Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/WEm5CsdZwBmU9dWLA        

Before the Start:  My 66^th 5K of 2025 was the 3^rd annual Paloween Hustle on October 18^th, 2025. There was also a 10K.  There were 247 finishers for the 5K and 9 for the 5K.  There was also a 1-mile walk, if I remember correctly, which was untimed.   Held at Palo Alto College in San Antonio, this event was established in honor of the late Samantha Tapia, a member of the college’s women’s running team. She was a top-notch runner who was very fast.  He told me she had only two speeds: fast and faster.  When talking with her coach at the event, I found out she had epilepsy, wow; I was impressed that she overcame this disability and could run like that.  Sadly, on her last run, she collapsed from a medical-related incident and sadly passed away. This event keeps her memory alive for all who knew her.  The college was quite a drive from where the directionally challenged me, lol, so it took me a while to get there.  When I finally did get there, I saw some signs with the name of the race on it and started following those….until I realized these were the course directional signs for the participants; well, shoot. Thankfully, I came to a parking lot where I saw a lady getting ready to go into one of the buildings, so I assumed she was Palo Alto staff, and I was correct.  She kindly told me to follow her, as she was helping with the race, and led me to parking lot across from the start/finish area; such a nice lady, thank you so much.  I got my race packet and then got a few pre-start photos. This is a dog-friendly event too, so I also handed out dog-treats and soon had some new doggie friends, lol.

On the course:  We had some nice weather for the 8 a.m. start, with a temp in the upper 60s/lower 70s and the humidity was not too bad at all. The course was a loop course, with the 5K doing one loop on the campus grounds and the 10K doing 2 loops. The course was mainly pretty flat, with a few up-and-down inclines, but nothing you could really call a hill. I did my usual thing of 8-minutes-running/2 minutes talking and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. The course took in most of the campus, so we got a nice race-tour of Palo Alto College. I was feeling pretty good and ran/walked my usual 12-to-14 minute mile pace.  The last mile I pretty much ran non-stop and ended up with a finish time of 44:07 which, surprisingly, was good enough for first in my 65-99 males age group.

After My Finish:  I did a short cool-down walk, and then enjoyed chatting with participants, volunteers, supporters, etc. and getting a few after-photos.  Some family members of Samantha were there, as well as her coach, and they spoke a few words about how this all got started; it was pretty moving; I so feel for Samantha’s family; the loss of a child is something you never get over, you just learn how to live with it day-by-day, as I know from personal experience, having lost my first wife and 4-month old son to a drunk driver.  I hope her family can find comfort and solace.  The awards ceremony was nicely done – although they started with the overalls first, as expected, and then did the age group awards, starting with the youngest first; so, being 71, I had to wait a while, lol, before I could get my award and head home for my nap 😉. 

Epilogue:   This is a very nicely done event, one I will continue to do in the future, and certainly would recommend it to others.  The course was very nicely laid out by my iaap friends and since it’s an out-and-back, lots of participants cheering each other on as we passed by each other.  There were also 3 water stations, if I remember correctly – I jokingly asked some of them if they had beer – as well as ‘cheer groups’ along the course. As noted, the course is pretty flat, with only a couple of long up-or-down inclines, but nothing you could really call a hill. Post race, there were a couple of photographers getting video of some of the participants, including me, and there were all kinds of booths there that have various kinds of give-away goodies; one even had chicken-on-a-stick. The race shirts are really nicely designed, and all finishers got a finisher medal.  My age group award surprised me; it is a really nice full-plaque award – very heavy too – with the race name, and Samantha’s name on it, and the age group that I was in; wow.  The information on the back of the plaque noted this was made by the Palo Alto College Welding Program to help students improve their skills, so thanks to them; they did a great job with this award.  I would definitely recommend this event to others, and I certainly will continue doing it in the future.  Mucho thanks to all who made this event possible for us participants, e.g., Samantha’s family; the Palo Alto College leadership; iaap for the timing and results; all the many volunteers and race sponsors; the Palo Alto College law enforcement officers along the course for our safety; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all so much. Hope to see you all again next year; especially now that I know where everything is, lol.