Scottydog Reports

Photos are here:     https://photos.app.goo.gl/YCNySCuVFscYXEbs5    

Before The Start:  My 23^rd race of 2026 was the Run To Remember 5K held on April 25^th at Mission County Park in San Antonio.  There was also a 10K and, after those races, a 0.5 ‘beer walk’ for which participants had to carry a full glass of beer; the one who finished with the fullest glass is the winner. This event was started by the “Beard vs Beans” brothers, Matthew Skinner (beard) and Miguel Martinez (beans) as a way to raise awareness and donations to the Alzheimer’s Association of San Antonio.  Each of the brothers host a race during the year “The Longest Day” event hosted by Matthew, and this one put on by Miguel.  As I remember it, the one who raises the most during his event is the winner. If ‘beard wins’ then Miguel must grow some facial hair for a while. If ‘Beans’ wins, then Matthew must eat a full plate of beans.  This is a personal cause for the brothers, having lost family members  to this disease.  This is one of my favorite events and also has personal meaning for me as I too had family members with Alzheimer’s.    I usually register for the events of the brothers as soon as the info is posted by each brother for his event.  For this one, I was REALLY early, lol, the first to register when it was announced and got Race Bib #1.  I jokingly told Miguel that, at my running pace, I sure hope he doesn’t expect my placing to match my bib number. I arrived at race site around 6:15 a.m., getting some nice parking and then enjoyed wandering around chatting with friends and other participants and getting a few pre-start photos.

On The Course:  The 10K participants started at 7:15 a.m., with the 5K following at 7:30 a.m. The temperature was 75 degrees with the humidity around 88%,  with overcast skies, so it was pretty darn warm. Per posted race results by race management company iaap, there were 55 finishers for the 10K and 314 finishers for the 5K. The course, laid out by my friend, Erik Burciaga, was really nice. Most events done at this park start on a downhill from the park pavilion area and it makes for a very crowded start and takes a while for the pack to start spreading out and settle into their paces. For this 5K, we did a short stint through the parking area in front of the pavilion area and then proceeded onto a trail from the parking lot.  This trail was pretty long and pretty roomy too, allowing participants to spread out a bit, which was nice. This meant that, by the time we got to the trails that took us alongside the river, we had plenty of maneuvering room to settle into our individual paces. This was the first used this long trail at a race before getting down to the main Riverwalk trail; and I sure wish other race companies – such as Scallywompus and Andiamo, for example, who do several races here – would use this course instead; it is so much more user-friendly and probably safer too, than sending a “bunched up” group of participants down that start hill near the pavilion area, where it takes us a while to get spread out. I really liked this course, and feedback I got from other participants after we completed the 5K was the same- wish more Race Directors would use THIS course.  We still had several hills since, after getting onto the course wit the river at our right, we pretty much used the “standard course” for events here, which took us in the direction of a bridge that crosses over the river that is the usual turn-round. With us starting differently we did not go that far, so the turn-round was a bit less distance than that bridge.   I did my usual run-8-minutes/walk-2-minutes and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks, and also got a few photos of the nice  river scenery on our right, going out, on our left going to the finish. There were two water stations on the course; thanks to the volunteers at those for us.  I was wondering how the course was going to finish since, if we went all the way back the way we’d come out, that would put us at almost 4 miles; how we finished was we went up that long hill that most races here use to start and finish. This took us back to the pavilion area; We then did a short jaunt on a sidewalk that took us back near the parking area and then made a left turn to go through the timing chute, very cool, and well thought-out. My last mile I had pretty much ran non-stop to the finish,  with just one quick stop to get a photo of some participants heading up the finish hill. I ended up with a chip time of 44:02, ending up 2^nd in my 70 – 99 males age group – there were only 4 in my age group, and 3 minutes and change behind the first person in our age group. 

After My finish:  I stood back from the start line, out of the way of the timers and the official race photographers and got a few photos of others coming into the finish, including several of my personal friends. After that I took a rest, going to sit with my friend Gilbert, who always has a post-race banana and bottle of water for me and a chair where I can sit and just wind down for a bit. After that, I began meandering around again, getting some more photos, and also found a vendor that had post-race popsicle treats…man, that tasted great, nice-and-cold and went down well on a humid day.

Epilogue:  The races of the brothers are “keeper events” for me and I try and sign up for them as soon as they are announced.  There are lots of goodies at this one too, including Kiolbassa Sausage (my personal favorite) on-a-stick; cold beer; various fruits and drinks; really nice finisher medal for all finishers and unique Beard vs Beam award medals for all those who placed. This is a dog-friendly race, but for this one I only saw one dog there, a service dog, and I did give its human a treat to give to the dog. There were even a couple of costumed characters there, including Andy Armadillo, with whom I got a photo.  On a humid day like this, that person in the costume must have been really warm.  Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants:  all the many volunteers for packet pickup; manning water stations; being course marshals; serving up the post-race goodies for us, and so forth; our “official” photographers from Pushbutton Photography; our MC and my friend, Anthony Zamora, doing his usual great job; friend Erik for this really great-and-well-thought-out course; my friends of iaap race management company, doing their great job as usual for start/finish line setup, timing, and results; the police and medical folks there for our safety; our music-and-sound guy, my friend Paul; to all the sponsors supporting this event; and, of course ; and, of course, big kudos to Miguel and Matt for creating this event.   

Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it safely and have much success. If you’re a fellow runner/race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out; love chatting with my fellow runners, and if you are so inclined, we can get a photo together for my race report I do for each of my events I sign up for. Stay safe, stay happy, and enjoy what you do. Cheers.

Photos are here:     https://photos.app.goo.gl/wwiVo412m4tv1dfu6 

Before The Start:    My 22^nd race of 2026 was the Loteria 5K held on April 19^th at McAllister Park with a start time of 9 a.m.  This event was put on by race management company iaap. This was my 2^nd 5K of the weekend after doing Our Lady of the Lake University Confetti 5K the day before this one. On Saturday afternoon and Saturday night San Antonio and several other spots along the San Antonio-Austin Corridor got some major pouring rain, making me think if this does not quit by tomorrow, this race might be called-and-postponed; however, by Sunday morning we had dry weather and some sunshine and a pretty brisk wind, with temperatures in the upper 50s. I headed over to the park, arriving around 8:20 a.m.  I noticed while going through the park, there were lots of puddles and many muddy areas, and he wind was pretty brisk, but at least it was not raining on us; we even ended up getting some sunshine too. I got my race packet and then got a few pre-start photos.  This is also a dog-friendly event, so I also handed out a few dog-treats.  

On The Course:  We started right on time   Per posted results, there were 181 finishers for the 5K; a pretty nice turn-out considering the weather we had, plus lots of other Fiesta San Antonio events scheduled, including other races. The course was on paved street and some of the paved trails at the park. We started from the Buckhorn Pavilion area – right across from the park’s lower soccer fields – and then past the baseball field that was adjacent to the soccer fields. We then went onto a paved road that would have taken us to Becken Pavilion if we had gone that far on the road. Just down from Becken Pavilion, we made a left turn onto one of the park’s off-road paved trails, where there were two volunteers at a water station. I noticed the paved trail to the left – one that would have taken us past a police substation – was totally flooded, wow. We made a right turn onto the trail and this did take us past Becken Pavilion. We crossed over a paved road here and then continued on another paved trail on the other side of the road. This part of the trail took us past another water station, and then onto a paved trail that was at the back of the lower soccer fields. I could hear our MC, Lana, on her loudspeaker announcing the arrival of the faster runners at the finish line. This trail wound us back to the paved trail where Becken Pavilion was. We passed that pavilion again, then went back to the water station, and then back onto the road we had started out on and this took us back to the finish line in reverse of the way we had come out. I pretty much ran the last mile non-stop, ignoring my garmin signaling my walk breaks, and ended up with a chip-time of 44:04, ending up first in my 70-99 males age group, and a negative split for the last mile, nice. Also, Mother Nature was kind for the last part of the race and for all the post-race activities, giving us some nice sunshine, although the wind was still blowing a bit.

After My finish:  I stood back from the start line, out of the way of the timers and the official race photographers and got a few photos of others coming into the finish, including several of my personal friends. After that, I wandered around chatting with others there; getting some post-race photo; handing out some more dog-treats and just having an enjoyable and relaxing time. There was also a costume contest – winner recognized by the most applause from the crowd and won $100 as the prize.   

Epilogue: iaap puts on some really good quality events and this one was no exception. It also was very entertaining, seeing the variety of costumes at the event. One lady was even dressed as a fruit vendor, with this big piece of designed cardboard at her back and a cardboard ‘table: at her front; how she ran so fast with that thing on amazed me, especially when we had some wind in a couple of areas; het she ran really well and she finished ahead of several people; if I remember correctly, I think she even placed in her age group. Various snacks and drinks were offered post-race; the race shirt is very nice quality; and the finisher medal all finishers got is very well done also. The course was, for the most part, very flat with just a couple of very minor up-and-down inclines; nothing you could really call a hill at all.  With all that precipitation the night before the course was well thought-out, keeping us safe and dry. I will do this one again and I certainly would recommend it to others. Mucho Gracias to all those who made this one happen for we participants:  iaap staff; all the many volunteers out there for us; our sound-and-music people; the law enforcement officers there for our safety; all the vendors/sponsors that helped make this one happen; and thanks to non-participant patrons of the park as we invaded their space for a while as they did their own thing.          
Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it safely and have much success. If you’re a fellow runner/race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out; love chatting with my fellow runners, and if you are so inclined, we can get a photo together for my race report I do for each of my events I sign up for. Stay safe, stay happy, and enjoy what you do. Cheers.

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/LnH9TxDdDtsoLfxd9

Before The Start:   My 21^st race of 2026 was Our Lady of the Lake University Confetti 5K held on April 18, 2026, with a 7:30 a.m. start time.  There was also a Kids run before the start of the main event. There were 432 finisher for this event; 151 males and 281 females, per the results posted by my friends from Athlete Guild, the race management company that helped set up the course and did the timing and results. This event is held during “Fiesta San Antonio” time as part of the Fiesta activities. Being somewhat “directionally challenged”, I left very early to get to the race site, arriving around 6:45 a.m., which helped me find really good parking pretty near to the start/finish/packet pickup area.  I got my packet and then wandered around chatting with others there and getting some pre-start photos. This is also a dog-friendly event, so I also handed out some treats to the dogs there, with the permission of their humans. As usual for races I do that have dogs present…I was very popular with the dogs, lol.

On The Course:  We started right on time, with a ‘confetti explosion” as we crossed the start line and went onto the course, with confetti shot into the air and then floating all around us and on us. The first part of the course was on the campus grounds, with the course being a mix of paved asphalt roads while on the campus grounds and then concrete paved trails after we exited the campus. We went on a sidewalk adjacent to a public street and then went onto paved trails that were part of Elmendorf Lake Park, with the lake on our left. This part of the course had us circling part of the lake and then going across a series of bridges that went over the lake with some nice views of the lake. I did my usual thing of run 8-minutes/walk 2 minutes and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks and also handed out some more treats to the dogs that were accompanying their humans during the 5K I was feeling pretty good overall and ran pretty well. During my training days, I’ve been practicing running the last 1.5 miles of a 5K non-stop and so far, so good, so I did that for this 5K, pretty much ran the last half of the race almost non-stop, with just a few very quick stops to take a few more photos, and then the last ½ mile went totally non-stop to the finish. I ended up 3^rd in my 70 – 99 males age group, per Athlete Guild posted results, with a chip-time of 42:56, although when I printed my results on the ‘results’ machine near the finish line, it showed me as 4^th, so I don’t know how I got moved to 3^rd.  The guy who won our age group finished in 30 minutes and change, beating me in by a good 12 minutes, wow. I want some of his energy, lol.

After My finish:  I stood back from the start line, out of the way of the timers and the official race photographers and got a few photos of others coming into the finish, including several of my personal friends, as the confetti continued to be popped out and floating down everywhere in the finish area, which was actually pretty cool.  For the awards ceremony, they also popped more confetti for the overall male and female, and for each group of the top 3 age group award winners. I got a post-race drink and then wandered here-and-there, interacting with friends and other participants, race sponsors and vendors, and even got to meet a few of the event board members, several of whom recognized me, as I’ve done just about all of the Confetti 5K races since it first started.  My streak got broken one year when I was scheduled for a medical procedure during race week. I did this race so many times, my friend Liz, who used to be the race director for this one, actually had a special race shirt made for me, which I wore for this 5K. It’s actually one of my favorite running shirts.

Epilogue:  This one will always be a keeper for me on my race calendar. It is very well done, with a really nicely laid out course; lots of great views of Elmendorf Lake/Elmendorf Park; and lots of post-race snacks and drinks – they even had beer – and very nicely done finisher medals for all finishers. There were porta-potties on site, but the organizers also had one building open for us, so we also had access to indoor restrooms, and water fountains, which was nice. The race shirts are very nice quality, and in our goodie bags, we also got this very nice purple scarf kind of thing – not sure exactly what it’s called or exactly what it’s for, but I’m sure, lol, I will find some use for it.  There were also various snacks and drinks provided by the race organizers, the vendors, etc.  We had a ‘music man’ rocking us with some good tunes; and there was a Hispanic dance group there too, all decked out in beautiful costumes, as they provided some entertainment. As we neared the finish line – about a half-mile to go – there was also a drum corps – I think made up of students – along with some cheerleaders encouraging us in, very nice.   Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants:  Athlete Guild for start/finish line setup, timing, and results; all the many race day volunteers out there for us doing packet pickup; manning water stations, and so forth; the many police officers along the course, out there for our safety; the bike lead person for those really speedy participants; all the many OLLU staff members and students out there helping with this event; our sound-and-music guy; the medical people out there for us, just in case; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here; thank you all!    

Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it safely and have much success. If you’re a fellow runner/race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out; love chatting with my fellow runners, and if you are so inclined, we can get a photo together for my race report I do for each of my events I sign up for. Stay safe, stay happy, and enjoy what you do. Cheers.

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/8yScqAvfTRyRo2XTA 

Before The Start:  My 20^th race of 2026 was the Get Your Rear in Gear 5K held at on May 12,  2026 at Mission County Park.  This was my 2^nd race of the weekend after doing the Rewind 5K at Martin Luther King Park the day before this one.  This event is held nationwide on various dates. The event is dedicated to raising awareness and funds to fight colorectal cancer at a grassroots level.  This one had a start time 8:05 a.m., but I had to be there early as I didn’t do packet pickup during the week, and race day packet pickup started at 6:30 a.m.  As I headed down 281 South, Mother Nature gave me some pouring rain to drive through. I just took it slow-and-easy, finally exiting onto Fair Avenue and when I got off the freeway the neighborhood I went through to get to the park had hardly any rain at all, go figure; when I got to the park, there was no rain at all; crazy Texas weather. As a survivor, I do this one every year, so when I showed up several of the organizers and volunteers recognized me right off. I got my packet and then wandered around getting some pre-start photos and chatting with other participants, vendors/sponsors and some of the organizers who also recognized me.  Sponsor/vendor tables, our sound and music guy, and our MC giving us information were all located in the large covered pavilion that had a stage and a huge floor upon which to set things up.   It was very nicely done. It also was a nice turnout, with 246 finishers for the 5K run/walk, which started at 8:15 a.m.   There was also a Kids Dash before the start of the 5k.

On The Course:  Because of the weather and the large turn-out the course for this one was not done on the Mission County Park riverwalk trail.  The course started in the parking lot area in front of the plaza where the main pavilion is. We went across the start line, then down to a sidewalk where we made a left turn and that took us to Padre Drive, where we made a left turn. This is a very nicely paved wide road with bike/pedestrian lanes on either side of it, that allowed we participants to spread out a bit more. The course took us down to Park Road, if I remember correctly, where we made a left turn; went down a steep, but short hill, and then climbed up a short hill on the other side. We wound around a curve and then proceeded to a bridge where we did a turn-round and then went back to the finish in reverse of the way we had come out. Starting out, I did my usual run/walk thing and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. After making the turn-round, I then headed for the finish, ignoring my garmin beeping for me to take a walk break and pretty much ran the last half of the 5K with just a few quick stops to get a few more photos and then got going again. After the turn-round, when I got back to where those short hills were, it was pretty awesome from the top of the first hill on the way to the finish to see a whole crowd of participants coming toward me.  I then went down the hill, then up the next hill that had been a downhill for us on the way to the turn-round, and got back on Padre Drive, heading for the finish, again taking a few quick stops to get a couple more on-course photo; and, as my pace is not exactly speedy, lol,, there were fewer participants near me, so I enjoyed interacting with those that were around me on the way to the finish; we were all encouraging each other on and having a pretty good interaction with each other, very nice.  I finally saw the turn that would take us back onto the sidewalk that led back to the park and pushed it a bit more, finishing with a strong non-stop run and a chip time finish of 42:07, averaging 13:34 per mile. My garmin splits showed  mile 1, 14:06; Mile 2, 13:22; and Mile 3, 13:11; negative splits, yay.

After My finish: I stood back from the timing mat and got some photos of others finishing, including my friend, Jill, and my amazing friend, Col (US Army Retired)Mary Kaplan (also retired military) – age 92 – who finished only 3 minutes behind me, wow.  She is amazing. After that, back to the pavilion area to enjoy post-race drinks and a choice of lots of various goodies – the tables were full of various fruits, primarily bananas, an all kinds of other various snack foods.  There was also some Gatorade and other rehydrating drinks – including lots of water – and lots more. The event organizers had really prepared well. There was an awards ceremony, and I got a rally nice medal for being 3^rd in my 70-79 males age group. Everyone in my age group placed, lol, as there were only 3 of us. The #1 placer in my Old Guys age group finished in 29 minutes, zowie!

Epilogue:   This is a really nicely done event, very well organized and lots of good info about colon cancer and resource information for it.  There was even a bit “Colon Tunnel” which you could walk through, and it had all kinds of info posted on the inner walls about warning signals for colon cancer, treatment options, info on polyps, and much more; very informative. The race shirt is very nice quality and even the race bibs are nicely designed. The course, as noted, is well thought out.  I most certainly will continue to have this one on my race calendar, and would recommend it to others. Also, by the way, this event raised $45,700 out of a goal of $53,000 for the cause, so pretty impressive.  MUCHO thanks to all who made this one happen for us participants: Colon Cancer Coalition; all the many sponsors and organizations who helped pay for everything; all the volunteers that did packet pickup, manned water stations, etc; our sound and music guy; our MC who did a great job for us; my friends of iaap race management company that set up the start/finish line and did all the timing and results; the law enforcement folks and EMTs out there for our safety; and thanks to the patience of neighborhood residents living near the course, as we invaded their space for a while; and anyone else involved I may not mentioned here. Thank you all!

Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it safely and have much success. If you’re a fellow runner/race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out; love chatting with my fellow runners, and if you are so inclined, we can get a photo together for my race report I do for each of my events I sign up for. Stay safe, stay happy, and enjoy what you do. Cheers.

Photos are here:       https://photos.app.goo.gl/B6o5NrUBK4x1UbU89

Before The Start:  My 19^th race of 2026 was the Rewind 5k held on April 11 at Martin Luther King Park, starting at 9 a.m.  It got a nice turn-out with a total of 310 finishers. This was a themed event based on the 1980s, with participants encouraged to wear their best 80’s-style clothing and there was also a costume contest post-race. The course set-up and timing was done by the excellent race-management company, my friends with iaap. I arrived a little after 8 a.m., got my packet, and then wandered around checking things out and getting a few pre-start photos as I chatted with friends, other participants, volunteers, and supporters and sponsors. The event went all out with this one; there were video-game machines that actually worked where you could play Pac-Man and other video games; several people were in some pretty interesting costumes that included Chuck Norris, Michael Jackson, and several other well-knowns of the 80s.  Some kids also had a paleta cart with paleta (ice pops) they were selling to raise funds too.  This is also a dog friendly event so, having dog treats with me, I was soon very popular with the dogs, lol.

On The Course:   The course is an out-and back done on the park’s paved greenway trails. We had some nice weather for this one; when I left home to go to the park it was raining pretty good in my neighborhood but by the time I got to the park the rain was done and it never did rain on us for the whole event; no wind, and we had temps of 69 to 70 degrees, so not too bad at all. I did my usual thing of run-8-minutes/walk-2-minutes and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. This was a fairly flat course, with just a couple of long inclines here-and-there, but nothing you could really call a major hill, although we did cross over one bridge, and with several people on the bridge, the darn thing shakes, lol.  I felt pretty good the whole way and after reaching the turn-round pretty much ran almost non-stop back to the finish line, with just a couple of quickie stops to toss a dog a treat and after getting back to the bridge I got a photo of the waterway flowing through the park and also one of the two volunteers at one of our water stations along the way; we participants go to the finish and then enjoy the after-party; the race course volunteers have to be out there until the very last person passes by, so I always try and take a photo of them to thank them for being out there for us. After that photo, I continued on non-stop to the finish. My chip-time ended up being 41:30, which was good enough for 2^nd place in my 70 – 99 males age group, as there were only 3 in my age group, lol; so we all placed.

After My finish: I stood back from the timing mat and got some photos of others finishing, cheering in my personal friends when I saw them coming in. I also saw one of the dogs coming in with its human and when it saw me standing there, he came right toward me, lol, remembering the treat I’d given him before the start; and yes, he did get a finish line treat too.  After that, I went and enjoyed a banana and some water – there was also lots of other drinks, including beer, tea, some sodas, etc. – and once more became “The Wanderer” – and if you know that song, you’re probably as old as I am, lol – going here-and-there, chatting with lots of people, getting some after photos and, of course, handing out some more doggie treats.  There was also an 80s-character costume contest post-race with participants being judged by applause. The guy costumed as Teen Wolf was the winner. There was also a raffle for some retro 80 items on a table;  I won nada, darn the luck. 

Epilogue:  This is a really nicely done event with a good course and lots of fun-stuff before the start and after the finish. The many vendors/sponsors there had all kinds of things, including fresh fruits, coffee, tea, lots of water of course, various types of snacks and more. There was a nice backdrop for photo ops; and our music-and-sound guy was rockin’ us with some 80s oldies. Our MC, my friend Anthony Zamora, did his usual great job for us, as did our Race Director, my friend Liz.  Everyone was supposed to get a nice finisher medal, but they were held up at customs for some reason, so we got these small plastic finisher medals temporarily until the actual medals finally arrive – and they did arrive finally in the late afternoon, and Liz sent out info to participants on how we will get those finisher medals, nice.  I would definitely do this event again and would recommend it to others; it really is a fun event.  Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants: iaap for the course setup, timing and results; our Race Director Liz; our MC, Anthony; all the many vendors/sponsors that supported the event; all the volunteers that were out there for us as race-day and pre-race day packet pickup volunteers; course marshals, water station volunteers; the bike lead guy who had to pedal like crazy, lol, to keep ahead of that very speedy first guy finisher; and the law enforcement officers that were out there for our safety; the official race photographer; our music-and-sound guy; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank all of you so much!

Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it safely and have much success. If you’re a fellow runner/race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out; love chatting with my fellow runners, and if you are so inclined, we can get a photo together for my race report I do for each of my events I sign up for. Stay safe, stay happy, and enjoy what you do. Cheers.

Photos are here:      https://photos.app.goo.gl/EwLeBXGnyC8YfNNF9     

Before The Start:   My 18^th race of 2026 was the Poteet Strawberry 5K held on April 4^th at the Poteet Texas Fairgrounds.  I was originally supposed to do the San Antonio City Manager’s 5K as Seaworld San Antonio, but that event was postponed – erroneously in my opinion – due to the possibility of inclement weather, so I then signed up for the Poteet 5K. The deadline to sign up the night before the event was 9 pm and I signed up at 8:30 pm, so I just made it. The 5K had a start time listed as 8 a.m. , with a 1-mile walk going on before the 5K started, but if I remember correctly, I think we started more around 8:30 a.m. As I am sometimes “directionally challenged” I left pretty early to give me plenty of time to get to the race site. My running friend, Woody, lives in Poteet and he kindly and patiently answered about 3 hands-free calls I made to him to make sure I was on the correct route.  I did make it to Poteet okay, but when I was at a stoplight I saw a sign that had “Poteet” on it with an arrow for a left turn. So I made that left turn and passed by the Poteet Elementary School and a church and thought, yeah this can’t be correct; turned around and went back to the highway I’d turned off of, and stopped at a convenience store where a Poteet resident told me I was only about a half-mile from the Fairgrounds; so back onto the road I’d originally been on and soon saw the Fairgrounds on the right. I found some nice parking, got my race packet; got myself organized and then back to the race site area to get a few pre-start photos. This is a very popular event, so the race area was quite busy. There was a total of 221 participants who did the 5K.  Immediately prior to the 5K, there was also a 1 mile walk and a Kid’s Run, if I remember correctly.  Before we started, another participant beautifully played The National Anthem with his trumpet – or  maybe it was a cornet; either way, he did great playing it.

On The Course:  As usual, due to my spinal arthritis, down a I did my 8-minute run/2-min-walk thing and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks.   After crossing the timing mat, we started out going down an incline, so I knew we’d be climbing up that to finish. After that incline, we had a bit of flat for a while; then went down a second hill; then up another hill; and then, went down a pretty long hill, and then up another hill that took us to the turn-round. After the turn-round, I pretty much started ignoring my watch beeping for walk breaks, as I’ve been ‘practicing’ on training runs doing the last half of  5K distance non-stop, although I did take a few quick stops to get a few more on-course photos. After the turn-round point we then went down the hill we’d come up, and then up the other hill we’d come down on the way out. When we crested that, we had a bit of flat for a while, then went around a curve and had another fairly long uphill. Once we crested that, we then had a bit more flat and then, around the last road curve on the course, we came back onto the street we had started on and had to go up that incline to get to the finish. For the last  ½ mile or so, I’d been running near a mother and her young daughter and that young lady was quite speedy.  That young lady would stop to walk a bit, and I’d pass her; and then she’d pass me again. As we approached the finish line, she zipped right by me, with her mother near her, and never looked back, lol. She finished ahead of me by a good 30 yards; good for her! Quite a talented little lady runner at a young age. I crossed the timing mat after them, finishing with a chip time of 41:54, averaging 13:29 per mile and my last mile was my fastest at 12:45.  There were only  4 in my 70-99 age group and I knew even before the start I was not going to place, as I’d seen my very speedy friend Jim, who does an 8-minute mile; as did Roger, the 2^nd place winner, and the first place winner in my age group finished in 24:25. These 3 actually had faster times than some of the winners in the younger age groups.

After My finish:  I stood a little ways down from the timing matt and got a few photos of others finishing, including some of my personal friends on the course as the came into the finish.  I also got a photo with that young lady and her mother, both of whom  who had left me eating her dust, lol, as we went to the finish. I also got a photo of a lady I had talked with before the start; she had seen my cancer shirt and I found out she is currently dealing with brain cancer, and here she was doing this 5K; awesome!  I got a photo of her finishing, and we also got a post-race photo of the two of us. After that, I wandered around chatting with other participants, supporters, volunteers, etc., and got a few more post-race photos. There was also a “mascot walk” post-race, which was fun to watch, all these costumed characters doing a very short course. All finishers were also given a ticket and there was a drawing for various prizes, such as bottles of wine, and more; I won nada, darn the luck. The age group awards were nicely done, and my 3 compadres in my age group got their awards; I was dead last in that group, lol, since there were only 4 of us, and it’s all good; I thoroughly enjoyed myself at this event.  I also enjoyed chatting with a few law enforcement officers there; I grew up in Virginia and my dad was a juvenile probation officer for the county we lived in, so I am pro-law enforcement and, also am a retired veteran, so have something in common with officers who also had military service experience.

Epilogue:  I don’t to this one very much, but I will do it again sometime, and I would recommend it to others. It’s very nicely done, with a good course; finisher medal for all finishers; nice quality race shirt – although I passed on the shirt since I’m running out of drawer space, lol, since I do so many 5Ks – and a whole lot of good people at this event, including volunteers, participants, supporters, and it’s also dog friendly; the dogs soon learned who I was, lol, as I carry dog treats with me.  The drive from San Antonio is a bit long – and kind of crazy in some spots with all the ongoing road construction in San Antonio – but I left fairly early so avoided most of that. Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us participants:  TRiCiTy Road Warriors (TCRW), in partnership with Farm to Familia who hosted this event’ all our volunteers there for packet pickup, water stations, the ‘cheer’ team members at the finish line; the law enforcement officers there for our safety;  our MC who did a good job for us; my friends with iaap who did the course setup, timing, and results; to the Poteet residents for their patience while all this was going on; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!

Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it safely and have much success. If you’re a fellow runner/race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out; love chatting with my fellow runners, and if you are so inclined, we can get a photo together for my race report I do for each of my events I sign up for. Stay safe, stay happy, and enjoy what you do. Cheers.

Photos are here:        https://photos.app.goo.gl/WogK5SEV5wcSfxCK6

Before The Start:  My 17^th race of 2026 was the Margarita 5K, put on by Andiamo on Sunday, March 29^th at Mission County Park.  I almost did not make this one as I mis-read the start time as 9 a.m. – it was actually at 7:30 a.m. – and then got caught in some traffic on the way to the race site after an accident happened on my way to the race site, causing another delay. I finally got there about 8:15 a.m., got my race packet and then saw finishers crossing the finish line, including my friend Jorgina, who told me the start time had been 7:30 a.m.   Well, shoot. Umm, I’ve never been a DNF (Did Not Finish) for any race I’ve ever done and I was not about to start now. I talked to my timing friends of Iaap, who were doing the timing and results, and told them I was just going to do it on my own, as I’ve done this course several times for several races over the years and knew the route.  They told me to go ahead and kindly kept the timing mat open for me. So off I went.

On The Course:    As usual, I did my 8-minute run/2-min walk thing and did not expect to see other signed-up participants on the course; however, there were actually some walking participants on the course heading toward the finish, so I got a few photos of them. After that, I was pretty much the solo race participant on the course, but not all alone. This actually ended up being a pretty entertaining 5K for me as I encountered a few other runners I knew doing their own thing; and also some walkers walking their dogs, so got to hand out some treats too; on couple had 2 beautiful dogs, one of which was blind, but when I got the treat out for that one, wow, that sniffer of his…dog knew right where that treat was and came right to my hand to get it. Both dogs gave me a ‘sniff-over’ too, lol, and I told their human ‘parents’ they’ll probably know me for life now, lol.  As anyone who has done this course knows, this is a fairly challenging course with all the hills – both up and down – along the way, but wow, you sure get some nice views of the river.  Finally, after climbing a pretty long hill, I went under a bridge and could see the bridge ahead where people could cross the river and knew that was the turn-round, so downhill I now went to get to that bridge – and encountered another couple with a dog, so stopped to give them a treat.  If I remember correctly, the turn-round is usually on the side of the river I was running on, but I actually went onto the bridge to get a photo, and then started heading for the finish. For the last few weeks, I’ve been training to run the last half of a 5K to the finish non-stop, so that is what I on this course. That last bridge hill – down on the way out, up on the way back – is quite a challenging hill, but I managed to get all the way up it with no issues; thankfully, I do hill training once a week and it paid off for this course. I was still feeling pretty good and going well, and my last mile to the finish was a negative split, nice. My garmin showed my splits as Mile 1: 14:05; Mile 2: 14:03 and Mile 3 in 12:29, zowie!

After My finish:  After I crossed the timing mat, the iaap guys looked up my time and told me based on my chip time, I was first in my age group. Well, I knew the awards ceremony had already been done, so I didn’t want to shove some guy out of getting his medal since he already had received it, and the finisher medal was good enough for me; so I just told me to put me into the results and let the guy keep the medal since he was actually on time for the start, lol. So we went over to see the Race Director and told him what was going on and he said that was fine.  After that, I wandered around chatting with people still there and getting a few after-photos of some of the participants still there; the guy serving up the margaritas; and a few more. Then it was time to go, so I headed over to one of the gyms at JBSA Fort Sam Houston – a pretty short drive from the race site – and got a nice hot shower and change of clothes, very convenient.

Epilogue:  Sorry I missed all the pre-race activity and doing the 5K with all the other participants, but this actually turned out to be pretty enjoyable for me. I felt good the whole way, enjoyed some really nice weather and some great scenery, finished pretty strong and got a nice medal.  The race shirt is very nice quality; and even though most participants were long gone by the time I got done I still managed to enjoy myself with the people still there, e.g., s few other participants, volunteers,  iaap crew, and so forth.  I will definitely do this one again – on time for the next one, lol – and I would recommend it to others.   

Mucho thanks to all the people who made this one happen for all participants, e.g., all the many volunteers for laying out the course; race-day packet pickup; serving up various drinks, snacks, etc.; the two police officers out there for our safety; our MC – apologies, I don’t remember her name – and some of the participants that were still there after I finished with whom I enjoyed chatting and getting a few after-photos.  I would definitely recommend this one to others and I would do it again – at the correct start time, lol, for the next one.

Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it safely and have much success. If you’re a fellow runner/race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out; love chatting with my fellow runners, and if you are so inclined, we can get a photo together for my race report I do for each of my events.  You may have a lot of opportunities to see me; I have a race scheduled for every weekend in April, staring with my first one on April 4^th, the City Managers 5K at SeaWorld.

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/A39MoYfcdJdiuo657    

Before The Start: My 16^th race of 2025 was the Strides for Sight 5K, held on Saturday, March 28 at Comanche Park #1 on Rigsby Road. The SA Founders Lions Club was the host partner. This event, per the online registration remarks has purpose to “educate and inspire the community about the Gift of Sight, healthy vision, and to build awareness for the resources that partners offer”.  The event was put on by Soler Sports, owned and managed by my friend Lisa Soler. This was an ‘old school” 5K with self-timing and a start time of 10 a.m.  I left home around 8:30, deciding to get there a little early, since I am “directionally challenged” at times, lol, so wanted to give myself plenty of time to get there.  It’s a good thing I did leave early, because after I got there – with no issues, lol; I did remember how to get there – the parking lot was already pretty full. I found fairly good parking close to the start/finish area; got my race packet and then wandered around chatting with other participants that included many running community friends I knew; and handing out treats to the dogs there, as this is a dog-friendly event; and getting some pre-start photos. Along with the 5K run, there was also a 5K walk. I don’t know how many participants there were, but I think Lisa mentioned there was wall over 200 runners and walkers.  Before the start, The Colors were presented and The National Anthem was played, followed by The Pledge of Allegiance.

On The Course:  As usual for me, with my spinal arthritis, I did my thing of 8-minutes-running/2 minutes walking and got some on-course photos during my walk breaks. We started on a grassy area just short of the park’s paved trail. After crossing the start line and getting onto the pavement, we made a left turn onto the paved trails, crossed over a bridge and the course took us in a direction leading toward Southside Lions Park East. The first 1/2 mile or so was fairly flat and then we started going down a pretty long hill.  Upon reaching the bottom of this hill, we then crossed another bridge and starting going up again, passing under a highway overpass, and then a right turn that had us continuing to climb. After we crested the hill, we then had a short flat part of the course and then began going downhill. Upon reaching the bottom of this downhill, we then crossed yet another bridge and that brought us up to the turn-round point – which was across the street from the trails of Southside Lions Park East. We did not go into that park.  Our turn-round was just past the water-station table. Our route then, of course, took us in reverse of the way we had come out, so on the way to the finish, we had to climb up that first long hill we had come down on the way out. In total, if I remember correctly, we twice crossed the 3 bridges on the course, once for each on the way out, once for each on the way back.  That last hill – the long one on the way out – was quite a climb up on the way back to the finish.  The last ½ mile was pretty flat.  I crossed the last bridge and then picked up the pace a bit and, per my Garmin, crossed the finish line at 42:56, gun time of 43:39.  Lisa handed out cards to each finisher and as noted previously, “Old School” running – we filled the card out with name and results and dropped it into our appropriate age group basket. The overall male and female and the top 2 runners in each age group got awards, and most of those people were quite speedy, so I did not place in my 70-79 males age group, which is okay, I didn’t expect to; I was quite happy to have finished with my personal goals I have for every race I do: Finish standing up and no ambulance at the finish line waiting specifically for me; lol.

After My finish:  There were quite a few vendors/sponsors at this event, so there were all kinds various goodies and activities, including give-away items, various types of food & drink; some games you could play; and I think there was also a Kid’s Run before the 5K started, if I remember correctly. Post-race, I enjoyed wandering around getting some more photos, handing out more treats to the dogs – some of them even wanted to follow me around, lol – and chatting with other participants, volunteers, sponsors/vendors, and getting some post-race photos of lots of them. I especially enjoyed meeting some of the JBSA Fort Sam Houston medical folks from BAMC – my servicing hospital that has always taken great care of me; personally I have never had bad service from any department at BAMC, and those folks literally saved my life when I had cancer and then also an AFIB that required me getting a pacemaker implant. I had an enjoyable time chatting with them; and my apologies to them, lol, if I bored them too much with some of my ‘war stories’.

Epilogue:   This is a really nicely done event that I will certainly do again and would recommend to others. It’s a somewhat challenging course – but nothing like the hills at, say Eisenhower Park or in Helotes – and is an accessible course for those with disabilities and, as noted, is dog friendly too. All the volunteers on the course were great; and my friends with Pushbutton Photograph did the ‘official” photos for the event with their usual great professionalism and friendliness.  If you’ve never done this one, give it a shot;  nice course, friendly, people and lots of before-and-after activities, as well as a lot of good eats too, and drinks that included water, Gatorade, coffee (blech for me, lol; can’t even stand the smell of the stuff);  the race shirt is really nice quality and well-done; and all the placers got a nice medal.  I can’t remember what the over male and female got, but I’m sure it is pretty nice.  Also, no porta-potties required; this park has two restroom buildings with ample facilities.

Mucho thanks to all the people who made this one happen for us participants: Solor’s Sports for doing race registration, start-and-finish line set up all the race organizers, the many volunteers that did race-day packet pickup; and/or who served as course marshals and water station volunteers; all the many sponsors that supported this event; the Park Police officers that were out there for our safety; our Lion’s Club MC who did a great job for us, as well as that Lion Mascot guy with that great costume; Pushbutton Photography folks for all the photos that will be posted by them; and thanks for the patience of all the other non-participant users – cyclists, walkers, other runners, etc. – as we invaded the park trails for a long while; and, of course, or EMT and medical folks there for us, just in case; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all!   

Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it safely and have much success. If you’re a fellow runner/race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out; love chatting with my fellow runners, and if you are so inclined, we can get a photo together for my race report I do for each of my events. Time for me to rest a bit.  I have another 5K on Sunday, March 29^th, the day after this one.  

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/A6qPJumjZV5eeYcGA   

Before The Start:   My 15^th 5K of 2026 was the “Miracle for Jackson 5K”, held on March 21, 0800, at Lady Bird Johnson Park in San Antonio. Per the race information provided:  “Jackson is an eleven-year-old boy who has faced extraordinary medical challenges since birth. After years of searching for answers, doctors determined in 2023 that he needed a life-saving intestinal transplant. Following multiple complications and life-support interventions, Jackson was officially listed and received his transplant on August 18, 2025.”  He still has needs for continuing medical treatment, so this event is a fund-raiser to help with medical expenses, etc. This was an self-timed fundraiser 5K, with race bibs provided.  I arrived around 7:15 a.m. to get my race packet but did not have to wait long as one of the volunteers – who also served as our MC – recognized me, so she went ahead and got my packet together and handed it to me pretty quick; very nice. I then wandered around the start area getting some pre-start photos and, as this is also a dog-friendly event, handed out some treats to some of the dogs there, with the permission of their humans. I soon became, lol, very popular with the dogs there. Right before we started a young lady beautifully sang The National Anthem.

On The Course: Our start line was just a short way down from the park pavilion where a banner with the race name was posted overhead.  We had a view of the parking lot from where we started so, having done several 5Ks at this park during my running life, I thought this 5K might end up just a tad short. We did a short jaunt around part of the park’s traffic circle and then went onto a downhill paved trail that took us to the main paved trail of the park, making a left turn that took us in the direction of the Los Patios Shoppes. For the most part, this course is pretty flat with just a couple of not-too-steep long inclines along the way, and a pretty short steep hill – down on the way out, and up on the way back – that took us on a short bridge that was above Salado Creek. I did my usual 8-min-run/2-min-walk and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. After going past the Los Patios Shoppes on our right, we went to a turn-round that was at a water-station; however, from previous 5Ks I’ve done here, I knew the actual turn-round should be the pole just before the 410 frontage road, so I did my turn-round there, and then headed for the finish, still doing my run/walk thing, and getting some more photos on the way to the finish. When I hit the Mile 2 marker, I then just ran steadily. When I came to the turn to go up the hill we had come down to get to the main trail, I went straight instead – on the trail that leads eventually to McAllister Park – and did a turn round father down, so as to get in a full 3.14 miles; after all it is a 5K, so I always feel like I’m cheating, lol, if I don’t get in the actual 5k distance. I did a turn-round at some poles on this trail and then went back to the incline we had come down on, climbed up that and then went to the finish, ending up with 3.14 miles in 47:03, averaging 15:02 per mile, with positive splits of  14:22 for mile 1; 15:02 for Mile 2:  and 15:30 for Mile 3, in which I stopped for a couple minutes to help a lady walking – not a participant- pick up some items that had dropped out of a pack she was carrying.   After that, non-stop back to the finish.

After My finish:   I got some water, did a short, cool-down walk, and then it was off to mingle with the other participants, volunteers, etc., and get some after-photos. Also, if I remember correctly there were prizes given to the first overall male and female, and there was a ‘bib number” drawing from some gift baskets. I was pleasantly surprised when my name got called for a nice gift basket that included basketball tickets for a Spurs game, nice.

Epilogue:  I don’t remember if this is the inaugural race for this event or if it has been done before. Either way, it is very nicely organized with a not too difficult good course that just about any runner or walker can handle well and he trails are also user-friendly for participants with disabilities; some of the younger kids doing the course were quite speedy too, wow. I saw some of them already heading for the finish before I had even reached Mile 2. I want some of their energy, lol.  There were two water stations on the course and the volunteers at each of them were great. The race-day pickup volunteers were also great and very quick in getting our packets to us. Also, as anyone who has ever run, walked, or biked at LBJ Park know….the restroom facility at this park – a big, smelly, not-too-tidy porta-potty near the trailhead – is pretty awful, so it was nice to see that the organizers had provided nice, clean working port-a-potties.  There was quite a variety of post-race snacks too, such as fresh fruit – primarily bananas – and various cookies, energy bars, and so forth, as well as water, coffee, etc. The race shirt is very nice quality. There was also a table where some young ladies were selling various items to help raise funds for the cause.

Mucho thanks to all the people who made this one happen for us participants:  all the race organizers, the many volunteers; our MC – Vicki, if I remember her name correctly; the older I get the more terrible I am with remembering names, lol; our DJ sound-and-music guy – this day happened to be his birthday; the lady who sang The National Anthem for us; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!
Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it safely and have much success. If you’re a fellow runner/race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out; love chatting with my fellow runners, and if you are so inclined, we can get a photo together for my race report I do for each of my events.  Next 5K up for me is The Strides for Sight 5K on March 28 at Comanche Park in San Antonio. Wanted to do one on March 22 but nearest one I could find was in Johnson City and don’t want to drive that far, lol.

Photos are here:     https://photos.app.goo.gl/t6cuFJwAPgTyd7y79

Before The Start:   My 14^th race of 2026 was Freda’s Run 5K: A 5K Run/Walk for the Arts.  Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón was a Mexican painter and cultural icon known for her self-portraits and works inspired by Mexican nature and artifacts.   This was my 2^nd 5K of the weekend after doing the St. Paddy’s 5K the day before this one at Landa Park in New Braunfels, Texas.  This event was held at McAllister Park in San Antonio, Texas, with a start time of 9:30 a.m.. As I live very close to McAllister Park, I got to sleep in a bit. I got to the park with about an hour to go to start time, got my packet, and then got a few pre-start photos as I wandered here-and-there, chatting with other participants, supporters, and volunteers. Also, as this is a dog friendly event, I handed out treats to the dogs that attended.  Per posted results there was a total  228 finishers – walkers and runners – for this event. Several were in “Freda” costume, some of them very imaginative and colorful.

On The Course:  I did my usual run-8-minutes/walk-2 minutes and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks and also handed out treats to dogs I met – including some of the dogs of non-event park users who were out walking their dogs.  The last mile I pretty much ran non-stop.  The majority of the course was a loop course on paved trails that gave us a nice tour of most of the park, followed by an out-and-back on one of the park roads before heading to the finish line.  We started on the street where the park’s lower soccer fields are, passing by the youth baseball field before we turned onto the paved trails of the park.  The first trail took us behind the soccer fields.  We could also see the baseball diamond to the right.  We made a left turn onto another trail and this tool us to one of the park roads, just down from Becken Pavilion.  We crossed over this street and then looped around another trail that took us generally in the direction of the police sub-station near the park.  However, we did not take the substation trail; we stayed left and went across a park road, passing by a course water station. This trail looped us around until we came back to the original trail we’d started on, where we had first entered it.  We made a right turn and then went to a turn-round point. After making the turn-round, we then headed in the direction of the finish line, once more passing by the baseball field and then the soccer fields before entering the start/finish chute. Whew!  My garmin showed a finish time of 44:55.  The timing chip had my finish time at 44:45, good enough for 2^nd in my 70-99 age group as, lol, there were only two people in my age group.

After My finish: I was handed my finisher medal and then stood out of the way at the back pf the finish chute and got a few photos of others coming in. After that, I wandered around again, like I had before the start and got some “Happy Finisher” photos; I call them that, lol, because you ever notice more people are smiling after the race than before and during?  I also continued to hand out treats to my dog friends. I was very popular with the dogs, lol.  A few of them even tried to follow me around. I ended up 2^nd in my age group.  I guess #1 had already left, as I was the only one in my age group on the podium. Well, I sat on the podium, jokingly telling our MC, and my friend, Anthony, that I got a bit of vertigo if I stood on things that made me be in “high” places.  There was also a “Freda Costume” contest which was pretty entertaining with the winner-by-applause getting a nice prize.   After that, stayed a tad longer, getting some more photos and chatting with others and then it was time to head on home.

Epilogue: This is a very nicely-done event orchestrated by my friend and iaap co-owner, Ceci Iniguez; she did a great job with this event – and she had a pretty nice costume herself. The course was really nice and well-thought-out and had two water stations, if I remember correctly. We also had a nice day for it; very little wind; ample sunshine; and the temp at start time was 71 degrees; a little warm and humid for some, but perfect for me, lol. I much prefer warm temperatures. The finisher medals are really nice and the race shirt is also really well done.  The age-group awards are really unique and themed for the event; there were various types of dolls; and my 2^nd place age group award is this box with a clear plastic front and inside is what looks like a hand-drawn picture of Freda and showing some  of her art:  panoramic view of some city buildings, water towers and a church; pretty cool. I’m assuming this panorama has something to do with Freda’s personal and career history. Post-race there were various kinds of drinks – including beer – and various food goodies.  The race shirt is really good quality and nicely designed, with Freda on the front; no printing on the back; and the finisher medal is really nice.  I would do this event again and would recommend it to others. 

Mucho thanks to all the people who made this one happen for us participants:  Ceci, of course, along with the whole iaap crew that did the course set-up, timing and results; our course marshals and the volunteers at the two water stations on the course; the bike lead guy for the faster participants; all the race-day packet pickup volunteers and all the finish line volunteers handing out the finisher medals and water to those who wanted it; the two Park Police officers and the EMT folks there for our safety; and a thank you to all non-race patrons of the park as we invaded their space for a while; also thanks to our MC, Anthony, doing his usual great job, and our music-and-sound lady who was cranking out some tunes for us before-and-after. If I missed anyone, my apologies.

Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it safely and have much success. If you’re a fellow runner/race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out; love chatting with my fellow runners, and we can get a photo together for my race report I do for each of my events.