Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cMAKiuXmFKGks7xZ7
Before the Start: My 63rd race of 2025 was the Gift of Life 5K run held on Sunday, October 5th at Ladybird Johnson Park in San Antonio, Texas. This was my 2nd race of the weekend, after having done a 5K in New Braunfels on Saturday. This event supports Transplants for Children which, according to their brochure information “provides assistance to families and children to master the lifelong challenges associated with pediatric organ transplantation.” The organization provides tools and support for long-term successful organ retention.” I try do to this one every year I can; I was not a transplant child, but I was a “March of Dimes” baby, born with dislocated hips, so had to wear some special shoes and braces for a while to help with this; so I feel for any child who has to go through any type of disability, medical procedures, etc. Packet pickup time was 8 a.m. with a start time of 9:15 a.m., after a Kid’s Run was done. I arrived around 8:15 a.m., got my packet and then got a few pre-start photos.
On the course: The National Anthem was played, then the kid’s run was done, and then we 5K participants got started. We had a bright sunny day for this one, with the temp around 78 degrees, so not too, bad, but the humidity was pretty high. Thankfully, the trails at this park have a lot of shade along the way so it did not feel too bad. iRun Texas via their associated company, Split Second Productions, did the timing and results for this one. I know these folks and one of their crew told me since the Transplant folks wanted the start/finish line in front of the park’s main pavilion, the course would probably be a tad short of a full 5K; which was okay with me, lol, my legs were still feeling my Saturday 5K a bit. We started in front of the park’s pavilion, did a short loop on the park’s traffic circle, and then went onto the paved concrete greenway trails at the park, first by going down a short hill that took us to the main trails. We made a left turn, got onto the greenway and followed the trail that took us in the direction of the Los Patios Shoppes Area and the 410 frontage road. I did my usual run/walk of 8-minutes-run/2-minutes-walk and took some photos during my walk breaks. Overall, I was feeling pretty good and managed to run pretty well…at my usual slow pace, lol. The overall course may have been short, but the mile 1 and mile 2 markers on the course, were dead-on per my garmin, so good job there by iRun folks. After getting to the Los Patios area, we went forward until we got to the Loop 410 frontage road which was where our turn-round was and then went back to the finish the way we had come out. On the way back, I took a couple more photos while on the course, but for the most part ran most of the way back to the finish nonstop. When I crossed the finish matt my Garmin read 2.99 miles, so I waved off the volunteer handing out the finisher medals to all finishers, and kept going around the traffic circle, with the finish line behind me. I then went back on the course for a bit, then made a turn-round, went back up the short hill to the traffic circle and then went back to the finish area, being careful not to cross the timing mat again so as not to screw up my official results…and so I ended up getting “pie distance” in, with 3.14 miles done so got in a full 5K, lol. Per the results posted by Split Second Productions, my chip time was 40:48: 16, averaging 13:07 per mile I crossed the timing mat with a negative split for the last part of the course, nice. There were 99 participants, runners and walkers, and I was 36th overall per the results. Awards were only given to the first overall in each age group, so the majority of the funds received for this event would go to the cause and I have no heartburn with that; every kid should have a chance to get better to live an active life style and grow up.
After My Finish: I went and got my finisher medal and got a few photos of some others coming in. After that, I got some Gatorade and water and sat in the shade of the park pavilion, relaxing and rehydrating and enjoyed chatting with my friend Deborah who joined me at the pavilion. This was also her second race of the weekend. After that, I was up-and-at-it again, chatting with volunteers, other finishers, supporters, etc., handing out some more dog treats and getting a few after photos.
Epilogue: This is a very nicely done event for a great cause, one I will continue to do in the future. It’s a very nice course, easy to follow, with lots of room for everyone, including those users of the park not doing the event – other runners; walkers, cyclists; The majority of cyclists were very good about calling out as they came up behind us, so we could move over a bit to give them room to pass by, and I appreciate them doing that. There was a water station right near the turn-round point, and the volunteers there were great, taking good care of us and cheering us on. The race is very nice quality and nicely done too, with running characters, made to look like organs, on the front and a list of the sponsors on the back, and there were a few goodies and coupons in the goodie bag. The event had raffle tickets you could purchase to win a prize; and some of the vendors at their booths and tables had offerings of their own. As notes, this is also a dog friendly event, so I handed out several treats, with the permission of their humans, of course. I will definitely do this one again and would recommend it to others. Much thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants: Transplants for Children staff; all the many volunteers and sponsors; the law enforcement officer there for our safety; iRun Texas for the course setup, timing and results, and any others involved I may not have mentioned her. Thank you all so much. Whatever your exercise passion is, may you always stay healthy to enjoy it, and have much success with all your personal goals. If you’re a runner or walker, hope to see you at a future event sometime
Scottydog Reports 