Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/PQYusjRgbgFp374X8  

Before The Start:  My 32^nd race of 2026 was The Longest Day 5K, held on June 13 at Comanche Park in San Antonio, Texas.  There was also a 10K and a 0.5K beer run. This event, started as a friendly rivalry between brothers Matthew “Beard” Skinner and Miguel “Beans” Martinez as a way to raise funds for Alzheimer’s Research to help find a cure.  It’s personal for them.  The event was inspired by their grandmother, Elvia Gonzalez, who battled Alzheimer’s for over 20 years. Each puts on a race – “The Longest Day” for Matt and  “Run To Remember” for Miguel.  Whichever brother’s race raises the most funds, then the other brother has to overcome some type of challenge set by the brother whose event raised the most funds.  All proceeds from each event go to support the cause. This is a very popular event that has grown quite a bit over the years.  I try to do each of their events every year, as I have family members who dealt with Alzheimer’s.  They usually get a nice turn-out for this race, which has grown over the years.  Per the posted results of race management company iaapThere were 198 finishers for the 5K and 67 finishers for the 10K. The 0.5K Beer Run after the main events, was a ‘fun run’ with the winner being the one who spilled the least amount of beer while running or walking with a full glass of beer.  I had picked up my packet the day before the event so after arriving at the race site I wandered around chatting with participants and supporters; handed out some treats to dogs there, as this is a dog-friendly event; and got some pre-start photos.

On The Course:   For this one, it was a bright, sunny day, with a temp at start time of 78 degrees with the humidity at 83%.  It did ‘spit’ rain on us for all of about a minute or so, and then stopped. The start time of The 10K participants started first a 0730, with the 5K starting after them at 0735. The course started on pavement as we made a loop through the parking area and then proceeded onto the off-road greenway paved trails at the park. I did my usual thing of 8-min-run/2-min-walk and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. The start of the course was fairly flat for about the first ½ mile or so, and then we went on a long downhill on the way to our turn-round points. After that downhill, we then crossed a short bridge with a view of Salado Creek that flows through some of the park. After that bridge we then had a pretty good uphill climb, then went underneath an overpass and had another pretty good climb that leveled out as we neared a water station on the course. After the water station, we then had a downhill to the 5K turn-round point.  The 10K participants, of course, had a longer downhill to their turn-round point as they were going farther than we 5K participants.  After the turn-round we then did the course in reverse, which meant that long downhill we did to get to the bridge on the way to the turn-round point was now a long uphill for all participants, 5K and 10K. After finally cresting this hill, we then had flat trail ahead of us. We passed by a couple of course marshals and that put us on the trail on which we had first come out  We did not do the loop around the parking lot that we had done at the start. We went in that direction but instead of looping through the parking area, we made a right turn near another course marshal, and then proceeded along the outer edge of this parking area and that took us to a right turn where we then headed for the finish, and then made a left turn that took us to the finish line. Whew!  Per iaap results, I finished with a chip time of 43:26 averaging 13:59 per mile, and I was dead last, lol, out of the 5 in my age group, which is okay; at my age I made my 2 primary goals for every race I do: finish standing up, with no medics waiting specifically for me.

After My Finish: I stood  back from the finish line so as not to interfere with others crossing it, and got a few photos of some others coming in. I also got a few photos in the finish area of some friends and other participants who had finished, including my friend Sandy, who did the 1OK on her 80^th birthday; wow,  impressive and awesome  She and I got a photo togther and she jokingly told me “We sure have been doing this a long time, haven’t we?”  lol.  Yes we have; her a little longer than me as I’m 72. She rocks.  

Epilogue:  The two brothers are awesome, putting on these events for such a good cause. They have a lot of fun with these events and always keep their sense of humor. I’m curious not to see which brother will win the challenge and what the other brother will have to do.  These two are, lol, very inventive in tasking the losing brother with a unique challenge. These races put on by Matt and Miguel are very well done, and will always be on my race calender each year. Very nice finisher medal to all finishers; lots of post-race goodies, including water; beer; various fruits; grilled sausages; and more. The race shirt is very nice quality, although I did not request one, as I have done so many races over the years – I started my running life on April 15, 1983 – I am running out of drawer space, lol. I did wear a past Run To Remember 5K shirt for this one, which displays Miguel and Matt on the front of it.

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen: Matt and Miguel for starting this and making it happen each year, along with all their many volunteers and race sponsors;  iaap for doing the timing and results; the official photographers out there for us; law enforcement officers there for our safety; and, as this course was still open to non-participants who were doing their own thing in the park, thanks for their patience as we invaded their space for a while; also big thanks to e-Dragon Productions, who did their usual great job with course route selection, and keeping us all informed; also thanks to our MC whom, if I rememer correctly was friend Tony; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Also, special thanks to my friend, Stephanie aka Super Volunteer, who is a volunteer each year at more races than I run in a year; she is awesome; and to anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all!

Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it safely and have much success. If you’re a fellow runner/race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out; love chatting with my fellow runners, and if you are so inclined, we can get a photo together for my race report I do for each of my events I sign up for. Stay safe, stay happy, and enjoy what you do. Cheers.