With the Kiwanis Great Pumpkin Dash 5K being held out at the LaCima Developments Activity Center, it made me look back at the different locations some organizations have chosen for a run in San Marcos. For many years almost 75% of the runs were held down at the Courthouse Square and headed down San Antonio Street. But with parade permits, insurance coverage and TxDOT permission to cross Hopkins Street, organizers looked for other options. And even before that there were races all over San Marcos.
When the Texas Health and Racquet Club was Jim’s Gym there were 10K races out both directions on McCarty Lane. One went out over I-35 and came back on the access road and the other ran out to Siesta Verde loop and came back. The first Moe’s Better Half Marathon started there and ran down Old Bastrop Highway to just before Posey Road and back again. Aquarena has been the start of several races. Tangram had a 5K and 10K race that ran into town for a route. It was short lived as many of the downtown businesses complained they were delayed opening at 9 a.m. because of road closures for the race. And another route was from there out Lime Kiln road for a nice run. The truck traffic and blind curves on Lime Kiln put a halt to that race. Several races were out ‘Old Post Road’ and back. This was before all the apartments were built. It was a nice scenic run with very little traffic. The apartments and traffic have put a stop to that route.
Cuauhtemoc Hall had a couple of races start there. Runners headed out the access road and back. The location of the old Lamar School had the Cemetery Run up around Loop Street and through the cemetery. This was tough heading up to Loop Street hill but was a very fast finish coming back down. Country Estates is one of the frequent locations of races now. There are two 5K courses – one at the swimming pool and the other at Wonderland School – for a scenic run. The Country Roads 10K put on by the San Marcos Runners Club for a number of years had a good race starting there. I put one Southwest Texas State Homecoming run through the campus. It was a long time ago, and I think we started at the library. And the River Walk has had several races starting at the Lion’s tube rental. It was a very scenic run but needed a large number of volunteers to make sure the runners followed the trail. It was hard to run through the island loops behind the Little League fields and find a way out. We did have several runners get lost during a couple of those races.
Several runs are now heading out to the Baptist Church and Hernandez Elementary School for an out and back course back along those roads. Traffic has increased some because of housing developments and organizers cone off one side of the road for runners. The Bluebonnet Lions Club at the Baptist Church is known for the turkey and ham awards to top finishers as well that steep hill near the finish line. Some runners claim it is more like a wall than a hill. Having been a lead bike for a couple of those races, I thought I would have to walk my bike up that hill since I was going so slow. But the runners were going just as slow so it worked out okay.
The Playscape had a nice 5K run that ran from the playground and turned on Cheatham Street and did a loop right and loop left in the neighborhoods before finishing at the Playscape. It was a nice run and back in an older neighborhood there was not much traffic.
There have been several runs out at the Outlet Center Malls. Tanger had the Half Marathon, a 10 K course and a 5K course at one time. The Half Marathon was popular because it was out on county country roads and had antique tractors, llamas, cows and windmills to look at as runners followed the roads. The Kiwanis Club had a 5K race starting at the Toyota Car Dealership and heading out Posey Road and back. It was a good course, but housing development has increased traffic flow to make it where it needs good traffic control. Several runs are now at the Hays County Soccer Field complex. There are two or three different routes from the soccer fields. The runners travel over the main road in the Blanco Vista subdivision for a nice flat run.
It is amazing how many races have been held at different locations over the years. Race organizers can be very creative in their plans to host a race in San Marcos.
