Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/PPynviT4CQBGhdBf8

Before the Start:   My 48^th 5K of 2025 was the Mindful Reboot 5K held on August 9 in San Antonio, starting and finishing at The Rim Trailhead off of Vance Jackson Drive in San Antonio. Mindful Reboot is an immersive program focuses on mindfulness training, destruction therapy, and mindset transformation. Athlete Guild did the timing and results for us, which is good as they are a very good and dependable race management/timing company. This felt to me more like a group of running/walking friends meeting up for a friendly outing, as there were only 25 total finishers for this one.  Start time of 8 a.m. I got my race bib and race shirt and then got a few pre-start photos.           

On the course:  We started just a tad after 8 a.m.   The weather was clear, with a very slight wind, cloudless sky and a temperature already at 78, with 86% humidity. The course was and out-and-back on paved trails of the San Antonio Greenway System. The course took us in the direction of Eisenhower Park which, if you go far enough, connects to this trail system. Thankfully, we did not go that far. For the first half-mile or so, the course was fairly flat, and then we began to climb. The hills were not all that steep, but they  kept going and going, so it was a pretty good workout. As usual for the Greenway trails, the course was open for non-participants too, walkers, other runners, and cyclists. These trails are pretty wide, so I never saw anyone being ‘interfered with” during the time we were out there. We also got a lot of call-outs from others using the trails. As usual, due to my spinal arthritis – and I also am currently dealing with a recurrence of my skin cancer, which will be treated at the end of August – I did my 8-minutes running/2 minutes walking and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks.  Since I also carry dog treats when I run, I handed out a few to the dogs that were walking the trails with their humans; I was very popular with the dogs, lol. The climbing continued right up to the turn-round point. Thanks to the volunteers there who had water for us.  I looked at my watch at the turn-round point and it was right at 1.5, so I suspected this course was going to be a tad short, since a 5K is 3.14, so the turnround should have been back just a bit more. After the turn-round, we went back to the finish the same way we had come out; this time downhill, which I am not fond of, as downhills are actually harder on my spine than an uphill is; never-the-less, I felt pretty good overall and got a few more photos during my walk breaks. When I hit Mile 2, then went non-stop to the finish. When I crossed the line, I saw the course was a bit short, so I just kept going, down to an overpass a bit beyond the start/finish area, then turned around and went back to the finish line.  I was still a little short – my garmin had 3.07 miles, but I’ll take it. My finish time was 43:08, averaging 14:06 per mile; and my last mile was a negative split of 13:12. 

After My Finish:  I got a few photos of some others coming into the finish; and then went to my nearby vehicle to get some water and Gatorade I had put on ice, and relaxed a bit with my car a/c running, cooling me down a bit.  After that, it was back to the start/finish area, getting a few more photos, and then headed over to the packet pickup/registration area.  The race director lady – her name went right out of my head, sorry – led us through a ‘mental relaxation’ mind exercise, which was pretty interesting.  I also chatted with other participants and got some more “after” photos. After that, there were drawings for give-away items.  As she noted:  “We don’t give race medals, but our goal here is that everyone leaves with something”, which is pretty nice, and the items were pretty darn nice too; I ended up getting a really nice Black-and-Decker ice crush blender, which I gave to my wife after I got home. There was lots of other things too…coffee makers, juicers, etc., some really nice things.

Epilogue:   This is the first time I’ve ever done this 5K – I don’t remember if this is the inaugural one or if it’s been done before; but it is really nicely done. The race shirt is very nice quality; and the prizes are very nice;  there was also a couple of tables full of various snacks and treats, such as crackers, a variety of fresh fruit, Powerade, a long cloth-thing that you can get wet and/or ice it down and then use it to put on your neck, head etc. to help cool down post-run, and lots more. There was also a DJ there, playing some tunes for us, and who also played The National Anthem for us before the start.  The only ‘down-side” I incurred here was that there were no porta-potties or nearby restrooms; we were directed to use the restroom at Target across the street from the race location, but they don’t open on the weekend until 8 a.m., which was start time; the organizers kindly did delay the start for a bit, so those who needed to use the facilities could do so.  After the event, one guy and I noticed the building behind where packet pickup and post-race events were done is a Wal-Mart; so we told her, ummm, Wal-Mart is open 24 hours, so if the event is held here again, you might want to direct participants to THAT building, as they can literally “go” there any time, lol.  We did get a laugh from her, lol; she’s a good spirit.  I certainly would do this one again and would recommend it to others, and hopefully it might get a lot more participants, although I kind of liked this ‘friends and family” participant thing with the smaller crowd.  We had lots of post-race joking, smiles, and laughing, all good.

Much thanks to all who made this one happen for us: Athlete Guild for the timing and results; our music-and-sound-guy, who did a great job; the patience of all the non-participants on the trails, as we invaded their space for a while; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!  OK, it’s nap time for me now…l have another 5K scheduled the day after this one.