Anyhow I got up at 6 am and got ready to go. Had my coffee this time, before I left the house, and we had filled the car with gas yesterday. All this to minimize the odds of losing my wallet, like I did on the 4th of July race in San Antonio. Although when I got up I noticed it was still dark, and then remembered we have a tail light out on the car and have already been stopped and given a warning about it. In any case, I decided to go and waited until the last minute to leave, and took back roads out of town! Only saw one police car and so I was able to sneak out of town and turned my lights off as soon as it was light enough.
Arrived in Mason with out further adventure. Got my race bib and SWAG bag, with cool t-shirt, water bottle, pen etc. (Not bad for a $25 entry fee). The race started on time after a short prayer and we were off! This was the most friendly race I have attended with participants greeting each other, shaking hands, neighbors cheering you on, etc. Had a great "small town" feel to it.
The race was also memorable for several "incidents". The first being a young girl, who had obviously just learned to tie her shoes stopped a little way in front of me and was working diligently trying to tie her shoe "just so". I look up and noticed that several lambs were VERY curious as to what she was doing. So much so, that they were 'climbing' over each other trying to get a better look! I told her she was being watched and pointed to the sheep. She just started giggling.
A little further along the route, a young family was out for the run and a little 4 or 5 year old boy fell and skinned his knee. Dad picked him and put him on his shoulders and they continued. By the time I caught up with the family, mom and dad were trying to get the lad to walk on his own, but he kept insisting he wasn't ready. Finally, as I passed them, dad said "Hey how bout you get down at the top of this hill?" I turned around and asked if it could be my turn then...but the wife after a step or two, said "NO! it will be MY turn."
It is also dove season here in Texas and all morning we would hear shot gun blasts from the surrounding woods and fields. At one point there was a song bird singing loudly. I said "That bird sure is happy!" A fellow runner respond "Yeah, he isn't running the 10K!" and I said, "Yeah...and he is happy he isn't a dove!" A little while latter several shots rang out and several seconds latter I could hear the pellets hitting the metal roof of a nearby house. That was just a little disconcerting.
I was way towards the back of the "pack" (basically meaning no one was in sight!) and I spooked a deer.. She came flying out of nearby yard and hoped a fence, fairly close by! And a few seconds latter her "baby" came flying out too. He didn't see the fence and plowed into it in a blind panic. His head got stuck for a few seconds until he untangled himself and then he "scrambled" like a cartoon deer with his feet "spinning" but him not going anywhere. I was close enough to hear the hoofs smacking the pavement and see the powerful muscles of even this little deer. He finally gained traction and cleared the fence moving extremely fast. I sure was glad he didn't run into me, he would have mowed over.
I saw a "puff ball mushroom" (I'm sure that is the scientific name for it!). And it was eerie! It had a "slit" in it and it looked just like it had an eyeball watching the world go by. I felt like I was in a "fantasy" book! And no, I didn't have any "herbs" before the race! I would have stopped to take a picture, but was worried about messing up the "Mapmyrun" tracking on my phone.
At one point we passed the Casa Guadalupe guest house. What a view they had from the top of the hill, and I also notice they appeared to have a lot of humming bird feeders in the backyard. Another house (maybe it was "Fort Mason") had a large cannon in the front yard.
As I approached the volunteers at the intersections I would say "Hey, I have a question for you"...and then would say "I signed up for the 10K...what was I thinking??!" Also towards the end of the course, I asked one of the volunteers how he was holding up. I guess I thought it was my job to entertain them.
I finished the race in just under 1.5 hours and waited for the results. The only draw back to this race was that there was some confusion about the results, and final results were not available at the end of the race. The officials were very apologetic and the fact that I wasn't in it for the "competition" meant that this did not detract from my enjoyment of this race.
And one participant got up and said so everyone could hear, "Come on wife, your going home with a first place winner!" and she responded "I volunteered so I got a shirt too, and we shall see who can move tonight!
As an added bonus Mason was having it's Fall Festival day today. There were many cool tents with soap, books, crafts, etc. on display. There were Pioneer Living actors, and even a dog parade. The dogs were in costumes as were there owners. My personal favorite was Little Red Riding Hood. There was also several displays regarding "Old Yeller". And I asked the lady working the "spinning" (wool, not the stationary bicycle) display about it. She informed me that the author was from Mason.
So I hope you can tell I had a great morning. And I look forward to receiving my "award" in the mail once they figure out the timing! I look forward to doing this race next year too, with Leta in attendance, hopefully as a participant! Afterwards we can enjoy the festival and maybe shop for a blue topaz/ texas cut piece of jewelry!
