Photos are here:      https://photos.app.goo.gl/kqbLpQ8wLYKpEXgk8

 Before the Start:    My 43^rd race of 2025 was the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) Back To School Drive 5K, held at the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) Sports Complex on Edwards Avenue. Hosted by the SAPD, this was the first race of its kind in the country, with a goal of supplying SAISD students with various needed school supplies. It’s free to sign up for the race but at packet pickup each participant had to bring a bag of needed supplies in order to receive his/her race bib. The various needed/recommended supplies were put onto the registration site. Race bibs were limited to 500 participants.  I found and registered for this event after that limit had been reached; however, one of the organizers told me I could still participate in the run, but just would not be timed, which was okay with me. On race day, I arrived around 6:30 a a.m, got some nice parking gave the race day packet pickup folks a bag of supplies.  One of the ladies helping with registration told me she had friend who was not able to be there, so she called this friend, and that person said it was okay if I used her race bib; thus I was able to then go to the start/finish area to see my friends of iaap, who were doing the timing and results, and they then updated the info into the computer with my name for the bib, so I got to be timed after all. I asked the registration lady to please sincerely thank her friend for me.  I then wandered here-and-there, chatting with friends, other participants, vendors, police officers, EMTs, etc., and getting a few pre-start photos of participants, volunteers, vendors. Right before we started, a police choir beautifully sang the National Anthem; a prayer was delivered – I think by a police chaplain, but not sure about that – and Police Chief McManus gave us a few short words and wished us all good luck.

On the course:   We started on the grounds of the Sports Complex, making a path past where the vendors were located and then proceeding along the perimeter of one of the parking lots of the complex. We exited through a gate on that side and that took us onto the streets of the neighborhood areas near in the Sports complex. The course, for the most part was pretty flat, and we did several out-and-backs on the course, which was okay with me; it gave participants passing by each other the opportunities to cheer each other on. The majority of the course was pretty much flat, with just a few minor up-and-down inclines, until we got to the street where the Mile 2 marker was, and that had quite an uphill climb; not super-steep, but it was fairly long. Volunteers and police officers were all along the way as course marshal. As I passed by one of the police officers, I jokingly told him “I have a complaint….I’m old..I stuck my thumb out to get a ride from that bike police officer, but he just ignored me and kept on going.” Lol. As usual, I did my 8-minutes-running/2 minutes walking and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. After I got to the Mile 2 marker – which was on that uphill – I then went nonstop to the finish for the last mile. I ended up with a chip-time of 41:48, good enough for 3^rd in my 70-99 males age group, and my last mile was a negative spilt; so….super-thanks to that lady who let me have her bib number.

After My Finish:  I stood near the finish line for a bit, getting some photos of others finishing, including my friend Carolyn and her service dog, Lucy, and my friend Ralph.  Carolyn placed in her age group. Lucy knows I carry dog biscuits with me when I go running or racing so if one chases me I toss it in the other direction and it chases the biscuit instead of me;  when Lucy  saw me at the finish, it looked like she sped up a bit, lol, to get to me and get a treat.  After taking those finisher photos, I then went to find some water, which I did at one of the police tents set up, and the also kindly gave me a banana too. I found a nice shady spot and just relaxed for a bit, drinking my water and eating my banana. After that, I wandered around, chatting with people again, and getting photos of happy finishers, volunteers, vendors, the band that was playing – and really well, too, primarily some oldies and classic rock.  They were playing one song by Brian Adams and I heard one young guy say “What song is that?” I jokingly told him “You had not been born yet when that song came out.” Another thing I found amusing was my bib number turned out to be 222, which I found humorous because when I was growing up, there was a TV show about school and the show was titled “Room 222” and here I was doing a school event with the Room 222 bib, lol.

Epilogue:  This is one of the friendliest and nicest events I have ever done. The course, as noted was well-thought out, with streets wide enough to accommodate all; it’s dog-friendly and chair/stroller friendly; it’s mostly flat, with just that one hill going toward the Mile 2 marker; and lots of out-and-backs, so a lot of camaraderie at this on, with participants cheering each other on with shout-outs as they are passing by each other. Given who puts on this event, there are a LOT of law enforcement people out there, so it’s probably one of the most safe events ever. I also saw an EMT cycling the course; I assumed he was one of the medical volunteers, so participants are being looked out for in that area too. There also are a whole LOT of vendors at this event, so there is quite a variety of items offered, including food and drink; some really nicely designed head bananas featuring dogs, cats, and a whole bunch of other designs; and a whole lot more. The awards ceremony was nicely done, with the top 3 in each age group getting a very nicely designed award medal.  The only thing I would recommend changing here is, instead of starting with youngest to oldest, go with oldest to youngest; start with we senior people first because….we’re old, and need to get home and get our nap after an event, lol.
This event will definitely be a KEEPER on my race calendar – reminder to myself: register right away when it first is announced, you old goat, lol –  and I definitely would recommend this to others.  Much thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants:  all the law enforcement and medical folks; the many vendors and volunteers; SAISD for the use of their facility; to the residents of the neighborhoods we went through, for their patience during the time we invaded their space; to iaap for the timing and results; to the folks who set up that well-done course for us; not sure if it was iaap or some of the law enforcement folks, or both but, either way, thanks; our MC who announced the awards; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all!  Hope to see you next year at this event, the Lord willing.