Last Saturday, the largest Pet Fest 5K Run yet was held along the San Marcos River Walk trail. A total of 95 runners traversed the scenic trail, and some even had pets help with the pacing of the run.

The overall winner was local runner (and president of the San Marcos Runners Club) Randall Wood with a time of 19:59. The female overall champion was a San Antonio runner who frequents our runs, Bernadette Beck, in 24:10. She qualified for the female masters award also; but since she was the first woman runner, the female masters champion was San Marcos runner Angie Burke in a time of 24:40. The male masters champion was another San Marcos runner, Fred Mynar, in a time of 20:17 and second overall.

Age-group winners from the nearby area included second-place finisher Cole Spillar in the male 1-10 age group in 31:15, and Brooke Sprague took third for the females in that age group with a 36:27. In the female 11-14 age group, Sydney Sprague took a second place in 39:23 and Cydney Piersol got third in 52:02. Jason Mora took first in the male 20-29 age group in 26:09, and Meghann Sauer took first in that age group for the women in 27:56. In the male 30-39 age group, Ed Mendoza took first in 22:01 (and 4th overall) and Tommy Machado took third in 23:35. For the women in that age group, Suzanne Williams took a second place in 24:28, one second behind Marla Wiler from Austin who took first. In the male 40-49 age category, San Marcos runner Mike Wills took a second in 25:33; and for the women, local runner Sheila Torres-Blank took first with a 26:18 and Diana Esparza took third in 30:18. In the 60-and-over age group, Ronnie Murphey took third for the males in 35:38; and for the females, Barbara Piersol took second in 52:21.

Other area runners who ran the race include Perrin Wells in 23:57; David Nicosia with a time of 27:11; Greg Pannell ran in at 30:12 and his wife Nelda speed-walked across in 34:08. Teresa Medina ran a 30:46; Liesela Austin ran a 30:59; Shawn Spillar ran a 31:11 and Travis Hunt came across in 31:22. Laura Mason ran a 33:48; Bill Sprague joined his family of runners with a time of 36:18 while pacing his daughter Brooke; Carl Schreiber came in at 36:41 (his dog’s legs are really short or he might have finished faster), and Cherissa Young ran a 38:10. Katie Bryant joined a group of walkers in 51:42, along with Darrell Piersol in 55:16 and Kristy Kurtz in 58:29.

This run is getting more popular each year; and the run over the trail is a break from running on asphalt and is always welcome by area runners. It gets a little crowded at the start of the race; but once the runners cross the river and head out toward the Children’s Playscape, it thins out some and makes for a good fun run.