Photos are here:     https://photos.app.goo.gl/CJqoqNLZVQYTD6Gk9      

Before the Start:    My 45^th organized 5K of 2025 was the Spurs Nation 5K held on July 26^th at Olmos Basin Park in San Antonio.  There was also a 10K and a half-marathon.  Put on by Best Races, this was more of a fun run, than an actual race. You registered for the event and your race shirt was mailed directly to you – I opted to donate mine to a disabled kid. You then showed up at the location – for this one it was Olmos Basin Park in San Antonio – picked up you bib on race day and then started at your selected start time. There were quite a variety of start times – I chose the 7:30 a.m. start time.  I freely admit I was not expecting much of a turn-out for this one but upon arrival at 7:15 a.m., I saw the parking lot was very full, and participants who had chosen a couple of the earlier start times were already on the course. I went to the registration table and got my bib and also noticed there were quite a few fellow participants I recognized from having done several of the same previous events they also did. This is also a dog-friendly event, so I handed out a few doggie treats too. I got just a few pre-start photos, since I had arrived quite close to my chosen 0730 start time. One of the registration/packet pickup volunteers came over and gave us our instructions for the course, and then we O730 folks got started.  For the 5K, the course was two out-and-back loops; 4 for the 10K and 8 for the half-marathon participants, good grief. I think most people were doing the 5K and 10K.

On the course:  All the events  started on the paved trail by the Olmos Basin Park’s parking lot that was across the street from where a track, soccer field, and baseball fields were located. I did my usual run/walk thing of 8 minutes running/2 minutes walking – can’t run nonstop anymore for any great length of time due to some spinal arthritis now – and taking some on-course photos during my walk breaks and also handed out some more doggie treats to any dogs nearby at any given time on the course.  This trail gave us a nice “tour’ of most of the park. It took us across a couple of bridges and then toward the direction of where The Alamo Quarry Market is located.  We did not go all the way down to the road; our turn-round point was a bit before that. After the turn-round, we went back to the start/finish area, turned around and started our 2^nd lap for the 5K.  We also crossed two bridges in the park and the first thing I noticed about that is these bridges did not shake at all as we crossed them – unlike the ones at Comanche Park that shake like crazy when an event is going on and lots of people are crossing their bridges; so my second though was Comanche Park folks need to come out and see how this bridge is done and then do theirs right, lol.  Overall, I was feeling pretty good and actually picked up the pace for my second lap, ending up with a negative split for my last mile. My finish time was 42:36, and my fastest mile was mile 3, with a 12:50 pace, which is pretty speedy for an old run/walk beat-up dog like me, lol.  I was pretty happy with my results.

After My Finish:  Got some water and relaxed, and enjoyed chatting with other participants, friends, supporters, volunteers, etc., some fellow veterans too, and getting a few post-race photos.  I forgot, however, to fill out the results card, so Best Races probably will not have my results posted, when the finally post the results somewhere, but it’s all good. I am terrible at remembering names, too, so apologies to my friends if I don’t tag you in photos I took; however, I’m sure you will recognize yourself, lol. Also, I used an old-time push-button Canon Power-Shot camera, so I got you in an on-course photo and you look a bit blurred, it’s because you were moving so fast and my old camera has no ‘stop-action” thing; so it’s you, not me.  😉

Epilogue:   Again, my apologies to Best Races for my misconceptions about this event. This is really a well-done event, with a nice race shirt, a very nice course, and some nice-and-simple post-race goodies of water, bananas, some various candies, and so forth. It was actually a very enjoyable experience, and I had a lot of fun with it. I would definitely do this one again and recommend it to others. I also like the location. Since I am a member of the YMCA, I was able to head down to a Y that is near the park and take a shower and get into some dry clothes, so didn’t have to drive home all wet and sweaty; very convenient.  Much thanks to Best Races folks; the volunteers that were on the course for us; the two water station volunteers on the course; the packet pickup folks; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all!  Now it’s relax time for me; I have yet another 5K on this same weekend, one on Sunday morning. May all of you stay happy and healthy, enjoy whatever exercise passion you have, and reach all your personal goals.  Maybe I’ll see you sometime at a future event.