The evolution of race locations and age categories in Central Texas
There are two races coming up in San Marcos in the next couple of weekends. The Pink Heals 5K is on Oct. 12 out at the River Ridge course and the Kiwanis Pumpkin Dash 5K is out at the Toyota Dealership on Posey Road. The location of the races started me thinking how the running scene has changed in the area. Nearby towns such as Kyle, Mountain City, and Dripping Springs have a few races that are being affected by growth and liability issues as well. When the first races were held in San Marcos almost every race was held down at the Hays Courthouse on the square or out at the Hays Civic Center. I think I certified several other race courses in various sections of the city but every one of them are now a part of running history.
With the cost of putting on a race downtown, most non-profit organizations have to relocate to hold the race outside of the downtown area. Between getting a parade permit, permission from the DOT because Hopkins Street is a state highway, cost of police traffic control, insurance for liability, increased traffic, and making sure the race does not interfere with local events in the city, it became too many hurdles to clear to hold the race downtown. I am not sure if Kyle and Dripping Springs are facing the same problems. I can imagine that since these cities are among the fastest growing towns in Central Texas that if restrictions are not there yet they soon will be. The only alternative is to move the location of the race to a less traveled area with fewer state highway restrictions.
Country Estates subdivision is seeing an increase in races there since traffic is limited and permission is only required by the subdivision board. Many races are now held at the Hays Soccer Complex out at Five Mile Dam and into the Blanco Subdivision. The Cinco De Mayo moved out to Stagecoach Road for a run in true hill country roads.
The River Ridge area is a very flat and fast course that is easily controlled with only a few volunteers. The only problem is the fire station is located there and if a fire is called in the runners need to move out of the way. The Pink Heals 5K is held inside the fire station and is supported by the fire departments and the pink fire truck. The race offers unique awards for runners and supports the breast cancer foundation. The race is next Saturday, Oct. 12, with registration and race sign ups at the fire station. A large number of breast cancer survivors usually participate in this race.
The Kiwanis Pumpkin Dash 5K follows the Pink Heals 5K the next weekend on Saturday, October 19th, out at the Toyota Dealership located on Posey Road starting at 9:00 a.m. There is a lot of construction still going on building a new overpass that makes getting there a problem. It is easy to get there just by taking the Center Point exit and coming down Posey Road if traveling from the north, or using the north bound access road if coming from south of San Marcos. Runners can still register early for a $25 entry fee with Athlete Guild, or wait until the day of race for $35. A couple of points that make this race unique is that it is the only race held out at Toyota. It becomes a once-a-year race for runners. The course is an out and back course with very gentle rolling hills. The one thing I like about the course (since in years past I have been the lead bike) is that the last half mile is a gradual downhill. The up hills are easy for a majority of runners and that last downhill makes a runner look good for fans at the finish line.
The Pumpkin Dash 5K has awards in 10-year age groups and has Overall Awards for the first male and female, the Master Overall awards for runners over 40 years of age, and also Senior Masters Overall awards for runners over 50 years of age, and then a Grand Master Overall award for the first male and female runners over the age of 60 years. This is one of the few races that recognizes the senior age groups in the upper ages with overall awards. The Masters category was established for runners over 40 years that had to compete against the 20 and 30 year old runners. The same principle applies to runners in the 50 and 60 years age groups competing against the 40 year old Masters runners. It is good to see a runner in the 60-and-above age category get an overall award for running a fast race.
I remember in the early years, we stopped age groups at 40 and over because there were very few runners in those upper-age categories entered in the race. I talked to one of the runners that was 50 years old and he said, “Runners that are older don’t come to your races because there is no age group award for them.” I started to add the age groups up to 60 and over. The response was that the senior runners started to enter our races. Now we almost always go up to 70 years and over to accommodate the runners in that age group. And with Senior Masters and Grand Masters awards the senior runners can get even more recognition.
I still, on occasion, end up with a few leftover awards for second or third place in the older age groups. It seems that the other end of the spectrum of leftover awards is the age categories of under 19 and under and even 20 – 29 years. But with the racing scene still very active in the central Texas area, runners can enter a race and not have to travel a great distance to enjoy a local 5K or 10K run without heading up to the large cities of Austin or San Antonio.
