Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/JM7X6T7wHB8QCDDRA
Before The Start: My 57th race of 2026 was the Jubilee Joy Fest 5K, held on October 17th at Southside Lions Park East in San Antonio, Texas. Put on by Soler’s Sports, and timed by iaap Race Management, this event supported the Jubilee Academies of San Antonio, a tuitiion free public charter school system of San Antonio. In addition to the 5K, there was also a Kids Run, with the 5K starting shorty after the Kids run finished. There are 81 finishers listed in the results postecd by iaap. I arrived at the park around 7 a.m., got my race packet and then wandered around getting a few pre-start photos. The area where the event was held was quite crowded, set up with sponsor/vendor tables, tents, etc., and there were also some Jubilee band members playing for us as well as Jubilee cheerleaders doing their thing too with various cheers, and so forth. I also enjoyed chatting with fellow participants that I knew, and making new friends with some of the participants I did not know. The area was very crowded with some backdrops for photo ops; all the vendor/sponsor areas set up with their tables, booths, etc; a large set-up stage where the post-race awards ceremonty would be held; and there was even a food truck on-site.
On the course: The Kids Run started first, with all of us cheering them on. After they finished we 5K participants lined up for our start. The course was out-and-back on the park’s paved trails. I did my usual thing of 8-minutes-run/2-minutes walk and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. The trail we were on wound around by a very nice lake on our right on the way out that gave us some scenic views as we went along. After winding around part of the lake, we then crossed a street and then crossed a bridge that went over Salado Creek, the water-way that flows through most of the parks of the San Antonio Greenway Trail System. I was glad this was a smaller event because those darn bridges shake like crazy when a lot of people are on them. At my slow running pace, lol, most of the “race crowd” was already way ahead of me, so I crossed that bridge with only 2 other participants near me. After the bridge we went on a very long trail that was somehat hilly, with quite a few uphill climbs. Having done previous races in this area, I recognized this trail would eventually connect with a trail that would take us toward Comanche Park on Rigsby Avenue; however, the route did not go all the way to Comanche Park; after passing a water station on the course, we then went underneath an overpass, then down a hill that took us across a very steady concrete bridge – another view of Salado Creek – and then did a farily long uphill climb that took us to our turn-round point. I got a photo of our turn-round volunteers, and then started back the way I’d come out, heading for the finish in reverse of the way I’d come out. The majority of participants were way ahead of me – with the fastest runners probably already finished by the time I started going back to the finish – so on the way back I pretty much had the trail all to myself. There were a few other runners and walkers out there, but not many. I did stop at the water station I passed on the way to the turn-round and got a photo of the volunteer there, as well as one of the volunteer cyclists who was riding up-and-down the course to make sure everyone was okay. For the majority of the way back, I pretty much ran non-stop, with just a few quick photo stops that probably took less than 2 minutes. After crossing the “shaky bridge”, I then got back onto the trail we had started on, going on it in reverse, of course, to get back to the finish. There was a guy on the banks of the lake fishing, and the woods had a clearing here, giving me a scenic view of the lake, so I stopped briefly and got a photo of that. After that, I went non-stop back to the finish. I ended up finishing with a chip-time of 44:35, averaging 14:21 per mile. My splits were: Mile 1: 15:19. Mile 2: 1503: Mile 3: 14:21.
After My Finish: I stood a short way up from the finish line so as not to impede anyone and got a few photos of some others finishing. Finisher medals were handed out too, very nice medal. After that, I wandered around the area, getting some after photos as I chatted with other participants, supporters, and their family members; vendors/sponsors, some of whom had some nice various give-away freebie stuff, and also various types of drinks and snacks, and so forth. I do so many races that I often accumulate several finisher medals; for this one I got two medals, since I placed in the 70-99 males category as I was the only one in that category, lol. I jokingly asked the MC why I didn’t get 3 medals ince I was the only one in my age group, so placeds 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. He laughed and said, yeah, good luck with that. Lol.
Epilogue: This is really a very well-done event with a very good course – and the weather was beautiful for us too: clear blue skies, sunshine – and shade when were in the wooded areas – and a temp of 61 degrees with very low humidity, sweet. I will definitely do this one again and certainly would recommend it to others. Thanks so much to all who made this one happen for we participants: my friend Lisa Soler and her crew for organizing things; my friend Tony Garcia who also helped out; all the many volunteers and race sponsors who helped make this one happen; the law enforcement folks out there for our safety, and who helped us all get parked before the start; also the cyclists – I think there were two of them, and I think one was a first aid guy, just in case he was needed; also thanks to our MC who did a great job for us; to my friend, Rafa, with iaap who did the start/finish line chute set-up and also did the timing and results for us; and to my friend Paul, the ‘sound-and-music guy for us, who was rockin’ us with some tunes; all the many Jubilee Academy folks out there for us, e.g., the band folks; cheerleaders; and some of the school directors and officers; and anyone else there who helped out; my apologies if I neglected to mention you. Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it and may you have much success at it and always stay safe doing it! If you are a fellow race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out. I’d be happy to get a photo with you.
