05/27/2026
Melody Winterringer I saw a post you posted earlier and I want to clarify a response to you because we are Edragon productions a race organization for runners by runners
As you may not know, it takes an incredible amount of work to put on an event for each and every one of our runners. Sometimes we have to go above and beyond to make sure everything is set up perfectly so our participants can have a fun, memorable, and most importantly safe race experience.
For this event, I personally biked the entire half marathon course loop the day before the race to inspect it and make sure everything was ready. After that, I also ran the 5K course to ensure it was marked correctly and safely for all participants.
During my inspection, I discovered that a tree had fallen onto part of the course from the rain we had received just a few days before the event. Needless to say, I could not leave it that way for our runners. So on race morning, I brought a chainsaw, shovel, and even purchased sand to help repair and improve sections of the course so everyone could have the best possible experience.
Unfortunately, that process took much longer than expected — about 30 to 45 minutes of valuable setup time on an already busy race morning while we were also preparing the finish line and the rest of the event operations.
I say all of this because my son was always intended to participate in the event, but it was my mistake that I did not personally pick up his bib in time due to arriving at the start/finish area so close to race start after handling the course work. I did ask our timers to manually clock his finish time based on the finish line clock and photos rather than chip timing.
At no point was it ever my intention to make anyone feel uncomfortable or upset, especially anyone who may not have realized he was officially participating in the event. I simply wanted to clarify the situation and take responsibility for the oversight on my part.
We truly care deeply about our running community and always strive to do what is right for our runners and our events.
Now Melody, I truly feel terrible that your son felt cheated by the situation. That was never my intention, and as a father myself, I completely understand wanting things to feel fair and earned.
Because of that, I would personally like to invite your son out to our Summer Series as my guest. I will cover his race entry and shirt personally. He’ll have five different chances to race my son head-to-head in fully chip-timed events so everything is official and transparent, and hopefully he can walk away feeling proud and accomplished.
At the end of the day, these events are about community, encouragement, and inspiring the next generation of runners. I never want any child to leave one of our events feeling discouraged or cheated.
Thank you for bringing your concerns forward and allowing me the opportunity to explain the situation.
In the future please bring this up directly to me at the race, email me at [email protected] or call or text me at 210-454-7000. We truly try to care of all of our participants. If you decided to to take advantage our free entry offer please email and I’ll send you a code to register your son.
