Photos are here:      https://photos.app.goo.gl/J6Tn2riFLxYnSAfz7   

Before the Start:   My 71s race of 2025 was Ima’s Run 5K in Old Town, Helotes, Texas, on November 8, 2025.  This event, put on by Soler’s Sports, supports “street children” in the Philippines. It is a fundraiser to provide these children with “love, hope, and a safe future” per one of the event descriptions. I chose to do this one as  lived there during my military days. My late wife and my 4-month old son – both killed by a drunk driver – were Filipinos, so I chose to do this one in remembrance of them and made a donation to the cause in their memory. There was a very nice turn-out for this one with 235 finishers. Local race management company iaap did the timing and results.

On the course:   The start and finish was in an area where some of the local Old Towne shoppes were located.  After we crossed the start line, we made a left turn onto Old Bandera Road and proceeded down an incline.  After we got to the bottom of this incline, we then climbed a fairly long uphill, heading in the direction of Bandera Road at the top.  We did not go all the way to the highway; we made a turn-round before that and then went down the hill in reverse of the way we had come out.  We passed by the start/finish area, and then made a right turn onto a flat road near a traffic circle – giving our legs a break for a bit, lol – that took us to another turn-round. After making that turn-round, we then went back the way we had come out. When we got to the traffic circle, we made a right turn, heading toward Bandera Road that took traffic in the direction of the 1604 freeway. This part was a very short down incline, and then we went back up again.  We passed by where the start/finish line was, back into Olde Towne and then once again climbed that long uphill we had started on. After making the turn-round on this for the second time, we then went down the hill, then up a shorter incline and then turned into the area where the finish line was; Whew!  I did my usual thing of 8-minutes-run/2-minutes-walk and got some photos during my walk breaks. I ended up with a chip time of 42:12, finishing 4^th out of 4 in my 60-99 males age group.

After My Finish:  I stood near the finish line and go a few photos of others coming in. After that, I wandered here and there, chatting with other participants, supporters, volunteers, people with the organizations that helped sponsor the race, and getting some after-photos and enjoying a bacon-and-egg wrap, and some water to get rehydrated.   For those that placed in their age groups – they did awards for the first 3 in each age group – the awards ceremony was nicely done. They started with the young folks first, so we older folks were there quite a while at our age, lol. Race Directors really need to learn after race to do we old people first, so we can get home and get our naps after all that exertion, lol. Oh, well. It was nicely done.

Epilogue:   This is a really nice event for a great cause.  The race shirts are very nice quality, and the finisher medals are really nice too.  This is also a dog friendly event, and there were quite a few dogs there too, so I soon ran out of dog treats that I carry with me when I go running.  Post-race goodies included water, various types of taco wraps, coffee, some juices, and other things. The vendors supporting the event had tables with all kinds of various things, with some for sale.  This was my first time doing this event but will not be my last, and I certainly would recommend it to others.   Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants, e.g.,  Soler’s Sports; iaap for the course setup, timing and results; all the many volunteers; our MC and the folks that did the awards ceremony; the law enforcement officers that were along the course for our safety; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all!  Whatever your passion is, may you always stay healthy doing it, and have much success with it!