Even though the August weather will probably be typical hot, late summer conditions, area runners will turn out in droves for two of our region’s classic running events — the Southland Shuffle and later the Armydillo 10K.
Things kick off Aug. 17 with the 32nd Annual Southland Shuffle.
The Shuffle is one of the oldest ongoing running events in San Angelo, dating back to 1982. Kent Fish, his wife Anne, and their children have been on the race committee every year since the event was founded.
“In February of 1982, the newly-organized Road Lizards running club decided to set up a race calendar with a race for every month,” Kent Fish said. “As we went through the year month by month and came to August, there was a long silence with a few comments about how HOT it is to have a race in August.”
“When nobody else jumped in, we ‘volunteered’ and have been doing it ever since with a 7:30 (a.m.) start to beat the heat.”
Southland Shuffle has been a family affair from the start, with members of the Fish family creating handmade awards, marking the course and directing the event.
The race starts and finishes in Meadow Creek Park on Ridgecrest Lane in SW San Angelo with both the six-mile and two-mile courses following residential streets through the Southland subdivision. The six-mile route is an out-and-back that goes to a turnaround point located just east of Lamar Elementary.
For more information on the Southland Shuffle, visit www.roadlizards.org.
The second big running event in August will be the Armydillo 10K, scheduled for Aug. 24 in Spring Creek Park.
The organizing group is the Sentinel Foundation with Team RWB’s Tim Masshardt serving as the race director.
Armydillo will also be the first official “flag run” for the San Angelo Team RWB community. More information can be found at www.teamrwb.org.
Although Armydillo was AWOL from the local running calendar for a few years, it’s back and will be much improved for its 19th edition. Armydillo is unique in that it includes a two-mile formation run involving the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, Navy and related organizations such as Team RWB, in addition to the open 10K and two-mile races.
Double-time at 180 steps per minute, sing out with gusto when calling cadence, stay in formation, and don’t leave anyone behind.
“After the completion of the 10K, the two-mile formation run will be held with teams from each of the services competing,” said race director Tim Masshardt. “We strongly encourage the public to come out and cheer on their favorite service to victory.
“We also encourage veterans in the area to come out and run with Team RWB in the formation run. For us, it’s not about how fast we go, but that we complete the mission as a team.”
You’ll see members of the San Angelo Team RWB community assisting with the race and also running — just look for their red RWB T-shirts with the Eagle logo.
The runners competing in the 10K run will enjoy one of the most scenic courses in San Angelo as they run through Spring Creek Park from near the marina to the turnaround point near the Nature Trail parking area on Spillway Road.
Much of the 10K route parallels the banks of the Spring Creek inlet of Lake Nasworthy with large trees providing shade in many areas.
The roads through the park are flat, but you’ll encounter a few rolling hills on Spillway Road after you exit the park’s back gate.
For more information on the Armydillo run, visit roadlizards.org.
Remember — it may be August, but you need to lace up those running shoes and come out for these two events!
Upcoming Events
- Aug. 15: Mountain bike time trial, sanangelobicycleassociation.co
- Aug. 17: Southland Shuffle, roadlizards.org
- Aug. 24: Armydillo 10K and 2-mile, roadlizards.org
- Sept. 5: Road Bike time trial, sanangelobicycleassociation.com Sept 7: Comanche Warrior triathlon, visitbigspring.com/pages/comanchewarriortriathlon
- Sept. 7: Let It Go 5K, roadlizards.org
- Sept. 14: Run to Remember, angelo.edu/asufit
- Sept. 21: Family Day 5K, angelo.edu/asufi
- Oct. 2-30: ASUFit cyclocross series, angelo.edu/asufi
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