they were race volunteers; I don’t know for sure – never called out to us to come back. Well, what the heck; I really am not upset about it; with me, stuff happens, lol, and hey, I got some nice parade photos out of it too, and see some of the parade displays, cool.

After My Finish:  I got a really nice finisher medal and then got some water and then did a short cool-down walk. After that, I found a nice flat, tall rock to sit on and just relax a bit. Then I was up-and-at it again, getting some more photos, chatting with friends, and enjoying some of the post-race goodies. I also wanted to thank my friends of the Athlete Guild, as I had a low tire-pressure warning on my vehicle just before I left and they kindly took care of that with one of those automatice tire-pump things.  

Epilogue:  I do this event just about every year, so you’d think I’d know which way to go to get to the finish, but sometimes my old-man-brain doesn’t kick in, so I end up having ‘adventures’, like the one for this event; but hey, it sure keeps my running life from getting boring, lol. I did tell my friend Sherri – one of the race organizers – that I didn’t see anything telling me which way to return to the finish, but I hope I did not come across as upset about it; if so, my apologies to her; I ended up having a pretty nice outing with my mistake, seeing that part of the parade. This event is very well done by the Athlete Guild crew, and our MC, Mark Purnell, did his usual great job as our MC. There were also some very nice post-race goodies – beer included – and the finisher medals are really nice. After I got all my post-race photos, as I was getting ready to leave, I gave my medal to a kid – his mom took it for him. I do so many races in a year, I often just throw my medals in a bag and when I get enough of them, I donate them to either Morgan’s Wonderland kids, whom I can relate with, as I was a disabled kid too (March of Dimes baby) – or to the kids with cancer at the San Antonio Children’s Hospital, since I am also a 3-time cancer survivor.  Mucho thanks to all who made this event happen for we participants;  The Purnell family and all the other Athlete Guild crew members there; all the many volunteers out there for us; law enforcement and EMT folks out there for our safety; all the race sponsors; Shirtz Creek Bier Garten for being the pre-race day packet pickup location; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.

Next up for me: Chasing Dreams 5K on Saturday, July 5^th at Brooks City; and e-Dragon Summer Series 5K, Race #4 at McAllister Park.