Scottydog Reports

Photos are here:    https://photos.app.goo.gl/TAXMNWNZAtYTEQfRA

Before The Start:  My 5^th race of 2026 was the Martin Luther King 5K held at Martin Luther King on Sunday, January 18^th.  This event “raises funds for The Young Men’s Leadership Academy, the first all-boys public school in San Antonio. “ 100 percent of the raised funds support student programming.  The 5K start time was 9 a.m., with a packet pickup on Saturday at the school.  I picked my packet up on Saturday and then, on Sunday, arrived at the park just after 8 a.m., with a little less than an hour before start time.  A cold front – cold for we non-winter San Antonio citizens, lol – had moved into our area, with the temp early on Sunday morning at 32 degrees; thankfully, there was very little wind.  The people who had to be at the race site very early got the brunt of most of the cold morning. By the time I arrived at the race site, we had plenty of sunshine, very little wind, and the temp had climbed to about 38 degrees; still cold, but not freezing, at least; even so, I layered up with a warm base-layer shirt underneath my race shirt, and even wore a nice hat, which is rare for me since I really literally hate wearing hats.  The hat I work was a nice compromise for me, as it was one I got as part of a goody bag from an e-Dragon Productions race I had previously done; very light-weight and nicely designed to keep the cold out. It worked great. Pre-start, I chatted with friends, other participants, supporters, volunteers, etc., and got a few pre-start photos.  There was a band there – I’m assuming from the school – who played for us and also played very well The National Anthem before we got started.  There were several vendors/sponsors there too, offering various products, and some of the students were selling cups of hot chocolate and coffee, to help raise further funds. This is also a dog-friendly event, so I handed out some treats to the dogs I met.

On The Course:  We started right on time, with local race management company iaap doing the timing and results and I think they also laid out the course for us, which was an out-and-back on the paved trails at the park, which are part of San Antonio’s Greenway Trails System, which connects several of the  local parks together, so if you are so inclined, you can get in a really long run, walk, or bike ride via this system of trails. For this event, there were virtually no hills at all, just a few minor up-and-down inclines, with the longest one being down to the 5K turn-round and then back up it as we headed back to the start/finish area; but even this was pretty mild overall. I did my usual run/walk thing – can’t run non-stop anymore for a whole race due to some spinal arthritis – and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. I felt pretty good the whole way and after the turn-round, I pretty much went non-stop back to the finish, with just a couple of quick stops to take a couple more on-course photos. I ended up with a gun-time finish of 42:17 and chip time of 41:43, which was good enough for first place in my males 70-79 age group, as there were only 2 in my age group, lol. There was a total of 375 finishers, with the largest group being females, ages 30-39.  When I neared the turn-round, I saw my friend, Mary already heading for the finish.  She is in her 80s and am amazing runner, who does just about as many races as I do. Sometimes after I make the turn-round, I catch up to her, but not today, lol.  She finished a good 2 – 3 minutes ahead of me.

After My Finish:  I stood a bit back from the timing mat and got a few photos of others finishing, including a few friends I personally knew. After that I wandered around chatting with other participants, supporters, vendors, etc., and got a few after-photos.  Post-race goodies included the same pre-start goodies, as well as some grilled Kiolbassa sausages too, nice; my personal favorite; There was an age-group awards presentation for the top 3 in each age category and they first started with the most senior participants. I appreciated that since, you know, early morning start event, so we old guys would like to go home and get in our nap after all this activity, lol. The age group awards were these nicely wood-carved round tokens, with  “MLK 5K 2026.. I HAVE A DREAM” carved on one side and then on the other side, your place (mine read 1^st PLACE MALE) and the name of the academy; definitely unique from other races I’ve done. I do so many races over a year – I did 83 total last year – that I usually toss my medals into a big bag and then when I get enough I donate them to the disabled kids at Morgan’s Wonderland or to kids with cancer, as I was a disabled kid myself for a while and I’m a 4-time cancer survivor.  I also don’t usually get a race shirt since I’m running out of drawer space, lol, with so many races done;  when I register I just ask the race organizers to give it to some kid; it’s all good.

Epilogue: Mucho thanks to all who made this one possible for we participants:  all the many volunteers out there for us; the sponsors, vendors, etc., who helped pay for it all; the medical people there for us if needed; the band, who did a great job for us; iaap that did the course setup, timing, and results; law enforcement officers there – I saw two, and chatted with  them a bit after I parked – my Dad was involved with many officers as I grew up, as he worked as a juvenile probation officer – I could not get away with anything, lol – and also thanks to Dr. Derek Brown, a man I consider my friend and the head of the school; great guy who has done so much for this school over the years, and is involved with the SAISD community too, of which the school is a part, if I remember correctly. Also, thanks to all the people I talked with at the event, and hope I didn’t bore you too much with all my stories, lol; and thanks  to anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  May all of you stay safe and happy and be successful at reaching any personal goals you have set for yourselves.  Maybe I’ll see you at an event sometime in the future.

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/unEdGYpuU1KDG3gR6

Before The Start: My 4^th race of 2026 was the River Road Run 5k held on January 10^th, in Comfort, Texas, at Comfort City Park.  Put on by race organization Scallywompus, this event featured a half-marathon; 10-miler; 5K; and a competitive 5K walk.  Considering that a cold-front moved in for the weekend of this event –  it was 36 degrees at 7 a.m. with a pretty strong wind blowing when I left home to go to Comfort – there was a pretty nice turnout for this one. There were 335 finishers for the 5K; 72 finishers for the half;, 52 finishers for the 10-miler; and 36 finishers for the competitive 5K walk.  The 5K start time was 9 a.m.  I got there just a little before 8 a.m., in time to see the half-marathoners starting their event.  The 10-milers and competitive 5k participants started at 8:30 a.m., and we 5K participants started at 9 a.m. After getting my race packet. I then wandered around, getting a few pre-start photos and handing out some treats to the doggies there, since this is a dog-friendly event.  The wind was blowing pretty darn good so, even though I hate wearing hats, I wore a hat for this one, along with some liner gloves and a pair of windproof gloves over those as AI have some mild arthritis in my hands, making my hands at times really feel the cold.   All the events pretty much started right on time.

On The Course: The course was on paved roads. As usual, due to my spinal arthritis, I did my 8-min-run/2 minute walk thing and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. We started from Comfort City Park, heading out of the park entrance and then going onto past some local businesses and family residences. During this part of the course, the wind was surprisingly low-key, so I guess we were getting a windbreak from the structures we passed by. That did not last long, though, maybe a half-mile or so, and then we were in the wind again. We still had just some pretty mild up-and-down inclines, until we came to a bridge that took us over the Guadalupe River.  After crossing the bridge, we then went up a pretty steep hill and then, after cresting that hill, we really had some wind blowing on us. This road took us past a power station on our right, and then we made a right turn onto another road that took us up to a course water station.  I kept going past that and saw my friend Ralph heading toward me on his way to the finish. He stopped to take a photo of me and shouted at me not to go past the 2-mile marker; well, okay then. I got to the 2-mile marker, turned around and headed for the finish.  I kept thinking, wait a minute if this is 2 miles and I saw where the 1-mile marker was, then this course is going to be long for me. I checked with some other runners around me, and they had the same thoughts as I did, this course was going to be a bit long. We all kept on going, of course, went back past the water station – and found out later, this should have been our turn-round for the 5K, but there was no turn-around marker or sign – and just kept on going. We turned back onto the Power Station road and that long downhill we had coming out was no an uphill with the wind blowing pretty good on us as we went up it. After cresting it, we then went down the hill to that bridge, where I stopped briefly to get a couple of photos from the bridge.  After that, I pretty much ran nonstop to the finish for the last mile, and as we approached the finish, that wind was right in our faces.  I finished 3^rd out of 3 in my 70-79 males age group, with a chip time of 48:50 and my garmin showed I had done 3.5 miles, so because some of us had not turned around at the water station, which was our 5K turn-round, we did go long.  I heard there were few complaints about it, but most of us just took it in stride…no pun intended. I figured I’d just got a few extra bonus-running minutes, lol.  We did find out from our MC that there had been a sign at the water station, but that crazy wind picked up the sign and blew the thing into the field behind the water stop table, and they could not get it back as they were busy and also had a pretty large barbed-wire fence to contend with if they’d tried.

After My Finish:  Got my finisher medal – the thing is huge – and then went and sat in my car for a while, warming up again. After that, I wandered around the race area chatting with friends and other participants and getting a few after-photos, including the finish line volunteers that were handing out the medals. At least we were moving; they had to stand there for hours in that wind until all the finishers were done, so I thanked them for that.  Since there were only 3 in my age group, I got an age group award, which was a very nice small Scallywompus drinking glass. I like this smaller glass lots better than the larger ones they used to give. As noted, the finisher medal is nicely designed and very large, and the race shirt is nice quality too. Epilogue: Scallywompus motto is “Come for the race. Stay for the party.”  They are not kidding, either.  There was all kinds of things going on post-race, with adult beverages served, as well as non-alcohol beverages; and grilled Kiolbassa sausages; fresh fruits,, and more. There were nice backdrops for photo ops, and folks from Pushbutton Photography took photos before, during, and after the races, so check out their site for the race photos.  Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants, e.g., all the many volunteers; our music man Paul for playing the tunes; all the many sponsors for this event; the patience of the residents and the drivers on the course as we invaded their space for a few hours; our EMT folks there, just in case; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all!   Whatever your passion is, may you always stay healthy doing it and be successful in reaching  your goals.

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/3nWPzpJBsB63s2YL8   

Before the Start:   My 3^rd race of 2025 was the Bigfoot Classic 5K, held on Sunday, January 4^th   at McAllister Park in San Antonio. There was also a 10K and a 15K and a 1-miler that several kids there did, as well as some adults.  Start time was 9 a.m., so after doing a previous 5K the day before this one at Lady Bird Johnson Park, I got to sleep in a bit as I live very close to McAlllister Park.  I’d also done the New Year’s La Cruda 5K on New Year’s Day.  I knew parking was going to be a bit crazy, as there were a lot of registered participants, so I arrived at the park with just under an hour to go to the 9 a.m. start time. Thankfully, I had taken the advice of the Bigfoot folks and picked my packet up the day before.  This allowed me to wander around, chatting with friends, other participants, supporters, race crew members, etc., and get some pre-start photos.  This is also a dog-friendly event, so I also handed out some treats, with the permission of the dog’s human.  I was very popular with the dogs, lol.

On the course:  Idon’t know exactly how many total participants there were for these three events, but it was a lot – I’d guess over 500 and maybe even higher than that. Our start/finish area was at Pavilion 5, which is the area right across the street from the upper baseball fields at the park.  The National Anthem was played and then we got going right on time.  The event was done on the paved Greenway Trails at the park.  I did my usual run/walk thing and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks.  The first part was flat, for about ¼ of a mile and then we began descending down a fairly long hill. We then had a bit of flat on the course, and that took us underneath an overpass on the Wurzbach Parkway. After exiting that overpass tunnel, we then made a left turn, following the greenway trails that took us in the direction of Lady Bird Johnson Park. We had some flat here for about ¼ of a mile and then we REALLY began climbing hills; these were pretty steep, first going up one hill, then around a short curve and there was a second part of the hill. After we crested the second hill, it was flat again for a bit, and we had some nice views of the surrounding area from up this high.  After this flat part, we then made a right turn and started downhill – a pretty steep hill too – to get to the turn-round point. The participants who had already made the turn-round were coming up the hill toward us as they made their way to the finish. This was a bit of a winding trail, where we 5K folks went around a curve to our left, then one to our right and then went down another fairly long hill that got us to the 5K turn-round, where the was a water station, so thanks to those volunteers out there for us. We then went back to the finish the way we had come out;  so, of course, after the turn-round, this long downhill we did to get there was now a long uphill – the longest of the 5K course.  We then were back on the top, flat part for a while, until we go to those first two hills we’d climbed and went down them.  After that, it was fairly flat until we went back under the overpass because, since we’d gone down on the way out, we know went UP on the way to the finish. I was surprised to see that I’d caught up to my speedy friend, Ralph, who was walking a bit. He usually finishes way ahead of me. I jokingly called to him “Hurry up and finish, Ralph! You have to take a photo of me finishing. I guess he took me at my word, lol; he did start running again and finished way ahead of me. We had one more very short flat part as we headed to the finish, then rounded another curve and there was one hill left.  Once we crested this, we could see the finish line ahead, and the last part of the course, thankfully, was flat.  I ended up running most of the last 1.5 miles, ignoring my watch beeping for walk break, with just a few quick stops to take a photo or two. My chip-time finish was 40:27, and I was first in my males 70-79 age group – so I must have been the only one in it, lol. I’ll take it.

After My Finish:  I got my finisher medal and a Bigfoot Pin for being first in my age group. I then got some water in me and wandered here-and-there, handing out more dog treats; chatting with other participants, supporters, volunteers, etc., and getting some after photos, including a couple with Bigfoot.  I then went and stood near the finish line to get a photo of my friend, Peggy when she finished the 5K. She walks about as fast as I run and I have this joking thing going on with her, lol, that since I’m a runner and she’s a walker, I should be able to finish before her, which does not always happen.  Her brother was there and I told him I was worried because she usually finishes pretty soon after I do. He told me I’d have a long wait, lol, since she was doing the 10K for this one. Well, okay, then; so I wandered around some more, had a few post-race goodies, got more photos, etc. She finally did come in, so I got a finisher photo of her, and we got a group photo of us with mutual friends that were there. I even saw and chatted with a few other participants that had also done the same 5K I did the day before this one. Finally, time to call it a day, so headed on home and got a nice hot shower and then was lazy for a while, eating lunch and watching some football.

Epilogue:  I like the local Bigfoot folks, they’ve always been good with me about letting me wander here-and-there, even near the timing tables, to take some pre-start and post-race photos, and I always tell them to go to my blog – they know where it is – and feel free to save/share any of the photos I take at their events. They let me wander around like I’m part of their crew, lol. There were a variety of post-race snacks; water; Gatorade; and other things.  They don’t have an age-group awards ceremony, you just get your Age Group Award Pin and go on your way; although they do have a really nice backdrop where you can get your photo with Bigfoot. Overall, their events are nicely managed; some may not agree, but I’ve never had an issue with them. There is one of those ‘code things’ where you can get your race results on your phone, but since I am basically a technology idiot, lol, I just go to the RunSignUp website where their results are also posted, including results from other cities where they have events.  The finisher medal is very nice, and the race shirt is nice quality.  II would do this one again – I did it last year too – and would recommend it to others.

Mucho thanks to all who were out there for us, e.g., all the Bigfoot crew members; the many volunteers out there for us; Bigfoot – guy must have been really warm in that oufit – who patiently allowed photos with him to all comers, whether it was the nice backdrop provided or just somewhere in the race area.  Also, thanks to the law enforcement park police officers there for our safety; and to all who sponsored this event; and thanks to non-participating park patrons using the park – cyclists, other runners, walkers – for their patience with us as we pretty much flooded that trail that connects eventually to LBJ Park; and to the first aid folks there, just in case; and anyone else involved not mentioned here. Thank you all!

Whatever your goals are, may you always be successful, and stay happy and healthy while working on reaching them.   Maybe I will see you at a future event sometime!  

Photos are here:    https://photos.app.goo.gl/hpWkGdQFCkaYguVU9

Before the Start:  Following the La Cruda 5K on New Year’s Day, my 2^nd race of 2026 was the Sunrise 5K on Saturday, January 3^rd at Ladybird Johnson (LBJ) Park in San Antonio.  Put on by Best Races, this is an organized, self-timed event that included a 5K and a 10K, with various start times.  The 5K was an out-and-back of 2 laps starting from the park’s trailhead to the paved trails.  The 10K folks did 4 laps, if I remember correctly, and their start time was a bit later than for the 5K participants. My selected start time was 7:30 a.m., but I arrived a tad late so, after getting my bib, I got going on the course at about 7:40 a.m. The weather was actually pretty nice, with blue skies, sunshine, a temp of 61 degrees, and some pretty low humidity.

On the course:  For a while, with my late start, I had the course all to myself and then began catching up with a few of the participants who had started right on time.  Then, on my way back to the start/finish to begin my second lap, the 10K folks started and then I had a LOT of company on the course, lol. I did my usual run/walk thing and got some photos during my walk breaks. The course was mostly flat, with a winding downhill  after we crossed the start line; then one fairly long incline at about the ½ mile point; then a fairly steep-but-short hill we went down before crossing a short bridge, heading in the direction of the Los Patios Shoppes. We did not go that far; the turn-round point was almost immediately after we crossed the bridge, with a volunteer there with water for those who wanted it. After the turn-round, we went back to the trailhead the way we had come out and then repeated the same route for our second lap. The paved greenway trails system at this park also have a lot of wooded areas along the way, so lots of shade on the course. As this is a dog-friendly event, I also stopped a couple of times to hand out a treat for any dog I saw running or walking with its human.  My second lap, I continued to do run/walk and got a few more photos, but after the turn-round, I then pretty much went non-stop back to the finish. The course was dead-on at 3.14 miles. I ended up finishing with a time of 44:57, averaging 14:19 per mile and I did negative splits, with my last mile being 13:20. 

After My Finish:  I got my finisher medal and then went back on the course for a bit, getting photos of a few others still on the course, and handed out a few more treats. Then it was back up to the trailhead and the park’s traffic circle area to chat with other participants, supporters, volunteers, etc., and get a few more after-photos. I met some really nice people, including a very nice gentleman around my age who was training a service dog, so I gave him a dog treat to give to the dog. As we chatted some of his family members doing the event began to gather, including one young lady who is doing on Sunday – the day after this event – the same Bigfoot 5K I am doing; and small world, too; she found out I grew up in Falls Church, Virginia, and she had previously lived in Reston, which is in the same area.  I had a very enjoyable time chatting with this family – although I probably talked too much, as I usually do, lol, but I think we all enjoyed it all. Super-nice family; hope to see them all again sometime. I will see some of them on Sunday January 4, as a couple of them are also doing Bigfoot 5K at McAllister Park.

Epilogue:   I know some of my running friends don’t like these “Best Races” events, as you basically pay for an event for which you time yourself; you get a small finisher medal for participating; and there are no age group awards. Even so, I quite enjoy doing these, and have made several new friends at these events. The course is pretty nice, with very few ‘challenges” so even less experienced runners can do this one without difficulty; and the other thing that makes this enjoyable is the participants themselves; really great people – on even ran in a horse costume, lol – and it’s always nice to make new friends. They also support via their programs some non-profit charities, including one for cancer research; so, as a survivor myself, I definitely appreciate that. each to his/her own.  Also, the local San Antonio area Best Races employees are very nice people; I’ve enjoyed getting to know them a bit.  Anyway, I get it, this is not everyone’s cup of tea; but I enjoy them and will continue do them on occasion.

Mucho thanks to all who were out there for us; the Best Races folks doing registration, etc., our two course marshals on the course; the Park Police law enforcement officers who were checking on us; also, as the park was till open to the public, thanks to other non-event patrons using the park for their patience with all of us; and partner sponsors of Best Races, that include several local businesses. Thank you all. Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it, meet all your personal goals, and stay safe and healthy.     

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/r4i1PT2JjczsP12FA            

Before the Start:   After doing the e-Dragon Productions New Year’s Eve 5K at 6 pm on December 31^st, I followed this up by doing the New Year’s Day La Cruda 5K in Helotes, Texas. Put on by Scallywompus, this is a very popular annual New Year’s Day 5K, held in Old Towne Helotes, with a 10 a.m. start, so you get to sleep in a tad after any New Year’s Eve activities. However, having done this before and knowing how popular it is, I planned to arrive at race site very early, which was good planning as, ultimately, the results listing showed there were 913 finishers for this event.  Thankfully, I had picked up my race packet before race day, so did not have to stand in the long line for race-day packet pickup. I also got lucky in finding pretty good parking in the lot right next to the start/finish area, so I enjoyed getting some pre-start photos as I walked around, chatting with other participants, supporters, vendors, sponsors, etc.; getting some pre-start photos; and, as this is a dog-friendly event, handing out treats to some of the doggies there. There were quite a few of my personal running/walking friends there, and also a whole lot of people that I’d never met before. There was a slight delay in the start time – I don’t remember the reason why, something to do with the timing mat, I think. My friend, Jose of iaap, the company doing the timing, saw me and asked me to walk across the timing mat at the start/finish to help him determine if it was working, which I did for him.  Apparently, things got resolved after that.  The National Anthem was then played, with one participant holding Old Glory high-and-proud for us, and then we got started; but not right away, lol; with this number of people,  and with me making sure not to line up near the front, with my slow pace, it took a bit of time for me to just get across the start mat; not excessively long, but not really quick either, which is about what I expected with this big crowd, so no worries.    

On the course:   After exiting the start area, we made a right turn, went past the traffic circle in Olde Towne, made a right turn, and headed down this street to a turn-round, and then came back up it. Once back at the traffic circle, we made a right turn heading toward Bandera Road, but did not go that far. We did a turn-round and then went back the way we’d come down; then went past the traffic circle again. This took us past the start/finish area of the race, and down a hill on Old Bandera Road; had level ground for all of 5 minutes, lol, and then climbed up Old Bandera Road. We then made a right turn on Scenic Loop Road. This was level for about all of 5 minutes, lol, and then we went around a bend, down a fairly steep but not-too-long hill; and then had level ground for all of 2 minutes, lol, before we climbed another hill to our turn-round. We then turned round and went back down the hill, and up the one that had been a downhill on our way to the turn-round. After cresting this hill, we then had some flat terrain for a bit, until we made a right turn back onto Old Bandera Road. This meant we now did the hills in reverse of the way we had come out, so we had a downhill first, and then climbed up to get to the finish line. After cresting that last hill, we finally had a bit of flat as we turned back onto the short dirt-and-gravel part of the course we’d started on, and that took us to the finish line. Whew!  As usual, I did my run/walk thing and took photos during my walk breaks. After the turn-round on Scenic Loop Road, I pretty much ran the last part of the course non-stop. I kept looking at my timer and saw we’d already reached 2.5 miles while still on Scenic Loop Road, so I suspected that this course was a tad long. My friend, Rick, running in front of me to the finish, agreed with that.  As we finally turned into the finish, we heard our MC, Anthony, welcoming us back and confirming that yes, the course was long – 3.4 miles – and things had been adjusted accordingly for the those who placed in their age groups.  Well, I knew I had not placed in my age group at my pace, with this many participants, but I was just happy that Anthony had confirmed I was not crazy, lol, and the course was long.  I ended up with a chip-time finish of 47:54, placing 5^th out of 9 in my 70-79 males age group.     

After My Finish: Got some water and Gatorade and did a cool-down walk and then got a few photos of others coming into the finish.  After that, I wandered around chatting with participants, supporters, sponsors, etc. and getting some more after photos.  Scallywompus motto is “Come for the race. Stay for the Party.”  They are not kidding either.  There were all kinds of beverages – including adult beverages; one group had a booth just a short way before the finish with Tequiladaiquiris, lol.   There was also grilled Kiolbassa sausages – my personal favorite brand – and my friend Gilbert, as usual, had a variety of fresh fruits….and the party went on.  There was a fun dance contest – which I did not participate in, since, lol, I dance like Elaine in “Seinfeld” – and there were judges watching and the top 5 most entertaining dancers, per their judgement, won a primo bottle of vodka. Even my friend with Ainsley’s Angels got into it, dancing with his chaired companion; and a good time was had by all.

Epilogue:  I’ve done this event ever since it first started – and I remember the first one we had was pretty chilly, and it even sleeted on us for a bit – and will continue to do this one as long as I am able. I’m not sure if I’ve done them all – I had a stress fracture in my ankle one year, so don’t remember if I was healed by then to do it that year; my friend, Lisa, of Soler’s Sports that did the online registration, packet pickup management, etc. – doing her usual great job –  may be able to tell me, but no big deal.  This is one fun event I will continue to keep on my race calendar as long as I am able to run or walk.

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants: Tony Garcia – whose birthday is also Race Day – Lisa Soler and her crew of volunteers for packet pickup, race day activities, etc:  our MC, Anthony Zamora doing his usual great job; all the many sponsors that helped make this one happen for we participants;  all the law enforcement officers out there for our safety; our first aid folks there for us; and, as the course roads were open to traffic, thanks to the patience of the resident drivers. On my way to the turn round, I was actually running by one guy driving slowly in his car and thanked him for his patience; he told me it’s okay, all good, it was pretty interesting seeing all these runners and walkers going by him in all these various costumes; very nice guy; I stopped for a moment, and he stopped too, and I shook his hand and thanked him; and then was on my way again.

I hope everyone who did this event enjoyed it, and stayed safe, and will continue to do it in the future. Yes, the course can be a tad tough in places, but it really is a fun event, with that great after-party.  Hope to see you out there at a future La Cruda, the Lord willing, and we all stay healthy and well enough to continue doing it. Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy yourself, be successful with all your personal goals and stay safe doing it

Photos are here:            https://photos.app.goo.gl/eppqsYqVy33jLD7b9

Before the Start My 83^rd and final race of 2025 was the e-Dragon New Year’s Eve 5K on December 31^st, put on by e-Dragon Productions, with a start time of 6 p.m.  The event was held at Pearsall Park in San Antonio on one of its paved concrete trails.  My wife, Gail, also did this one also, coming in separate vehicles because she had a meeting to attend post-race, and also she knows I hang around quite a while after a race to get photos and chat with friends.  We arrived just after 4:30 p.m., parking in one of the upper parking lots of the park, then had to walk down the sidewalk of a long hill, adjacent to the street, to the start/finish area to get our race packets; then go back up the hill to get back to our vehicles; and then back down the hill to get back to the race site. Is sure made for a nice pre-race warmup, lol.  With all the New Year’s Eve activities going on around town, this one had a pretty nice turn-out, with 262 finishers for the event.  I took a few pre-start photos before the start.

On the course:  We started right on time.  The course was out-and-back. Just about everyone had some kind of headlamp or other type of lighting fixture to be seen, and some of those lightings – various costumes and so forth – were quite imaginative.  The first part of the course, for about  ½ mile was fairly flat, and then we began going up-and-down on hills of varying sizes.  I carried my old-time Canon push-button camera with me and took only a couple of on-course photos, which did not come out too well in the night, even with my flash on, so finally just packed that in and just did the course. I did my usual 8-minutes-running/2-minutes walking thing, cheering people on as I went along A little before the turn-round, I just kept on running and pretty much ran non-stop back to the finish, for the most part. Surprisingly, I ended up first in my 70-99 males age group, probably because there were only 2 in my age group. My chip time was 42:10.       

After My Finish:    I stood a little back from the finish line and got a few photos of others coming in.  I also got a photo of Gail finishing her walk with a chip-time of 50:52. I took a photo of her finishing but it did not come out very well, since she was still wearing her headlamp, so it was flash against flash.  We then got a post-race photo together, which did come out very nicely. After that, she headed back home for a church meeting and I wandered here-and-there taking photos and chatting with other participants, my friends from iaap that did the timing, friend Erik of e-Dragon, and more.  I was one of the last participants to leave, so walked alone back up that long hill to my car.  It was actually pretty nice because by the time I left, there were fireworks lighting up the sky.  Pearsall Park is so high up on Old Pearsall  Park Road that when you stand on the top hill, you can see aircraft parked on JBSA Lackland and you can get a very distant view of some of the taller buildings in San Antonio. I drove home the way I’d come out – back down Military Highway to got to US 90 and go home – and then when I got near the entrance gate of JBSA Lackland, I got stuck for a while at the entrance gate as there was a whole lot of traffic entering the base through that gate; apparently there was some kind of New Year’s Eve function gong on, and when the traffic light changed, some of them were stuck right in the middle of the road while making the turn; so I had to wait a bit before I finally got a space to get through and go on my way. Always an adventure with me, as my wife sometimes says, lol.

Epilogue: This is a really nicely done event with a good course -not too many long hills – only one really steep one that we went up-and-down, with the others being more ‘gently rolling’ – and several flatter parts of the course, and the last ½ mile to the finish was pretty flat.  Lots of people were also wearing some very ‘entertaining’ outfits/costumes.  This is also a dog-friendly event – and the course is adequate for strollers too, which a few people had on the course – so, as usual with me having a pocket-full of dog treats, I handed out some treats to the dogs, and was popular with them, lol.      

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us participants: e-Dragon Productions for putting this on; our MC, and my friend, Anthony Zamora, who did his usual great job; he is MC for quite a few events over the year; my friends with iaap who did the timing and results; all the race day volunteers there for us; any sponsors who may have provided support; and anyone else involved; thank you all!

Whatever your personal exercise passion is, may you always be successful and may you always stay healthy enough to keep on doing it.   Maybe you will see me at a future event sometime; if so, give me a shout-out and we can chat and maybe even get a photo tother, if you are so inclined.  I have one more event to do this year, a 5K at Ladybird Johnson Park on December 27^th. Happy and safe holidays to you all.

Photos are here:       https://photos.app.goo.gl/8indHuJ1WaaXHsNe6

Before the Start:    My 82^nd race of 2025 was “A Merry Christmas 5K” put on by thebestraces.com.  Held on December 27^th at Ladybird Johnson (LBJ) Park, this was a fairly laid-back event, with Best Races providing race shirt and race packet shipped directly to your home. Best races also gives you options for the ‘wave’ you want to participate in, with times varying from 7:30 a.m.., the first wave, to 9 a.m., the last wave offered, and you just show up for your wave and participate.  These are self-timed events. You provide your finish time to the Best Races registration folks at the race, and they include your time in the posted results.  The weather for this one was very cloudy, overcast skies, a temp of 64 degrees and pretty humid at 81% humidity. This is also a dog-friendly event, so I handed out some dog treats too.

On the course:   I chose a wave time of 8 a.m. After arriving at the park, I got my race bib from two Best Races race-day registration/packet pickup ladies who knew me from doing some previous Best Races events.  The 7:30 wave participants were already doing their wave, so there was already a lot of coming-and-going as the course was 2 laps. I got a photo of the volunteer ladies and a couple more before my start, and then exactly at 8 a.m. all we participants of that wave got started. We went down steep, but fairly short incline that took us to the main paved Greenway Trails of the park. At the Greenway Trail, we made a left turn, which took us in the direction of the Los Patios Shoppes and a Loop 410 frontage road, but we did not go that far out. Our turn-round point was just after crossing a bridge going across Salado Creek. After making the turn-round, we went back to the start/finish, did a turn-round again and then did the 2^nd lap of the course.  I did my usual thing of running 8 minutes/walking 2 minutes and getting some on-course photos during my walk breaks.  I also took a few really short photo stops – maybe about a minute or so – to get a few extra photos, aside from those taken during my walk breaks.  I saw my talented running friend, Ralph, on the course too, and got a photo of him.  Overall, I was feeling pretty good and pretty much ended up the 2^nd lap almost completely non-stop, with just a couple of photos taken.  I even ran back a couple of times to get a couple of photos, which made the course a tad longer for me, lol, but it was all good. I ended up with 3.19 miles done in a time of 48:01, averaging 15:03 per mile and my last mile was my fastest, and a negative split.

After My Finish:  I got my finisher medal and then stood near the finish line getting some photos of others finishing up.     Sometimes I’d get ready to take a photo, and the participant would turn round and head back on the course, which made me know he/she still had the second lap to do; so I only got finisher photos of those who kept coming right at me, lol, since those folks were finishing up their second lap. After that, I wandered around the race area, chatting with other participants; handed out some more dog treats; and got a few photos of some of the happy finisher and their supporters.  There was water post-race and there was also available a variety of small, individual snack packages.

Epilogue:   I always keep telling myself at times that I am just going to sign up for races that actually have timers doing the timing for us and then posting the results the same day; somehow it never works out that way, lol; I usually end up doing at least one of these Best Races events at least once a month. They are pretty low-key, but the fact of the matter is they are quite fun to do, and I always do enjoy myself on their courses.  They have quite a variety of participants – including some really talented/speedy runners too; and love it that this is a dog-friendly event.  If you can’t find a race you want to do on a specific weekend, check out their race calendar, you just might find a fun race you can do, with no pressure since there are no age group awards, so you’re only testing yourself; and, as noted, they can be quite fun; and they actually do get quite a nice turn-out for these events.

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us participants:  All the people who organized this one for us; all the many volunteers out there for us participants; the Park Police Officer on-site for our safety;  the official photographer that was there; and, as the park was still open to the public, the patience of all the park patrons at the park who were not involved in the event, as we flooded the trails for a while; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!

Whatever your personal exercise passion is, may you always be successful and may you always stay healthy enough to keep on doing it.   Maybe you will see me at a future event sometime; if so, give me a shout-out and we can chat and maybe even get a photo tother, if you are so inclined.  I have one more event to do this year, a 5K at Ladybird Johnson Park on December 27^th. Happy and safe holidays to you all.

Photos are here:      https://photos.app.goo.gl/CcCAkS9vC7iv5g7r5

Before the Start:   My 81^st race of 2025 was the El Santa Run 5K held at Mission County Park #1, with a start time of 7:30 a.m. This was my second race of the weekend, after doing the Jingle Paws Classic 5K on Saturday. This event was put on by Andiamo Race Productions, with timing and results done by race management company iaap.  I left home pretty early and arrived at the race site around 6:30 a.m., one of the first few participants to arrive. The Andiamo crew was still setting up the race area and organizing things for race-day packet pickup. My friends, Johnny, and Keyes and his friend, arrived shortly after me, so we just relaxed a bit and chatted about this-and-that as we waited for race-day packet pickup to get started. The Andiamo crew had everything in order pretty quickly. After getting my packet and getting my race bib on, I wandered around pre-start, chatting with other participants that were now arriving pretty quickly and got some pre-start photos. There were several participants and supporters in some very interesting and imaginative costumes. This is also a dog-friendly event, so I handed out treats to the dog there, with permission of their humans.  After I gave him a treat, one dog, a really beautiful Great Pyrenees that belonged to our MC, kept going for the back pocket of my running shorts, lol, every time I passed by him; he knew exactly where the treats were, lol. There was a stretch session before we got started; The National Anthem was played, and then we were off. There were 246 finishers for this 5K. The weather for this one was at 61 degrees, with no wind, abundant sunshine, and a pretty high humidity of around 86 percent.

On the course:  The course was an out-and-back on the concrete paved trails of the Mission Reach part of the San Antonio Greenway System of trails, and very hilly.  I did my usual run/walk thing and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks.  The start was done in waves, releasing about 15 to 20 participants every  few minutes or so, to allow participants to have some maneuvering room. After crossing the timing matt, we immediately made a left turn that took us down a fairly steep, short hill.  We then had some level running, and then went up a fairly long, but not too steep uphill, with some nice views of the San Antonio River on our right. I was feeling good and went along pretty well. We then had a bit of flat for a short while – a very short while, lol – and then climbed again, topping this hill at the first water station on the course- what, no beer? Lol.  After the water station, we went downhill, then around a bend and uphill again, and then went beneath a bridge, and on a long downhill, with the river still to our right. This downhill got us onto a flat part of the course with a view of a bridge ahead that was the 5K turn-round point, and some nice views of the river on our right. At this point, AI pretty much starting ignoring my garmin notifying me of walk breaks and pretty much ran nonstop from underneath the bridge all the way back to the finish, with just a few short quick stops of maybe a minute or so to get some oncourse photos and then was off-and-running again.  After getting to the bridge, I got a photo of our turn-round course marshal and then proceeded to head back to the finish line. Now, of course, that very steep hill we came down to get to the turn-round was now an uphill for us.  That was the toughest hill on the course, in my opinion. As we passed by the water station again, I jokingly asked the volunteer there for us “What, you didn’t send anyone for the beer?”  By now the speedier participants had most likely already finished, so we middle-and-back of the pack folks had plenty of room for our trip back to the finish.  I  chatted and ran off-and-on with several different participants on the way back and got a couple more quick photos. We finally went onto our last downhill, and could see ahead of us the finish line area – which was now an uphill for us.  I had been running for the last ½ mile or so with a very nice young lady – her name went out of my old-man head, so when I saw the finish I told her “Let’s get it done..” and off we went, making pretty good time. I finished  a bit before her, with a  chip time of 40:35, averaging 13:04 per mile and, per my Garmin had negatives splits for each mile, with my last mile being done in 12:42, nice.  I got a photo of her finishing and then, staying away from the timing matt, went  back out on top of the hill and got a few more photos of others coming into the finish. 

After My Finish:   After getting those finisher photos, I then wandered around the pavilion area again, chatting with participants, volunteers, supporters, vendors, etc.; handing out more treats to the dogs there, and getting some after photos.  Santa Claus was there too by one of the photo backdrops, so lots of folks wanted photos with him. Our MC actually got a whole lot of participants and  supporters do crowd around him, and the official event photographer took some photos of them. This race Santa is actually a friend of mine, so after things got less crowded around him, I got a photo with him.  Our MC announced the awards – the first overall in each age group got an award; I was second in mine; and the overall male and female also got prizes. She is the human of the Pyrenees dog and had the dog beside her, but while she was doing her thing, the dog saw me, and kept trying, lol, to get to my pocket where I had the treats; so I finally went and stood beside the dog, so she could keep doing her thing without having to keep pulling the dog back, lol.  After she finished the awards, I gave her a handful of treats for the dog, so he would not keep wandering after me, lol. He’s a very friendly and beautiful dog.  I also got a photo of some of the family members, my friends, the Iniguez family, who are owners of iaap race management company which, in my opinion, is the top-notch San Antonio-based race management company.  They do events for several things all over the state of Texas.  Finally, it was time to go – as usual, I was one of the last participants to leave – so headed out, making a stop at the very nearby JBSA Fort Sam Houston fitness center where I enjoyed a nice, hot shower that felt great, and got into some dry clothes, so I did not have to drive home all sweaty

Epilogue:  Andiamo Productions has a series of 4 races each year and if you do all four, you get a nice medal for that. I only did this one for this year.  The company always does a great job with their events, and they are very worthwhile to do.  The finisher medal for this one is very nice, and the race shirt is a really nice quality long-sleeved shirt. I do so many races in the year, I often donate my race shirts since I’m running out of drawer space, lol; but this one is a keeper. The course is challenging – lots of climbing up-and-down – but well thought-out with lots of room for all, and very nice views of the river. I will definitely do this one again in the future and would recommend Andiamo events to others.

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us participants:  All the people who organized this one for us; all the many volunteers out there for us participants; the law enforcement officers on-site for our safety; our sound and music guy; and my personal friends of iaap who did the timing and results in their usual great manner.  Also, all the race sponsors and patrons; and, as this course was open to others not doing the 5K, e.g., other runners, walkers, cyclists, etc., thanks to them for their patience with us.  From where I was on the course at any given moment, the cyclists were really good about calling out as they came up behind us, so thanks to them for that.  Also, many thanks to those on the course who were running with me at various course spots, as we chatted and encouraged each other on, which is always very helpful; and to our official photographers whose photos will surely be much better than mine, lol, taken with my old-time pushbutton Canon camera; and to anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!

Whatever your personal exercise passion is, may you always be successful and may you always stay healthy enough to keep on doing it.   Maybe you will see me at a future event sometime; if so, give me a shout-out and we can chat and maybe even get a photo tother, if you are so inclined.  I have one more event to do this year, a 5K at Ladybird Johnson Park on December 27^th. Happy and safe holidays to you all.

Photos are here:      https://photos.app.goo.gl/1bRP13TdJs6xczHP6

Before the Start:   My 80^th race of 2025 was the Jingle Paws Classic 5K held on December 20^th at  O.P. Schnabel Park in San Antonio, Texas.  Put on by the Helotes Humane Society, this event supports its mission of placing unwanted animals in good homes.  There was a total of 197 finisher for this event, both walkers and runners, with 70 males and 117 females.  Start time was 8 a.m.   Our weather for this one was overcast skies; a temperature of 61 degrees at start time, and very humid, around 85%.  I arrived with about 45 minutes to go until start time, got my race packet and then got a few pre-start photos of some of the participants – which included dogs too – volunteers, vendors, etc.

On the course:  We started just a tad past 8 a.m.  The course was done on concrete trails that are part of San Antonio’s Greenway Trails System that connects several San Antonio parks together, so you can go a long way on this trail system, if so inclined. The start/finish area was near the parking area by the main pavilion of the park.  I’ve done events here several times, so I knew what to expect.  We started by going up a long incline – probably a ‘hill’ for those who don’t do hill training regularly – passing a small  picnic table area on our left. Immediately after the picnic area, we then made a right turn and proceeded down a long incline, not too steep, but it went quite a ways.  We then made a left turn near where one of our course marshal volunteers was sitting – thank you for being there – and then went down a steep short hill; mad a left turn and proceeded down a fairly long downhill bridge that took us over a brushy area in the park. After coming off the bridge, we then made a right turn and had a flat course  for maybe just over ¼ of a mile and then it was downhill again; and so it went….a mix of flat, up, and down along the whole route.  I have spinal arthritis so can’t run non-stop anymore for any great distance, so I did my usual thing of run-8-minutes/walk 2-minutes and took on-course photos during my walk breaks.    Overall, I felt pretty good and went along pretty well.   Sometimes when I run in the parks, always see these chairs along the way, and used to wonder what they were out there for…why out there all alone in the middle of nowhere; well after a few runs and races, now I know why…for old guys like me who may get tired on the way and need a couple minutes rest, lol.  Thankfully, I didn’t need one today. I was feeling pretty good the whole way and actually did negative splits for this one; slow negative splits, lol, but I’ll take it.  After getting  to the turn-round point & water stop – and joking with the lady volunteers there –”what, no beer?” – I then pretty much went nonstop on the way back to the finish line, with just a few quick stops of less than a minute to take a few more photos on the way back.  Of course, since we came down that first incline after the start and then down the bridge, this was all now up for us on the way to the finish, until we got to that picnic table pavilion and made the last turn, and that was downhill to the finish line. I ended up with a chip time of 42:11, averaging 13: 35 per mile and I had negative splits for each mile, nice, with my last one being my fastest at 13:43.

After My Finish:  I stood a little back from the finish line and got a few photos of others finishing, cheering them in as I did so. After that, it was back to the park pavilion, wandering around, chatting with friends, other participants, volunteers, etc., handing out more treats to the doggies and getting some more after photos of other participants, volunteers, some folks in costume – including Mr. and Mrs. Claus, who also had a very nice dog with them, sweet.  Awards were given to only the Top 3 overall males and females in each age category: 1 – 17 years old males; 18-99 years old males;  and the same age groups for females.  Some races also give finisher medals, but this one did not, and I have no heartburn with that; rather see the funds go to supporting the good cause of this organization.

Epilogue:  I’ve done this race in previous years and will do it again in upcoming years. It’s a nicely-done, well organized event, with several “snack goodies” pre-start and post-race; plenty of water; and there was also a raffle for some very nice prize baskets donated by some of the various event sponsors and supporters. The race shirt is very nice quality, and the goodie back participants got have a few nice things in them; personally, I got a kick out of a pair of ‘’fun eyeglasses” with the H-E-B logo on them….they cracked me up when saw those; very imaginative.  As noted, I’ve done this one before; I’ll certainly do it again; and I definitely would recommend it to others.

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us participants:  All the people who organized this one for us; all the many volunteers out there for we participants; the law enforcement officers on-site for our safety; our sound and music guy; my personal friends of Athlete Guild who laid out the course and provided us with the race timing and results; and also a thank you to the park patrons not involved with the race – other walkers, runners, and cyclists doing their thing in the park  –  for their patience when they encountered we participants on the trails; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all! Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it and stay healthy while doing it. I tend to do a lot of races, lol, and do my training runs during the week, so give me a shout-out if you see me sometime; a LOUD shout-out, lol, as I am a little hard of hearing in one ear – the ear I turn toward my wife when she wants me to do an errand, lol.;  just kidding, honey.

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/yv6wwtdUAtrJ6xWHA

Before the Start:  My 79^th race of 2025 was the Santa Hustle 5K held at SeaWorld San Antonio on December 14^th. This was my 2^nd race of the weekend after doing the Arthritis Foundation Jingle Bell 5K on Saturday.  In addition to the 5K, there was also a 10K and a Kids Run.   The start time for the 10K was 9 a.m., with the 5K following at 9:30 a.m., so I got to sleep in a bit for this one. The weather also changed for this one from the fairly nice day I had for my Saturday 5K. The temperature dropped into the 50s, with a ‘feels like” temp of 42 because of a pretty stiff wind blowing between 13 to 15 mph. I much prefer temps in the 60s and 70s, so for this event I made sure to wear a warm base layer under my top running shirt and felt quite fine.  I arrived at SeaWorld with just over an hour to go for the 5K start time, gave a couple of plush dolls to one of the volunteers to give to the cause, as proceeds from this event supported Toys For Tots and The Reindeer Brigade. After that, I wandered around chatting with participants, volunteers, supporters, etc., and getting a few pre-start photos.

On the course:  The 10K started first, exactly on time. There was a big timer on the bar of the start/finish line, and we could all see the time on it. All the events started exactly on time, with our Race Direct giving a “count-down” for the last 10 seconds for each event, and then we were off.  The course was a big loop that pretty much gave us a tour of the entire park.  The wind, still blowing pretty good, was  tough in the open areas, but whenever we were going along the inner parts of the park where we passed by several buildings, exhibits, and other structures, those made a pretty nice wind-break.   I think the most difficult part of the course was a very open area where we climbed a fairly long uphill, with part of the roller coaster ride on our left, and the wind blowing right into our faces. That hill was tough, lol, but after that the majority of the course was pretty flat. I did my usual thing of run-8-minutes/walk-2-minutes – can’t run a whole race distance non-stop anymore due to spinal arthritis I have now – and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. My friend, Peggy, also did this one – and also the same one I did on Saturday. She is a very strong walker, and usually passes me during my walk breaks, and then I catch back up to her after my walk break is over. I jokingly tell her, since I am a runner and she is a walker, my goal is to finish before she does; which is tough because she is one very quick and strong walker.  However, I’ve been ‘practicing’ on my training runs of doing my last 1.5 miles with non-stop running, so for the last couple of same events we’ve done I have managed – just barely, lol – to finish ahead of her. My chip time was 42:10, which put me 2^nd in my males 70-99 age group.

After My Finish:  A volunteer handed me my finisher medal and then I  stood a short way behind the finish line so as not to impede others coming in and got a few photos of other finishing, including my friend Peggy who, like yesterday’s 5K was not all that far behind me. After that, I went back out onto the course a short distance from the finish area to get a photo of some flamingoes in their enclosure that we had passed by just before getting to the finish line. As I was doing that, two other friends came walking along on their way to the finish. I did not know they’d signed up for this one, so I got a photo of them, and then they took a photo of me in front of the Flamingo enclosure. Then it was back to the finish area – making sure not to go over the timing mat again, and to stay out of the way of others finishing – and chatted with other participants, supporters, and volunteers and got a few more photos. Peggy and I also went back to where the packet pickup area had been and watched the awards ceremony.  Awards were only given to the Overall Top 3 male and female finishers for the 10K and 5K. I’ve got no heartburn with this…means more funding can be sent for the supported cause.   too.

Epilogue:  This is a really nicely done event that gives you lots of views of the park. I would definitely do this one again and recommend it to others.  I heard from other participants that the previous course was just around the huge parking lot at the park, so I’m glad they changed it.  We did actually go out of the park gates – where the tickets are sold – very briefly to go down a short part of the course that took us down to another entry gate that took us back into the park for more views of the park along our way. This is a really nice course that gives you a close-up look of just about everything at the park, and there were also a few water stations along the way, as well as course marshal volunteers making sure we were going on the correct route.  I jokingly asked one of the water station volunteers “What, no beer?” and then, ironically lol, went past one of the vendor stores in the park that does sell beer.  Of course, it was not open because the park was closed to the public while this event was going on. 

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us participants, e.g., park leadership and staff members that made this one happen for we participants; Brooksee, the event organizer, if I remember correctly – I think our MC was with this company, and Laurel Timing, also if I remember correctly, who did the timing and results.  Also, mucho-thanks to all the many volunteers out there on the course for us, making sure we were on track.  We participants were at least moving; these folks had to stand in that wind until the very last participant passed by. Additional thanks to all the other volunteers there for us who were doing race-day registration, packet pickup, handing out finisher medals, and more. Events like this could not happen for we participants without you.  May all of you reach whatever personal goals you have and stay safe and healthy while doing it. Maybe I will see you – or you will see me, lol – at a future event; if so, give me a shout-out and we’ll get a photo together.