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For the run of loving

You know, instead of for the love of running?  Man, I'm so clever that sometimes I just don't know what to do with myself.
I was supposed to double up on 5ks this weekend, but I didn't have the time to do the Polar Bear Plunge here in San Angelo before heading down to San Antonio.  Here's a fun fact - it's called a polar bear plunge but it was in the mid 80s during race time.
We headed down to do Huarache Turbo's Be My Valentine Run.  I've previously written about the contagious joviality and laughter of race director Ceci Yes! Positive Energy! and how the Huarache Turbo races are a very good model for fun themed 5Ks Race Happy Too!, so it was actually Mila's idea to go down for the race.  (as soon as we finished she wanted to know when the next Huarache Turbo race is)  We haven't been to San Antonio since December, so we were also overdue for a trip.
Beyond just running, we also ran some errands (pun intended) and realized how much we missed San Antonio.
Like:
Finding a new coffee truck named after my wife is a must.  Obviously, we had to get tumblers too.  

One of those errands was picking up the packet, so we at least got to find where the race was to take place and see Ceci and Roge.

As Mila's a VDOT rookie, we had to post our flat runners


The race took us over the Hays Street Bridge, which I've never run.  So, that was neat.  Of course as I did my pre-race warmup, there were dudes under the bridge yelling nonsense at no one in particular.

It was hot and muggy.  Way hotter and muggier than we expected.  I'm glad we didn't wear the long-sleeved race shirt.
Man, I look good
As in all of Huarache Turbo's races, a big part of them is your race outfit or costume.  We didn't go crazy, but did dress a bit festively.  We wore red just like nearly everyone else.  Cuz, what else would you wear on Valentine's Day?

What else was nice was seeing San Antonio friends.  We got to spend some time with Jillian, who you may recognize from Free-Da Run 5K.  If not here's, a refresher.
and.. this weekend

And, of course we got to see some of the TNT Runners, Huarachudos, and former Carrera runners pre race too.

Walking up to the course and other pre-race photos

With all the time I spent in San Antonio, I never spent much time around the tracks


The race start/finish was at Alamo Beer.  Yes, there was free beer post race!


smooshed in getting ready to go

hey look! We've got fans on the bridge!


With it being such a large race (nearly 700 finishers) it took us a while to actually start, but luckily the race spread out fairly quickly and we weren't forced to try and wind our way through.
We started through a crowd right away

What a tiny little hat


Probably the costume that made me laugh the hardest - Chapulin Colorado 

Hey, I recognize this from the RnR course


yep, we're gonna go up there in a bit

We were lucky enugh to have plenty of police out on the course

best dressed dog?

The Bridge had to have been the highlight of the course and it came fairly early.  I got some pictures of people on the bridge and running up to it, as well as Alamo Beer and Ceci.
About to start

Now I'm one of the people up on the bridge from earlier



The rail lines we were going over

Alamo Beer

There's Ceci taking pics!  


The end of the bridge

It's Scotty Dog and Jillian


Does my thumb look weird?  I think it looks weird




The course wound back on itself so we got to see some of the leaders before they took a wrong turn.


Gary ended up in 2nd overall
I think that's a Jason
There's Malachi

Mila did a great job, only walking through the water stops and for a bit while she was overheating in the second mile.  She toughed out the last half mile with a solid push to finish in 39:45.

I swear Arturo is smiling in this pic


she looks happy at least


There's the finish!
We met back up with friends after the race before having to rush and check out of the hotel.  Jason took 4th overall and won his age group while Tracy took 3rd in hers.  Mila finished in 88th in a huge age group.  Really, the point was seeing friends, enjoying the race, and setting a baseline for Mila's training.
Oh, and puppies!

Dang it Christian

Christian, Chris, and Jason.  Chris took 2nd in his age group
Jillian kept saying "sweaty sweaty sweaty" during this pic and I don't quite know why
We got together at Candlelight Coffee House after the race for brunch

Ceci and Roge musta been somewhere around there

And, of course, the obligatory shirt pic.

All in all, it was a rather succesful trip and a very good run.  Scottydog is a well known San Antonio run blogger and his blog can be found here: ScottyDog Blog
We'll be back for La Llorona!  If you're interested in dressing up and running with us (or not dressing up), registration and details are here! La Llorona Run

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