June 20, 2010 Remembering the old while keeping up with the new This weekend is the Juneteenth celebration in San Marcos. There will be a good variety of activities available for residents of the city to take part in. While there is a good variety for most people, there will be one activity that runners will miss. For a number of years, the Juneteenth 5K was celebrated with a run along the River Walk 5K course. When the race first started, it was held on the popular route starting at the Hays County Courthouse, but eventually it was moved to City Park. Harvey Miller was the principal mover behind organizing the race, but had some real difficulty getting volunteers to help support it. If it would not have been for family members and some University organizations, the race was hard pressed to get underway. With a lack of publicity, support from volunteers and a smaller turnout of runners, the race eventually ceased to exist. This also happened to the Cinco De Mayo 5K race that celebrated the heritage of the Hispanic populations in Texas and elsewhere. At one time, Manuel and Gloria Gonzales were major organizers of that race, and the event drew up to 400 or more runners in its heyday. René Ruiz continued this tradition, and the race was one of the most popular in the area. Winners received a big special sombrero and a colorful serape to wear. Once runners were no longer the race directors, and non-runners were assigned to be the organizers, the same things that doomed the Juneteenth 5K spelled the demise of the Cinco De Mayo 5K: lack of publicity and limited support from volunteers. And since it was a fundraiser, the cost became greater than the profits and the race was discontinued. The Cinco De Mayo 10K run was the first run that I was ever associated with in San Marcos back in 1979. Warren Leddick, Parks and Recreation Director, was the race director, and we had a colorful T-shirt designed by Giijs Van Oort, a graduate student at Southwest Texas State University. The race was sponsored by “75 Years of Service - Hays County Citizen” newspaper. That was the first year of the Capitol 10K in Austin; that race drew 2000+ runners, and we figured we could have a good number to try a race like that in San Marcos. It was held out at the Hays County Civic Center, and ran up Wonder World (Redwood Road) and came in the back of Clovis Barker Road. Back then traffic was minimal, and we added a loop around the center to make the full 10K distance. While a number of races here in San Marcos have come and gone, there are always new races coming in to take their place. The next one here in San Marcos is the Firecracker 5K Evening Run out at the River Ridge Business Park. The race is on Thursday evening, July 1st, and starts at 7:30 p.m. Registration until June 29th is a very low $15.00; and after that, including race day, the fee will be $20.00. Day-of-race registration begins at 6:30 p.m. at the race site. Check at the San Marcos Activity Center or the Parks Office for entry forms. The course is flat and fast and certified, so runners can try for running a fast time. There has been some early talk of having a San Marcos Mile Run similar to the Congress Avenue Mile run in Austin. There are a lot of details to work out yet and a course to be decided on; and permission for the use of a street is still in the planning stages. One thought was the Aquarena Springs road by Bobcat Stadium. The fun part of a straight-shot mile course - and one that is mostly a downhill route - is that runners can race a very fast mile time. It is not a “legal” time as times go; but when a runner can come close to running a four-minute mile, it becomes something to brag about. Even the so-called slower runners can get a PR when a normal 10-minute pace is now close to 9 minutes or less. Such is the life and death of road races in San Marcos; and the running community continues on, as old runners slow down and new runners appear to set new records. Dr. Maurice Johnson - better known around San Marcos as “Moe” - is a professor in the Department of Health, P.E., Recreation and Dance at Texas State University - San Marcos. Moe has been a fixture in the San Marcos running community - both as a runner and race organizer - since way back when Moby Dick was a minnow. His column on running and fitness appears each Sunday in the Sports section of the San Marcos Daily Record. • Recent “Running With Moe” Columns • Home • About the Club • Current News • Club Runs • Places To Run • TX Running Clubs • Running Links • Useful Stuff Upcoming Races • Race Results • Country Roads 10K & Kids Run • ARA-Moe’s Better Half Marathon • “Running With Moe” Contact Us!