Scottydog Reports

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/vsnU18ntznQwFozP7

Before The Start:  My 10^th race of 2026 was the Aidan Alexander Memorial 5K for Stillborns and Infant Loss. Held on February 21 at Ladybird Johnson Park in San Antonio, with a start time of 9 a.m. This event is an annual 5k held in memory of Aiden Alexander, an infant who passed away unexpectedly due to issues with his umbilical cord. His family started this event in Aiden’s memory, with proceeds going to stillborn and infant loss organizations. I got there  around 8:40 a.m. before the 9 a.m. start time and got a few pre-start photos before it was time to get started.

On The Course:  The course was the usual 5K course at LBJ Park, a pretty simple out-and-back. We started at the park’s traffic circle, walked around that, and then went down a steep but short hill to the park’s paved Greenway Trails.  The course took us out to the Los Patios Shoppes area and then to a turn-round point at the Loop 410 frontage road and then back the exact way we had come out. After having a bladder biopsy on Thursday, February 19^th, my doc gave me permission to do this one, but only if I walked it – no running for 2 weeks after the biopsy.  So I walked it, REALLY slowly, lol.  I am a very slow walker, not like my speedy walker wife who really moves when she walks. As I walked along, I took several on-course photos and cheered on other participants. The course was mostly flat with just a few up-and down inclines and one fairly steep but short downhill on the way to the turn-round and uphill on the way back.  After making the turn-round, I then picked up the pace a bit – I went into ‘marching mode”, lol, like I was back in Air Force basic training and that had me going slightly quicker. Per my Garmin, I ended up finishing in 1:13:04, averaging a really slow 23:44 per mile.  I looked at the results, but I was not listed in the iRun Texas 5k results, even though I did find myself listed as a participant on RunSignUp, which did not have my results either, so maybe iRun stopped the timing at a certain point. I made the mistake of not going over to talk to iRun about it and gettiing it resolved, and went home in a bit of a hissy fit, so my apologies to iRun for that.

After the finish:  RunSignUp initially listed 161 participants for this event, but in its results, iRun shows a total of 88 finishers, so there must have been a lot of no-shows for this event; too bad, because it really is a nicely put on event by the Alexander family.  It’s a fairly nice course that accommodates participants at all levels; very nicely designed race shirt; lots of post-race goodies, nice medal to the overall male and female placers and first overall in each age group; and for an excellent cause.     

Epilogue:  This is a regular event on my annual race lists, as I know what it’s like to lose a child; my first wife and 4-months-old son were killed by a drunk driver. You never really get over it, you just learn to live with it day-by-day. I appreciate so much what Aiden’s surviving family members are trying to do with this event, giving help to organizations that can help other people who have experienced the loss of an infant child. Aiden’s family really does a good job with this one. I will continue to do this one as long as I am able – and hopefully next year I will be running it again and then maybe get onto the results list.

 Many thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants, e.g., all the many volunteers out there for us; Aiden’s family who initially started this event; all the sponsors who helped pay for it all; the patience of all the other users of the park doing their own thing as we invaded the park space for a while; and anyone else involved that I did not mention here.

Whatever your passion is, may you always be successful and stay healthy and injury-free to keep on doing it. If you’re a fellow runner, maybe I’ll see you at a future event.  Give me a shout-out; love chatting with fellow runners and we might even get a photo together.  Stay happy, stay safe.   Maybe I’ll see you at a future event sometime.  

Photos are here:    https://photos.app.goo.gl/KQFazx1yxUpzfYjLA     

Before The Start:  My 9^th race of 2026 was Be My Valentine 3.4 miler held on February 15^th at McAllister Park, with a 9:30 a.m. start.  This was my 2^nd race of the weekend after having done Cupid’s Chase 5K the day before at the San Antonio Zoo. I liked that 9:30 start time as Cupid’s Chase had us reporting to the Zoo very early, so  I got to sleep in a bit for this one as I live very close to McAllister Park. Put on by Hurache Turbo, an affiliate company of San Antono-based race management company iaap, this event featured a 6.9 mile relay run or walk, 2 team members per team, or one could choose t do the 6.9 miler individually; and a 3.4 mile run or walk.  Iaap did the timing and results.  My friend, Paul, was also at this one as our ‘sound man’, doing his usual great job of playing some tunes for us and more. For this one, I decided to have fun with it and do it in costume.  I arrived at the race site with just over an hour to go to the start time; got my packet and then got a few pre-start photos of some of the volunteers, attending sponsor representatives, and some of the participants that were also already there, as well as race supporters of the participants, e.g., their spouses, friends, etc.  As participants and supporters continued to arrive, I chatted with some of them and continued to get some pre-start photos until it was time to get going on the course.  The weather was really nice, with bright sunshine and blue skies, and a temp of 61 degrees at start time. The wind was blowing pretty good, but the course had us between several wooded areas, which made for a nice windbreaker. 

On The Course:  All the courses were out-and-back starting and finishing near the lower soccer fields at McAllister Park.  All participants started together. The course took us parallel to the soccer fields, then down a short paved trail that went past the park’s youth baseball field.  After exiting this path, we then went onto one of the park’s paved roads. This was a very long road that took us in the direction of Becken Pavilion and we went past the Mile 1 marker on this road. We did no go all the way up to Becken Pavilion. Instead, we made a left turn off the road onto a paved trail that took us in the direction of the police sub-station location on Jones Maltsberger Road near the park.  For us 3.4 miler participants, our turn-round was on this trail, and to our left we had a view of part of the police sub-station across a field on our left. After making the turn-round, we went back to the finish exactly the same way we had come out. I did my usual run/walk thing of 8-min-run/2-min-walk and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. I was running in-costume, so got lots of cheers and whistles, lol, as I went along.  After the turn-round I got ambitious and pretty much ran non-stop back to the finish.

After the finish:  There were 125 finishers for the  3.45 miler; 46 for the relay run; and 43 who did the 6.9 miler individually. For my 3.4 miler I ended up with a chip time of 48:11, good enough for 3^rd out of 5 in my 70-99 males age group. For this one, awards were given only to the top 3 overall males/females in each category, which was fine with me. There was also a post-race costume contest, which I won “by applause” which was pretty cool. I got a very nice bottle of wine – which I gave to my wife after getting home as I am not much of a wine drinker – and also got a cash award of $100, nice; that I kept, lol. On the way home, I made a stop at H-E-B  – still in costume, lol – to pick up a few things and got quite a few laughs and smiles as I went along; it was pretty funny, and all good.

Epilogue:  This is a really nicely done event, well managed by our Race Director, Ceci Iñiguez, Our MC was Lana Hernandez, who did a great job for us.  The course is very user friendly, with room for all and, as noted, we had some really nice weather for it. All participants got a really nice finisher medal.  The ‘race shirt’ is actually a really nice light-weight sweatshirt of really good quality. I would certainly do this one again and recommend it to others.  BTW, Lana also manages the upcoming Street2Feet 5K, training program that promotes spiritual, mental and physical health among individuals experiencing homelessness. It’s a well-done event for a good cause, so I’m giving it a plug here.

Many thanks to all those involved who made this one happened for us.  This includes all those out there for we participants, including iaap doing the timing and results, our sound guy Paul, doing his usual great job for us; the law enforcement officers there for our safety; all the vendors/sponsors who supported this event; 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 be successful and stay healthy and injury-free to keep on doing it. If you’re a fellow runner, maybe I’ll see you at a future event.  Give me a shout-out; love chatting with fellow runners and we might even get a photo together.  Stay happy, stay safe.    

Photos are here:    https://photos.app.goo.gl/UgK1LJYH9Xs9sWfq9      

Before The Start:   My 6^th race of 2026 was the Scallywompus San Marcos 5K, held on Sunday, February 8^th at the Tanger Outlet Mall in San Marcos.  There was also a half marathon; a 10K; a competitive 5K walk, and a kid’s run.  This was my 2^nd race of the weekend after completing the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo Stampede 5K on February 7^th. When I arrived at the race area, the half-marathon was just starting.  I saw my friend Jorgina going by and gave her a shout-out, but don’t think she heard me.  I found some pretty good parking close to the start/finish area, got my race packet and then wandered here-and-there in the race area, chatting with friends, volunteers, other participants, vendors and sponsors, etc., and getting a few pre-start photos.  This is also a dog-friendly event so I was, as usual, popular with the dogs after giving them treats. The Competitive Walk 5K  and the 10K participants started together at 8:15. We 5K participants were scheduled to start at 8:35 a.m. but had a slight delay. It was still pretty close, though, we started only about 5 minutes later.

On The Course:  As usual, I did my 8-min-run/2-minute walk thing and took some on-course photos during my walk break. After crossing the start mat, we then made a left turn and went down a mall outlet road, passing by several store-fronts. This was the flattest part of the 5K course, lol.  This took us to Center Point Road, and the hills began almost immediately.  Center Point Road is just about all hills. Out of curiosity, I looked up the elevation of this road when I got home and ai gave me this information:  “The elevation on Center Point Road in San Marcos near the Tanger Outlet Malls is approximately  570 to 580 feet above seal level”.  Oh yeah, it was hilly. We crested the first long hill, had a bit of flat for about the length of a long driveway, lol; went down a fairly long hill, and then climbed a really long hill to get to the turn-round. Then, of course, we went back to the finish line in reverse.  After getting to the 2-mile marker – which was on an uphill for us – I told myself, okay, time to get this done, and ran this last part of the course almost non-stop, ignoring my Garmin beeping for walk break,  with just a couple of really quick photo stops. I saw my friend Mary Kaplan ahead of me. We do a lot of the same events and sometimes I finish ahead of her, but not today, lol, she was moving pretty good. After finally making it down the last hill, we did not go back to the finish line we came out. Instead, we made a turn that took us down a service road behind the stores.  At the end of this road, we then made a right turn onto a short service road and at the end of this made a left turn, and then a quick right turn to cross the timing matt and finish.  I ended up with a chip time of 42:43, which was good enough for 2^nd in my 70-74 males age group, as there were only 3 in my age group. There were 315 finishers for the 5K. My friend, Mary, finished 17 seconds ahead of me, so I almost caught up to her, lol. Maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t, though; she and I are both retired military veterans and she outranks me.

After the finish:  I got my finisher medal and some water and Gatorade and then wandered around, chatting with other participants, and also sponsors, volunteers, and supporters, and getting some “after” photos.  I also treated some more dogs with the remaining treats I had.  Some of the  dogs who have humans that do lots of races are starting to recognize me now and when I show up at an event, and they see me, some of them often start heading for me, knowing I have treats.  The dogs of my friends Carolyn and Bill are especially good at this.  If Bill and Carolyn are not paying attention,  suddenly their “leash arm” will start straightening out as the dogs begin to head for me. The awards ceremony started with the men first, with the “most senior” men placers betting their awards first, so I got mine pretty quickly. After that, I enjoyed chatting with lots of people there, including swapping experiences with several fellow veterans, and getting some more after-photos. 

Epilogue:  The motto of Scallywompus is “Come For The Race. Stay for the party.”  They are not kidding, either.  There were all kinds of food and drinks, including water, Gatorade, beer, and several mixed drink combinations.  There were also all kinds of goodies at the vendor/sponsor booth too, from various types of snack items like chips, pretzels, etc., fresh fruits from the booth of my friend, Gilbert, and much more.

The award is a really nice Scallyompus drinking glass. I got a photo with mine and then donated it to someone.  I’ve gotten several of these glasses at past Scallywompus events and am running out of cupboard space to put them. The race shirt is very nice quality. Since I do so many races in a year – I did over 80 in 2025 – I’m running out of shirt drawer space too, so these days, I usually get kid-size shirts and then donate them to the disabled kids at Morgan’s Wonderland or to kids currently fighting cancer, since I was a disabled kid for a while, and am also a cancer survivor. 

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants:  all the many volunteers it takes to make these races happen; our MC, Anthony Zamora for doing his usual great job for us – the post-race “dance contest” he got going was fun and hilarious; iaap race management for the timing and results; the law enforcement officers there for our safety;  Pushbutton Photography for being the “official” photographers of the event; the patience of all the Tanger Outlet Mall customers and store employees as we invaded their space for a few hours; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all! If you see me at an event, give me a shout-out  and we’ll get a photo together.  Whatever your exercises passions are, may you always stay safe doing it and be successful in reaching your goals.

Photos are here:        https://photos.app.goo.gl/Kwhjpmqt3SLf7jpFA

Before The Start:   My 6^th race of 2026 was the Scallywompus San Marcos 5K, held on Sunday, February 8^th at the Tanger Outlet Mall in San Marcos.  There was also a half marathon; a 10K; a competitive 5K walk, and a kid’s run.  This was my 2^nd race of the weekend after completing the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo Stampede 5K on February 7^th. When I arrived at the race area, the half-marathon was just starting.  I saw my friend Jorgina going by and gave her a shout-out, but don’t think she heard me.  I found some pretty good parking close to the start/finish area, got my race packet and then wandered here-and-there in the race area, chatting with friends, volunteers, other participants, vendors and sponsors, etc., and getting a few pre-start photos.  This is also a dog-friendly event so I was, as usual, popular with the dogs after giving them treats. The Competitive Walk 5K  and the 10K participants started together at 8:15. We 5K participants were scheduled to start at 8:35 a.m. but had a slight delay. It was still pretty close, though, we started only about 5 minutes later.

On The Course:  As usual, I did my 8-min-run/2-minute walk thing and took some on-course photos during my walk break. After crossing the start mat, we then made a left turn and went down a mall outlet road, passing by several store-fronts. This was the flattest part of the 5K course, lol.  This took us to Center Point Road, and the hills began almost immediately.  Center Point Road is just about all hills. Out of curiosity, I looked up the elevation of this road when I got home and ai gave me this information:  “The elevation on Center Point Road in San Marcos near the Tanger Outlet Malls is approximately  570 to 580 feet above seal level”.  Oh yeah, it was hilly. We crested the first long hill, had a bit of flat for about the length of a long driveway, lol; went down a fairly long hill, and then climbed a really long hill to get to the turn-round. Then, of course, we went back to the finish line in reverse.  After getting to the 2-mile marker – which was on an uphill for us – I told myself, okay, time to get this done, and ran this last part of the course almost non-stop, ignoring my Garmin beeping for walk break,  with just a couple of really quick photo stops. I saw my friend Mary Kaplan ahead of me. We do a lot of the same events and sometimes I finish ahead of her, but not today, lol, she was moving pretty good. After finally making it down the last hill, we did not go back to the finish line we came out. Instead, we made a turn that took us down a service road behind the stores.  At the end of this road, we then made a right turn onto a short service road and at the end of this made a left turn, and then a quick right turn to cross the timing matt and finish.  I ended up with a chip time of 42:43, which was good enough for 2^nd in my 70-74 males age group, as there were only 3 in my age group. There were 315 finishers for the 5K. My friend, Mary, finished 17 seconds ahead of me, so I almost caught up to her, lol. Maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t, though; she and I are both retired military veterans and she outranks me.

After the finish:  I got my finisher medal and some water and Gatorade and then wandered around, chatting with other participants, and also sponsors, volunteers, and supporters, and getting some “after” photos.  I also treated some more dogs with the remaining treats I had.  Some of the  dogs who have humans that do lots of races are starting to recognize me now and when I show up at an event, and they see me, some of them often start heading for me, knowing I have treats.  The dogs of my friends Carolyn and Bill are especially good at this.  If Bill and Carolyn are not paying attention,  suddenly their “leash arm” will start straightening out as the dogs begin to head for me. The awards ceremony started with the men first, with the “most senior” men placers betting their awards first, so I got mine pretty quickly. After that, I enjoyed chatting with lots of people there, including swapping experiences with several fellow veterans, and getting some more after-photos. 

Epilogue:  The motto of Scallywompus is “Come For The Race. Stay for the party.”  They are not kidding, either.  There were all kinds of food and drinks, including water, Gatorade, beer, and several mixed drink combinations.  There were also all kinds of goodies at the vendor/sponsor booth too, from various types of snack items like chips, pretzels, etc., fresh fruits from the booth of my friend, Gilbert, and much more.

The award is a really nice Scallyompus drinking glass. I got a photo with mine and then donated it to someone.  I’ve gotten several of these glasses at past Scallywompus events and am running out of cupboard space to put them. The race shirt is very nice quality. Since I do so many races in a year – AI did over 80 in 2025 – I’m running out of shirt drawer space too, so these days, I usually get kid-size shirts and then donate them to the disabled kids at Morgan’s Wonderland or to kids currently fighting cancer, since I was a disabled kid for a while, and am also a cancer survivor. 

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants:  all the many volunteers it takes to make these races happen; our MC, Anthony Zamora for doing his usual great job for us – the post-race “dance contest” he got going was fun and hilarious; iaap race management for the timing and results; the law enforcement officers there for our safety;  Pushbutton Photography for being the “official” photographers of the event; the patience of all the Tanger Outlet Mall customers and store employees as we invaded their space for a few hours; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all! If you see me at an event, give me a shout-out  and we’ll get a photo together.  Whatever your exercises passions are, may you always stay safe doing it and be successful in reaching your goals.

Photos are here:      https://photos.app.goo.gl/QbvRpUATnppKKxju9

Before The Start   The Stock Show and Rodeo 5K, held on February 7^th, was my 5^th race of 2026.  It should have been my 9^th race of the year, but in January I missed one due to illness;  because of crazy weather, one was postponed to be scheduled at a later date; one went virtual; and one I slept right through my darn alarm going off.  Hope to make it up a bit in February;  I have 6 more races scheduled for February. This event supports the San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo Scholarship Fund. This is a very popular event that had 700 finishers this year. The start and finish was at Milam Park in downtown San Antonio, which is fairly close to the UTSA Downtown Campus.  The start time was 9 a.m.  I arrived at race site with about an hour to go.  I had already gotten my packet at the packet pickup day before race day so I wandered here-and-there, chatting with friends, other participants, volunteers, etc., and getting some pre-start photos before the 9 a.m. race start time.

On The Course:   We started by the grounds of Milam Park, and the course gives you a nice tour of the downtown San Antonio area, passing near the UTSA Texas Institute of Cultures; going along part of the San Antonio Riverwalk, where we came to the Mile 2 marker, and went through part of the King William District that has some historic homes and mansions. We went down a short part of Main Avenue, then turned onto Houston Street that took us back to the finish. I did my usual run/walk thing and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks.  I caught up and passed my speedy friend, Ralph, which never happens at the same races we do – he is usually much faster than I am – so I knew he must be having some kind of issue; asked him if he was okay and he told me he was fighting a cold. The last mile, he began walking and told me to go for it. I pretty much ran the last mile non-stop, crossing the finish line with a chip time of 43:44 and a mileage of 3.3, as I tend to walk back a bit at times when I’m taking my on-course photos, so that puts a tad extra on my mileage. I averaged 13:11 mile, and my last mile was done in 13:20. My fastest was Mile 1 in 12:58.  I need to reverse my first and last mile numbers, lol.  

After My Finish:  I stood a bit back from the timing mat and got a few photos of others finishing, including Ralph who finished not that far behind me. After that I wandered around chatting with other participants, supporters, vendors, etc., and got a few after-photos.  Per my Garmin, I ended up with a chip time of 43:44, and this would have made me 2^nd in my age group, but I am not listed in the 70-79 males results posted by iaap, and I figured out why; this is not on iaap, it is on me. I normally put my race bib on a bookcase right near my garage door, and pin it on right before I head to the race site. I did the same thing on this race day…but the bib I had up there was the one for my race that went virtual because of the weather. I didn’t even notice that, so that is why I am not in the results, because that bib, of course, was not registered with iaap or the race, duhhh.  Oh well, it is what it is, and I have no heartburn about it. I actually think it’s kind of funny…me and my idiocy at times, lol. I thoroughly enjoyed myself at this event and had a great outing, so no regrets.      

Epilogue: This is one of the most fun and entertaining events I do each year and the course is great; wide street so accommodate all participants;  I even had my name on a poster board that thanked all the ‘loyal’ people for doing this one for so many years – in my case 7 years. I thought that was a nice touch done by the organizers.  The age group medals are really nice, the race shirt is a very nice quality – I got a small and asked the organizers to donate it to a kid; I do so many races, I’m running out of race shirt drawer space, lol, so I get medium or small and then donate them to kids.  There was an array of various snacks and goodies post-race, and I believe there was food truck nearby too.  Mucho thanks to all who made this one possible for us 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 police officers on course for our safety; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all.  The only bad time I had was after the race; I missed a turn on my way home and ended up roads that were under construction that had several detours, so I was driving downtown for quite a while, until I finally figured out how to get to 281 to get back home. Yes, lol, I am directionally challenged.

Anyway…whatever your passion is, may you always stay healthy enough to do it, and may you always meet your personal goals. If you are a runner/race, maybe I’ll see you at a future event.  As for me, I am going to be lazy tonight as I have another 5K to do this weekend – the Scallywompus 5K in San Marcos on Sunday, February 8.  Umm, I will make sure wear the correct race bib this time, lol.

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