St James Missions 5K and 1K Run and Walk

There are several good reasons to do the St. James Missions 5K/​1K Run/​Walk:
— It’s for a good cause. This year’s beneficiary was the Alzheimer’s Association. Even without much effort, Shannon B. and I raised a few hundred bucks for the cause.
— It has a not-​terribly-​early start time (this year, the 1K started at 9am, and the 5K was at 9:30). Sure, sometimes it’s great to be done with your run by 8am. But it’s sometimes nice to not have to leave the house before the sun rises to get to a starting line.
— This year, it was part of a three-​race «Spring Series» where all three races support a good cause (the other two being the Paramount Theater, and ACC scholarships). If you did all three, you got an extra shirt!
— Surprise live music on a streetcorner on 12^th St
— Many of the participants seemed to be members of the St. James community who knew each other well, but they were still very friendly and welcoming to us newcomers.
— Bounce House at the finish line!
For a short course, it is a bit of a challenge (some report it to be the toughest 5K in town), as there are climbs of fifty feet or so across a couple blocks here and there. But the road is in good shape, except for that slight lean to the right as the street slopes to the shoulder. Nothing terrible, though. And I still managed to knock a couple minutes off my time from the other 5K’s I’ve done this year.
They were very well organized for a smallish sized event, with traffic control at every intersection, road closure info coordinated with the City of Austin’s website, etc. Looking forward to doing this one again next year.