Race review: I know why they call it a WHINE run now!

 The 2013 San Antonio Road Runners Labor Day 5 Mile Whine Run...

Figure 1.  Graph is to scale.

My earlier guess was unfortunately correct.

Well, umm, sooooo....AFTER the race we had fun at the Dry Comal Creek Vineyard.  Shady lawn, live music, vendors and club tents, hot dogs, wine, wine glasses, cheese, crackers, grapes, sodas, water, plenty of places to sit and relax and drink in the natural (and grapey) beauty.

I was not well prepared for the hills, but I loved the challenge.  Whining was in full force by, oh, 3 minutes after the start (see Figure 1).  

On a positive note:

Good swag: Chilled towels at the end, great after-party at the vineyard proper.  Nice purple technical t-shirt in men's and women's sizes.

I leave town and he starts wearing purple...oh my!

Great Support:  water and carb beverages every mile or so, also chilled soaked sponges.  Some families and neighborhood residents cheered outside with cowbells, but mostly a drawn out internal monolog with myself, wondering how much D would tease me if I bowed out of the race at various points. (The answer is quite a bit, not that he was faring any better :) )  Plenty of port-a-potties along the course if you knew where to look*.

The course itself was about 1/2 mile removed from the winery/vineyard, in a new subdivision.  It almost felt like we were either in the Truman Show or running through a road race-based advertisement for a hilly and up-scale housing development, but with a $25 entry fee and a chance to challenge myself on some hills, I would do this race again.

I would visit the winery/vineyard again too, even without the race!

There is a 5-mile walk option that begins 30 minutes before the 5 mile run.

We had so much fun we forgot to take pictures and sample the wine, which, I was told, was quite tasty.

The San Antonio Road Runners put on a great event- and I hope to be able to attend another SARR race.  I am not a champion runner but I do appreciate my health and the time I spend on the road or treadmill and I feel like the SARR is a welcoming club for all aficionados, regardless of natural ability.  I am as always very thankful for the military discount.

*Which I didn't.  In other news I definitely had The Running Bubblies midway through and I am very sorry to the owners of the back yard I surreptitiously visited.