Scottydog Reports

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/VeuSMk4DqDjBv9w16

Before The Start:  My 55^th race of 2026 was the CleftStrong 5K held on Sunday, October 4^th at Eisenhower Park.  This was my 2^nd race of the weekend, after having done the Britta’s Chase 5K the day before at Morgan’s Wonderland.  The CleftStrong 5K is put on to raise awareness, build community support, and generate funds for individuals and families affected by cleft lip, cleft palate, and other craniofacial conditions.  Race start time was 8:30 a.m., and there was also a Kid’s Run that started at 8 a.m.  Being familiar with Eisenhower Park and the parking situation – the park’s lot fills up pretty fast for events – I arrived around 7:15 a.m, and found some good parking.  I got my race packet and then wandered around chatting with volunteers, other participants and participant supporters, and also got some pre-start photos.  This is also a dog-friendly event so with the permission of their humans, I handed out some treats to the dogs and was soon very popular with the dogs there, lol. We had some pretty nice weather for this one; it was only 74 degrees, with lots of cloud cover, which was nice, but also a bit humid at 83 percent humidity at the starting time. Per posted results done by m friends of iaap – the company that did the timing and results – this event had 151 finishers for the 5K; The Kid’s Run had 29 finishers.

 On The Course:  The National Anthem was played and then we lined up to get going. Since I can’t run non-stop anymore – spinal arthritis, so I have to take walk breaks – I did my usual thing of 8-minutes-running/2-minutes walking and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. Being that this is Eisenhower Park, where I have done several events over the years, I assumed that this course was going to have hills and that expectation was verified after we started and almost right off the bat went onto a trail that heads in the direction of an observation at the top.  We did not go all the way to the top of this trail.  We made a turn onto another paved trail and then did a winding loop course that took us up and down a few hills, but nothing really very steep.  The course took us onto a flat trail, from which I could see part of the park’s paved  concrete Greenway Trail on my right….and also saw some of the participants on that trail; so, having done previoius events on that greenway trail, I knew very much longer and steeper hills were coming.  The trail we started on looped us through a small section of the parking lot, and then we made a right turn and went onto the greenway trail, flat for just a very short bit and then the very challenging hills began in earnest and these were some serious hills too; let me just say right up front….Race Directors have a warped sense of humor at times, lol. These trails are very wide so can accommodate a lot of people, which is good, as the trails remained open to all users, such as other runners, walkers, and cyclists not involved with the race doing their own thing. On the course at various points between going up and down all these hills, we did have a few flat parts – very few, lol – to give the legs a short break for a few minutes. As we went along I saw these posted signs along the way; I thought at first they were mile markers, but that was not the case.  They were ‘appreciation signs” for all the organizations that sponsored the event – listing the name of a specific event sponsor on each card. After my race the day before this one, I just took it pretty darn easy, sometimes making a quick stop to get a photo, which killed my race time of course, but what the heck, as I only have 2 race goals anyway: finish standing up and no ambulance at the finish specifically waiting for me, lol.  I ended up finishing with a time of 50:27 per my garmin/50:18 per the timing chip, and the last mile I pretty much ran non-stop to the finish. My Garmin splits showed Mile 1: 15:50.  Mile 2: 17:10.  Mile 3: 15:39.  I guess I was ready to be done, lol. I ended up being first in my 70-79 male, since I was the only one in that age group, which is okay by me. One of my race strategies at my age, lol, is just to try and oulive the competition.

After My Finish:    I stood a short way up from the finish line so as not to impede anyone and got a few photos of some others finishing.  After that I wandered around the area chatting with other participants; supporters; race day volunteers; the official race photographers whom I personally knew, and my friends from iaap who had done the timing and results. I also had a nice chat with the very nice sponsor folks of Prestige Emergency Room. One of them I talked to asked me if I was okay and I said  jokingly, oh sure, aside from bleeding a bit.  He wa like, what, you’re bleeding?   I said no worries, it happens once in a while when I get active, as I have a Pacemaker implant and a Watchman implant and am on a blood-thinner. My cardiologists told me how to take care of it when it happens. The guy laughed and said, don’t do that, I was about ready to shove you into an ambulance.  The lady member of the group gave me some water, and while the other crew members went around checking on things, she and I had a very nice conversation; really very nice lady, and I got a post-race photo with her.  The awards ceremony was ongoing, and I heard my name called, so hustled on over there and got a very nice medal for being first in my age group.  My friend, Deborah, also was first in her age group, so we got a photo together with the very nice age-group award medals we received.  After that, I wandered around some more, getting a few more  After-photos and handing out treats to the doggies again. I did not get a race shirt for myself – I do so many events, I am runing out of shirt drawer space, lol – but I did ask one of the volunteers if I cold have a Youth Medium shirt to give to a friend of mine who has a disabled child, and they kindly obliged; I thought that was really nice of them.  Finally, time for me to go home, so  got on my way.

Epilogue:   This is a really well-organized event with very well-thought-out course – challenging, lol, but well thought out – to accommodate a lot of people.  Both the finisher medal and the age group medal are nicely done; the race shirt is very nice quality; and there were several various types of post-race goodies, provided by the race organizers and vendors, such as bananas, water, and various other things;
There was also this ‘bingo card” thing, where participants could take their cards to each sponsor table and get it ‘stamped’.  These cards are used on social media platforms like Instagram or Facebook to help participants or teams hit their fundraising milestones.   I will continue to keep this event on my calendar as, having been a disabled kid myself – I was a “March of Dimes” baby, born with dislocated hips – I try and do as many races over the year as I can that support the cause of helping kids with various disabilities. This is an event I would definitely recommend to others.  Mucho thanks to: all who made this one happen for we participants, e.g., the CleftStrong organiation; the primary sponsor Christus Children’s Hospital, and all the other sponsors;  the many volunteers who helped make this one happen; the law einforcement folks out there for our safety; iaapweb for the course set-up, timing, and results; thanks also for the patience of the non-race users of the park as we invaded their space for quite a while; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!  Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it and may you have much success at it and always stay safe doing it!    If you are a fellow race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out. I’d be happy to get a photo with you. 

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Pn6gsWk1FCnCVcb39

Before The Start:  My 54^th race of 2026 was the Britta’s Chase 5K held on Saturday, October 3^rd at Morgan’s Wonderland in San Anonio, Texas. I originally had signed up for the Gift of Life 5K, which was to be held at Ladybird Johnson Park on this same day.  However, after all the recent rain, parts of the park were flooded, so all participants got an e-mail letting us know this event had to be cancelled this year for safety issues. Well, shoot, after that I was scrambling to find another race and via RunSignUp found the Brita’s Chase 5K, and I was able to sign up the night before race day and made a donation to the cause.  I was happy about this because it’s been quite a while since I’ve done an event at Morgan’s Wonderland; it’s quite a nice venue for a race, with lots more to see than there is at LBJ Park, and one of the organization’s causes is children.  Having been born a disabled child myself  – born with dislocated hips – I try via my events to do as many races as possible that help/focus on chidlren.  This event supports “Meant To Soar”, a non-profit supporting children who have experienced trauma through no fault of their own, with special focusing on kids affected by parental substance use (alcohol and drug addiction) and human trafficking.  Start time was 8 a.m.   I arrived at the park around 7 a.m., and after parking I saw almost right away a running friend of mine I had not seen in a while, so she was my first photo for this event.  I then went and got my packet pretty quickly, as I had looked up my bib number on RunSignUp.  After getting my race bib on, I then went into the park, wandering here-and-there, chatting with friends, volunteers, supporters, and other participants, and getting some pre-start photos.  The National Anthem was played, with some VFW Bulverde Post members presenting the colors.  After that, prior to the main event start, there was a Kid’s Run, so we all cheered them on, and then we lined up for the start of the 5K.  For as many races as were being held around the San Antonio area on this day, the turn-out was pretty nice, with race results showing a total of  56 finishers for the 5K;  a nice, manageable number that gave all we participants plenty of room on the course.

 On The Course:   The route was 3 laps through the park. There were also several others on the course, who were accompanying registered participants, e.g., parents with their registered kids; others keeping friends company; spouses/friends of a few disabled participants, and so forth.  We all had plenty of maneuvering room, and where I was at any given time, I never saw anyone impeded. I do admit to some jealousy, though…..dang, some of those kids on the course were pretty darn fast!  I want some of their energy, lol.  I can’t run non-stop anymore, due to some spinal arthritis and degenerative disk disease now – a restul of my birth defect. Growing up and while in the Air Force, I was asymptomatic but all my docs told me this is a degenertative disease and when I got older it would probably surface, and that happened when I was in my 50s;  It became too hard to run non-stop, so I began to do the run/walk method and now when I do a race or a training run, I run 8-minutes/walk 2-minutes and during a race I take some on-course photos for my race reports. I recently also found out I have melanoma skin cancer – my 5^th time I’ve dealt with cancer – and so far have beat them all – and will soon be starting treatments for that, and I will beat this one too, with the Lord’s help and all the great medical people at BAMC who have literally saved my life several times over the years.  With my two running speeds – slow and slower, lol – I was not dead last. I managed to end up 3^rd out of 3 in my 70-99 males age group, and for the last mile, which I ran nonstop, I had a negative split.

After My Finish:    I stood a short way up from the finish line so as not to impede anyone and got a few photos of some others finishing.  After that I wandered around the area chatting with other participants; supporters; race day volunteers; the official race photographers whom I personally knew, and my friends from iaap who had done the timing and results; and one of them, my friend Lana, also served as MC for this event.  I  got some post-race photos, and handed out a more dog-treats to the dogs that were there; which, because I carry these treats, is how I got “christened” by a running friend as Scottydog, lol.; so I always now register for all my races as Scotty Dogg, since that is how the running community knows me. The organizers had a nice post-race ceremony during which they shared what the nonprofit recipient organization of this event –  “Meant To Soar” – does; whom it supports and how, and so forth; very good cause.

Epilogue:  Morgan’s Wonderland is not the largerst park in San Antonio, but it sure is a fun one and the first park in the country, if I remember correctly, that began catering to the disabled, with appropriate rides, activities, and so forth.  I had the pleasure of meeting founder Gordon Hartmann and his daughter, Morgan, a few years back.  They are two awesome people.  Since he started Morgan’s Wonderland, several parks across the country are following his lead and setting up rides, events, etc, for the disabled. Awesome!   I would definitely do this event again and would recommend it to others.  If you’ve never done a race at Morgan’s Wonderland, sign up for one in the future;  It is a very unique experience, one I bet you will not regret.  There was also a variety of post-race goodies too.

 Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it and may you have much success at it and always stay safe doing it!    If you are a fellow race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out. I’d be happy to get a photo with you.   

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/pWt64Jz86qE5d6nz9

Before The Start: My 53^rd race of 2026 was the Veronica’s Journey 5K, held on Sunday, September 27^th  at Shavano Park.    I try to do this race each year, but missed a couple of them in past years due to ongoing health issues. I also found out that I am once again a cancer patient, as my biopsy done at BAMC came back positive for melanoma skin cancer. This will be my 5^th battle with cancer.  Never-the-less I was determined to Veronica’s Journey 5K this year. I checked with my doctor and he told me, yes, definitely run.  He also told me, he WANTED me to run, as the better shape I’m in, the better I will be able to fight the cancer.  Well, okay then.  I try to do this one whenever I can, as baby Veronica had her own battle with a rare form of brain cancer; and I try to do as many cancer-related events over the year as I can. Also, her parents are really good people.  I met them at the first Veronica’s 5K I did and we have been friends ever since.  We’re not “buddy-buddy” good friends, but it is always great to see Mitch and Chrissie Finnie at the event.  

I had picked up my packet on the packet pickup day, so after an early arrival at the race site on race day, around 6:30, I got parked and headed over to the Shavano Park Pavilion, near where the City of Shavano Park government offices are located.  I did not realize there was going to be a Catholic Mass first thing in the morning. I am not Catholic, so I just followed along with others as he Mass was done. I’ll tell you what….that was a lot of standing up, sitting down, standing up again at various parts of the mass, etc, almost like a pre-race warm up.  Catholics must really get a good workout during mass  😉. After the mass was over, I then wandered around chatting with others, and getting a few pre-start photos of some of the participants, volunteers, and supporters.  There were even a few dogs there also, so they did get treats from me.  Having gotten there early, I had quite a while to wait, as the Kid’s Run started at 7:50 a.m., and the 5K started at 8:25 a.m.  From results posted, there were 183 finishers for the 5K, so a pretty nice turn-out on a Sunday morning.

 On The Course:  The start/finish line was across the street from where the city offices are, so we all walked to Northwest Military Highway, where several police officers were stopping traffic to let us cross over the road and get to the start/finish area. After we got near the start/finish chute, I saw that my friends from iaap – a top-notch race management company – were doing the timing and results, so I gave them a shout-out and got a photo of them.  The kids did their kids run; and then the rest of us got lined up for the main event.  The National Anthem was played and then we headed onto the course. 

The course was an out-and-back done on paved roads in this Shavano Park neighborhood that is across from the city offices.  These were pretty wide roads, so everyone had plenty of manuevering room. The first part of the course was pretty flat, and we went past some pretty nice homes too….some of them really large; dang, my whole house would have fit into some of the yards we passed, with room to spare.  I did my usual run/walk thing – 8 minutes running/2 minutes walking – and took on-course photos during my walk breaks.  I thought, wow this is a nice place to run, with wide flat streets and lots of things to see.  Well, I spoke too early, lol, because pretty soon the hills showed up. We went down a first long hill; then up another fairly long hill; then down another one, then up another to finally get to the turn-round point.  After the turn-round, we then went down the hill, then up that long hill we had come down as we headed to the turn-round point….and those hills pretty much lasted all the way to just past the mile 2 marker, so we definitely got a workout, lol.  For the most part, I pretty much ran non-stop to the finish after I hit the turn-round point, ignoring my watch beeping “walk break time” and  only did a few ‘quickie stops” to get a couple more on-course photos. When I hit the Mile 2 marker, I went non-stop to the finish. I ended up with a chip-time of 44:38, averaging a 14:22 per mile pace, which was good enough for being 3^rd in my 70-99 males age group.  
 

After My Finish:   I got a few photos of others coming into the finish and some of other finishers that got done before me.  After that, it was back across the street to the main pavilion area. When I did get back across the street, I discovered there is a Sunday vendors fair held here, selling all kinds of various products, as well as food and drink.  As I was walking through this area, looking at it all, one nice vendor handed me a bottle of gatorade, thank you very much, that hit the spot.  Back at the pavilion, I chatted with more participants and volunteers, and watched the awards ceremony, and also got a few more photos.  There were even a couple more dogs there, so I handed out some more doggie treats. 

Epilogue:   This is a very nice venue for a race with very wide streets to accommodate all participants, and very little traffic on a Sunday morning.  Where I was at any given time, the drivers that were out there were very accommodating and careful, and some even gave us a little “toot of the horn” to cheer us on.  This is a very friendly environment to get in a run or walk. Some of the neighborhood dogs even came to their fence-lines to “woof us on”, lol.  I did give a couple of them some treats, but only if their human was in the yard with them, to make sure it was okay.  

Veronica’s Journey 5K is definitely a keeper event on my race calendar.  Very nice quality race shirt too.  I do so many races over the year that I am running out of drawer space for my race shirts, lol, but this one is a keeper.   

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us, e.g.,  Chrissie and Mitch for founding this event – and also helping others benefit from it via their endowment; all the many volunteers and supporters out there for us;  the law enforcement officers there for our safety; iaap for doing their usual great job with course set-up, timing, and results; the priest who did the Mass; as noted, I’m not Catholic, but I could tell he did a really good job – and he even told us a couple of good jokes, lol.

Next up for me is the Cleftstrong 5K on October 4^th.   Still waiting for the date for when my skin cancer treatments will start but, as my doc told me, he wants me running to help me keep strong for the treatments I will be underoing.  As he told me at my last appointment:  ‘regular, moderate running strengthens your immune system by increasing blood circulation and mobilizing immune cells to better detect and fight off pathogens.”  Well, I certainly AM a moderate runner, lol, with only 2 speeds:  slow and slower.     I plan to keep on doing my run/walk thing, but don’t mind walking either. I’m just going to take it one day at a time, one race at a time, and see how it goes.

Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it and may you have much success at it and always stay safe doing it!    If you are a fellow race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out. I’d be happy to get a photo with you.   

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/s7XvN6JNqWA15b2X6

Before The Start:  My 52^nd  race of 2025 was The Activate 5K held on Sunday, September 20^th at North Star Mall in  San Antonio, Texas.  Since the course was going to be in the Mall area, pre-race instructions recommended that participants should be at the mall area not later than 6 a.m., as some entrances to the mall would be blocked off before the start, as a safety measure for when the event started at 7 a.m.

I arrived at the Mall around 5:45 and two traffic-control volunteers directed me to some pretty good parking that was just a short walk to the start/finish area. I had already picked up my race packet prior to race day so after getting to the finish area, I enjoyed chatting with other participants, supporters, friends I saw there, and getting a few pre-start phtos. The crowd near the start/finish and sponsors vendor area was quite large, consisting of race sponsors, vendors, personal friends and supporters of participants; medical people on site, and lots more. Someone told me there were probably around 5,000 total people there between participants, vendors, law enforcement folks, medical folks, and lots more. I don’t know if that total is accurate, but it surely was a nice turn-out for this event.

 On The Course:   We started right on time. Sunrise is beginning to get a little later in our neck of the woods, so when we started at 7 a.m., it was just beginning to get lighter as we all started.  Since I am not allowed to run yet, after having a recent surgery, I walked the course, making sure to line up pretty far back so as not to impede any runners. The race route was 2 looops around the mall grounds, with the largest part being on a huge parking lot.  My first thought, on hearing this was a 2-loop course was that, ummm, the faster runners may catch up to the “back of the pack” slower people – like me, lol, when I walk; I am one very slow walker –  when they start their 2^nd loop.  As a matter of fact, when I was on my first loop, some of my speedy friends already on their 2^nd loop did come whooshing right by me, lol. I just got out of their way and cheered them on, and then kept on plugging away.  Per my recorded finish time, I finished in 1 hour, 14 minutes and 11 seconds chip time, averaging 23:53 per mile. Per my garmin, my splits:  Mile 1: 24:54;  Mile 2: 22:43; and Mile 3: 23:07. I did stop along the way several times to get some on-course photos. I was just happy I made my primary goals, lol: finish standing up and no ambulance waiting specifically for me at the finish line. Overall, with what the organizers had to work with, it was a a very well done event and where I was at any given time, I never did see anyone impeded; of course, I was way at the back, lol, so don’t know what happened with the speedy runners on their second loop as they got closer to the back-of-the-pack people.  Even so, it was a thoughful course laid out nicely by the organizers and race management company iaap.  

After My Finish:   I got some water and some post-race goodies, that included some bananas, water, and other things; I think there were some vendors there that also offered some post-race goodies.  I am not sure if the overall placers got awards.

Epilogue:  This was a very nicely done event with a well-thought out route by iaap and the orgainziers, providing enough room for all to maneuver – at least from what I saw where I was on the course at any given moments.  The parking situation, with alerts to be there early, was also well done; I actually got parked pretty darn quickly.  All the volunteers out there for us were great, and there was a water station on the course also, with very efficient volunteers.  There was no race shirt, as far as I could tell; but I get that, it’s a free race, so the cost goes to keeping it a free race, which makes sense, what with road closures, hiring the timing people; providing all those port-a-potties, and other expenses.  All-in-all, my first Active 5K was a pretty nice experience.  I would probably do another one again and would recommend it to others.

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participant: the many sponsors for this one, with Ancira Auto Group being the primary sponsor; and other sponsors included Academy Sports + Outdoors; Biobridge Global; Frost Bank; Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages; The Capital Group; and TSAOG Orthapaedics.

Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it and may you have much success at it and always stay safe doing it!    If you are a fellow race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out. I’d be happy to get a photo with you.  Next up for me: Veronica’s Journey 5K on Septemember 27^th.  I did also  sign up for the SNIPSA 5K in Alamo Heights on September 26, but I donated that registration since that course is very hilly, and my doc does not want me to push myself like that just yet, as I may soon be starting my skin cancer treatments; it’s all good; I hate to see a paid registration go to waste so I asked the organizers to donate my entry to a fellow veteran or to a fellow cancer survivor – maybe a veteran who also is a fellow survivor;  but I left it up to the Race Director.  Meanwhile, pushing on as best I can and looking forward to running again as soon as my cancer doc clears me for that.

Photos are here:    https://photos.app.goo.gl/MsbP7C7crEptVp3K7  

Before The Start: My 51^st race of 2026 was the e-Dragon Run Festival, held on August 30^th at Comanche Park in San Antonio.  Aside from the 5K, events included a half-marathon; a 10K, a Kid’s Run, and a 1-miler.   E-Dragon Productions put this event on, with an entry fee of only $5, as a thank to you all the running community for its support over the years to e-Dragon events, community runs, etc.  There were 32 finishers for the half-marathon; 96 finishers for the 10K; 131 finishers for the 5K; and 22 finishers for the 1-miler.  I arrived pretty early to get some good parking and then got my race bib and a race shirt. The way packet pickup worked was that eac participant reported to the packet pickup table where he/she was given a a bib number and a race shirt. As this is a run festival, there was no specific race shirt for the event. Instead you got a shirt that was a race shirt from a race that had been done in San Antonio and running areas near San Antonio, such as New Braunfels, etc. I got one from a New Braunfels race. The race bib was also like that. I got a bib from the Texas Showdown event, which was appropriate, as I actually have done the Texas Showdown 5K in the past. After getting my packet, I then wandered around before the start, chatting with others and getting some pre-start photos.

 On The Course:  Prior to the start of all the event, The National Anthem was played and then we all going. The 1-miler was the first to go, starting at 7 a.m. The half-marathon participants also started around 7 a.m.  The 10K started about 10 t0 15 minutes after that, and we 5K folks got going around 7:30 a.m. I did my usual thing of run 8-minutes/walk 2-minutes and took some photos durng my walk breaks. Our course route took us onto a paved trail, taking us left toward a paved trail and then we went past a trail on our left; we turned right and went past this trailhead, going back  in the direction of the start/finish line. This trail took us past the start/finish area on our right, then up near the park’s large parking lot on our right. We went down the trail, crossed over a short bridge and continued onto the paved trail on the other side of the bridge, with Salado Creek on our left. This trail took us to another bridge that we crossed – a longer bridge than the first one, with some views of the creek on our left and right, and when several people were on the bridge at the same time the darn thing shook.  After the bridge, we went underneath an overpass on Rigsby Road, and then went down a fairly short, not too steep down incline, that took us past a course water-station where several volunteers were cheering on the participants. Past the water station, we then had some down inclines for quite a while, and then a bit of flat, and then a long down incline, and then flat part of the course that got the 5K folks to our turn-round. I looked at my Garmin and it said 1.7 miles..what? So I thought this course would be longer than a 5K, but it was not, which I will explain further on down in my report. After my turn-round, I saw Peggy coming toward me, almost right behind me, lol.  She and I often do a lot of the same races over the year and even when I run non-stop at times, she continues to stay almost right behind me, lol. She walks almost faster than I run.  After the turn-round, I did go mostly non-stop to the finish with just a few very short photo stops, and then was off-and-running again. We recrossed the first bridge we had gone out on, and then went back past the parking lot, this time on our left, and then we went straight back to the finish.  I ended up with a chip-time of 45:51, averaging 15:10 per mile.  I was 4^th out of 4 in my 70-99 males age group. Peggy was still just about right behind me, lol, and she finished first in her age group. I also noticed the 5K distance was spot-on, 3.14 miles, and I found out why from Kristine Burciaga: we did not go to the finish line the way we had come out from the start line. Instead, once back near the parking lot, we went straight to the finish line, so we would not have to pass by the start/finish line again on our way back. So this was why the 5K turn-round had been 1.7 miles, to make the distance an exact 5K.  Very well done, and much appreciated as, once we saw that finish line, we just wanted to go right to it, lol. Thank you, Kristine and Erik for doing that for us.

After My Finish:  I stood near the finish line for a bit, getting a few photos of others finishing, and cheering on other finishers as they came in, including several of my friends. As with the shirts, there were finisher medals froma variety of local area races on a table near the finish line, and participants could browse through them and take – one to a customer – a finisher medal they liked. I took one to throw in my bag of medals I have at home, to give to the disabled kids at Morgan’s Wonderland when I collect enough medals. After that, I went over to the tent of my friend Gilbert, who always has a post-race banana and chair waiting for me.  After relaxing a bit, I then wandered around some more, chatting with participants, supporters, volunteers, etc., handing out some more dog treats, and getting some after photos.      

Epilogue:   This is a very nicely done event by e-Dragon, and unique too, with the variety of race shirts and medals available. Post race goodies included various energy bars, fruits, watermelon, water,  beer, and other sundries from the sponsors.  The route is very well thought out for the 5K –  mostly flat with just a few hills, but very ‘easy’ hills, nothing like, say, The Rim, Eisenhower Park, or Pearsall Park. If, in a few more years, e-Dragon puts this festival on again, I would certainly do it again and I would recommend it to others.

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants:  e-Dragon (Kristine and Eric are awesome); all the many sponsors that were out there for us, as well as the law enforcement folks there for our safety; our music-and-sound guy, Paul; iaap for all the timing and results; and the patience of the non-participant users of the park who were doing their own thing while we were out there; and to anyone else involved I may not have mentioned.  Thank you all.  Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it and may you have much success at it and always stay safe doing it!    If you are a fellow race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out. I’d be happy to get a photo with you. Next up for me:  my skin cancer biopsy on Sep 1^st;  this will be my 5^th battle with cancer;  a little nervous about this one, but so far so good; beat the previous ones and, with the help of my very supportive wife, I will beat this one too.  Appreciate any thoughts and prayers for good results.

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/BpgaFhxdMP287E2r8

Before The Start:  My 50^th race of 2026 was the Mascarita Run 5K, put on by Andiamo Productions. The event was held on Sunday, August 23, at Greenline Park on Brooks, formerly Brooks Air Force Base and then Brooks City-Base, but now just known as Brooks. I got an early start to get here as I could not exactly remember how to get to the race site, even though I’ve done this event a couple years back. I even stopped at the San Antonio State Mental Hospital and asked the gate guard for directions, telling him, yeah, I have trouble remembering things at times and he jokingly told me, “Well, maybe you should just come on in here.”  Lol. He got me pointed in the right direction and I finally found the place, but it took me a while. I left home around 6 a.m. and finally found the place just before 7 a.m., good grief; as noted, directionally challenged even with phone directions or a map, lol.  I luckily got some good parking in spite of their being 300+ participants for this one.  As I went down to packet pickup, I met two friends I had not seen for quite a while. They were there with their son, so we got a few photos with each other; very nice to see them again.  After I got my packet I then wandered around getting some pre-start photos and chatting with volunteers, runners, supporters, vendors, etc. There was a lot going on at this event, and the area was very crowded with participants, volunteers, supporters, iaap folks getting setup to do the timing and results, and so forth. This is also a dog friendly event, so I handed out a few dog treats,  I was very popular with the dogs, lol.

 On The Course:   After a short prayer and the playing of The National Anthem, we all got going. As there were so many participants, the start was a bit ‘staggered’ with faster runners going first and then the rest of us being released in groups of various sizes, in an attempt to have us spread out and not crowd the course too much. The route was on really nice paved trails, with a few up-and-down inclines, but nothing you could really call a hill. I did my usual 8-minutes running/2 minutes walking thing and took some photos during my walk breaks. The first part of the course was open to the sky, making it feel a bit warm  – 78 degrees at the start, with humidity around 73% at start time, so it did not really feel all that humid, which was nice. After we crossed a park road, we then went onto a paved trail that had lots of trees along the way, so had some nice shade as we went toward our first turn-round. We did cross one bridge -which, amazingly did not shake when lots of participants were on it – and we also went under an overpass twice, once on the way out, once on the way back. I made the first turn-round – I soon found out there were two on this course – and then headed for Mile 2.  Once we went back under the overpass, we were then back on the non-shady part of the course. We followed the paved trail we had come out on, recrossed the bridge and I though we’d go back to the finish the way we’d come out. Nope. Instead after we came to a trailhead intersection, we turned right, away from the start/finish area and went out about another half-mile, where whe had to climb a fairly long, but not too steep, uphill that took us to a second turn-round. After that we then went back toward the finish, having some really nice water views on our left, and I even saw a couple of people fishing from the bank. We would around another curve or two and finally could see the finish line, yay.  I ended up with a chip time of 47:55, 2^nd in my 70-99 males age group that had only 2 of us, and the first guy finished 6 minutes ahead of me.

After My Finish:  I stood near the finish line for a bit, getting a couple of photos of others finishing. After that, I went and got some water and found a nice shady place to sit for a bit and began hydrating. I also handed out a few more treats to the dogs. One of them had recognized me on the course as the treat guy, lol, and stopped to get a biscuit from me, which I did give him. His lady human had to pull him along for a couple minutes after that, lol.  I was in the same proximity as them for most of the course and the lady was very loving and careful with him, not letting him run excessively in this warm weather; they did a lot of walking during the last couple of miles, which is the only way I managed, lol, to stay ahead of them. I gave doggie a couple more treats after they finished. I continued wandering here-and-there, getting more photos and chatting with lots of people.  The MC gave me a shout-out for completing my 50^th race of the year, and to my friend Ralph for completing his 51^st race of the year. There was also quite a variety of goodies, lots of water, of course, some various types of candy bars, and the vendors were also passing out some goodies.

Epilogue:  This was a nicely organized event by Andiamo with a very nice course. I heard this course was supposed to have been originally been done at Mission County Park but some other organization reserved it for an event before Andiamo did. I don’t mind at all;  I like this park much better. I think the trails are a lot better – and a lot less hills too – and the scenery at this park is way nicer than that of Mission County Park. I hope they just keep the event at this park.  There were also indoor restrooms, but very small ones – 2 stalls in the women’s and the men’s restrooms –  compared to the restrooms at Mission County Park; wow, before the start, the line for the women’s restroom was really long. The men had a line too, but nothing as long as the women had. Other than that, everything was pretty “hunky-dory”.   Now that I do know how to get to this park, lol, I’d d this one again and would recommend it to others. 

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants:  All the Andiamo people; iaap for doing the course setup, timing, and results; all the many volunteers and others it took to put this event on, e.g., packet pickup, course marshals, our music-and-sound-guy; the police officers out there for us; all the sponsors/vendors who contribute to paying for everything; and a shout-out to all the dogs I became new friends with, lol.

Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it and may you have much success at it and always stay safe doing it!    If you are a fellow race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out. I’d be happy to get a photo with you.

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/WuNiTCPXo9uiQvZY7

Before The Start: My 49^th race of 2026 was the Little Comets 5K, held in Castroville, Texas on Saturday, August 22, starting and finishing in a parking area across from St. Louis Catholic School and near a very large Catholic church.  I’m not sure how many participants there were, as this was a pretty-laid back event, self-timed, with no results posted and no post-race awards, although all participants did get a pretty nice quality race shirt. Scheduled start time of 8 a.m. Since I live about 5 or 6 miles from the San Antonio Airport, this was quite a long drive to Castroville; and, of course, me being directionally challenged, lol, I actually passed the race site and had to turn around and come back.  I saw that my friend, Ralph, was doing this one too. After getting my race shirt, I wandered around chatting with other people and taking a few a few pre-start photos.  When race start time came around, the crowd had grown quite a bit, so I guess-timate that there were about 200 or so total participants. There was a pre-start prayer; then the National Anthem was played, and we got started after that.

 On The Course:  The course took us through a very nice residential area with very wide roads, lots of nice homes, and lots of shade trees on several parts of the course, which was nice, as it was very sunny, with a temp In the upper 70s, and the humidity was around 83%.  Also nice was several of the volunteers and organizers of this event were driving up-and-down the course in jeeps, 4-wheelers, etc., and they had lots of water with them, offeriing water to anyone on the course who wanted it; so a few mobile water statons for we participants, lol.  There were also several dogs in their yards along the way, some of whom actually growled at me…until they got a treat from me and then they were soooo friendly, lol. I did my usual thing of 8-minute-run/2-minutes walk and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks.  After hitting Mile 2, I pretty much ran almost non-stop the last mile to the finish, with a couple of quick stops to throw treats to a couple more dogs.  My garmin showed my finish time as 45:56, averaging a 14:41 pace. Mile 1: 14:18. Mile 2 – which had the long uphill before we got to Mile 2 – 15:17; and Mile 3: 14:33.

After My Finish: I got a few photos of some other participants coming into the finish and photos of other finishers. After that I did a short cool-down walk and then went to my car and sat in the a/c for a few minutes as I rehydrated with some iced down water and gatorade I had brought with me.  After that, I was out-and-about again, chatting with participants and supporters while getting a few after-photos. Finally, it was time of the long drive home; but, as retired military, I have access to the military bases, so I stopped at JBSA Lackland first – it did not take long at all to get there, going straight up 90 East – to take a shower and get into some dry clothes; very convenient. Two of the gym staff members are friends and fellow runners, so I chatted with him and her for a while, and then it was back to home where I pretty much spent most of the day being pretty lazy, lol.

Epilogue:  This is a very nicely done event, with lots of good people and a very good route.  After I was done, I texted Gail that I was done – and tired from that very long drive and probably would not do this one again….but, of course, that was my ‘tired talk” coming out; I probably would do this one again in the sometime future.  Meanwhile, for now, as most of you know, I will be starting my appointments for the skin cancer I was found to have; my doctor gave me a very good prognosis about that, and told me also he defintely wanted me to keep on running, as the better shape I’m in the better I’ll be able to fight it; makes sense to me; so you will probably continue to see me at races.  Hey, I’ve beaten my cancers (3 types) 4 times before and I am confident I will beat this one too.

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants:  All the school staff members out there for us; the race sponsors; all the volunteers helping with the event; our mobile water-station guys; and I saw a couple of law enforcement folks driving around the course too, so thanks to them for watching out for us; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all! Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it and may you have much success at it and always stay safe doing it!    If you are a fellow race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out. I’d be happy to get a photo with you

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/7MMkKuc996pE1mRi8

Before The Start:  My 48^th race of 2026 was the 5^th race of e-Dragon Summer Series 5Ks, held on Sunday, August 16.  This was my second event of the weekend after having done the Dragon’s Den 5K on August 15^th at the upper Pearsall Park area, VERY hilly 5K that included off-road trails and paved greenway trails. The event the day before this one had a half marathon; a 10K; and a 5K, so there were significantly more particitpants than at Sunday’s event.  Iaap results for this last Summer Series 5K show a total of  

The Summer Series 5Ks are a series of 5 races held at various San Antonio parks with the courses being on the paved Greenway trails.  If participants complete all 5 races, then after finishing the 5^th race, they receive a very nice Series medal that holds all the ‘finisher coins” received for each race.  I did not participatete in one of the 5 races so did not qualify to get that Series Finisher medal, which is okay; I enjoyed the ones I did participate in. The Summer Series events raise funds for the San Antonio Running Scholarship. I arrived at the park with just under an hour go until start time, got my packet, and then got some pre-start photos.  This was a smaller event than the one I did the day before this one, as the only event was the 5K. Results from iaap, which did the timing, show a total of 110 participants for this one. After arrival, I got my packet and then got a few pre-start photos.  This is also a dog-friendly event so I handed out a few treats to the dogs there.

 On The Course: We started right on time.  The National Anthem was played and then we all got going. After that VERY hilly 5K at Pearsall Park the day before this one, my legs felt happy that this course was mostly pretty flat with just a couple of uphill and downhill inclines, but nothing you could really call a major hill, thankfully. The course was a simple out-and-back.  I did my usual thing of 8-minutes-running/2-minutes walking, and took a few on-course photos during my walk breaks.  After making the turn-round, I then pretty much ran almost non-stop to the finish, with just some very short quickie stops to get a few more “quickie stops” to get a few more on-course photos, and for the last mile I pretty much ran non-stop.  I ended up 3^rd, in my age group, with a chip time of 46:05 averaging 14:50 per mile; much better than my 5K the day before, with all those steep hills that had me walking more and endiing with a time of 52:56.  The age group award is a printed certificates which has a code on it that can be used for a discount when registering for for a future e-Dragon event, nice.

After My Finish: I got a few photos of some other participants coming into the finish and photos of other finishers. After that I did a short cool-down walk and then went to the tent of my friend Gilbert whom I often see at races I do.  He always has a nice setup for participants, with various fruits available, as well as water, and he always offers me a chair to sit in and relax for a bit before I out again to get some more post-race photos.  Gilbert is a class-act-guy, very supportive of the local running community. He is also a cyclist, and the distances he rides sometimes amazes me.  

Epilogue: As usual for e-Dragon – owned by my friends Kristine and Erik Burciaga – this is a well done event, and a really nice medal for all who did all 5 of the Summer Series 5Ks. Also, by the way, some of the Burciaga children are runners too. They may be small and young but, dang, they usually pass me by like I’m standing still and are way ahead of me on the course, lol. Sometimes they take a walk break, and I get ahead of them, but not for very long; shoot, even their little daughter was passing me by, lol.  I think all these kids are going to eventually end up with running scholarships.

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants:  my friend, Johnny, who was helping set up, and also directed me to a parking lot that was closer to the start/finish area; the Burciaga family, of course, who put on all these events; iaap that did the timiing and results for us; the official photographers there for us, taking some before, on-course, and after-photos; the law enforcement and EMT folks there for us; the ladies who did race-day packet pickup for us – including my friend Stephanie who is usally in a year a volunteer for more races than I complete; all the sponsors/vendors that supported this event and series; our MC, Anthony, who did his usual great job for us; and anyone else involvled I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!   Next up for me:  my appointment with my do to find out about my 5^th bout of cancer I will be dealing with, and then my biopsy appointment after that. I’m not sure how this will affect my running life – have to wait for the biopsy results – but from what my Dermatologist doc told me, I should be able to stay pretty active, which would be a blessing.  Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it and may you have much success at it and always stay safe doing it!    If you are a fellow race participant and see me at an event, give me a shout-out. I’d be happy to get a photo with you.

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/zNzFFQRcQZ4Be1927        

Before The Start:   My 47^th race of 2026 was the Dragon’s Den 5K put on by e-Dragon Productions at Pearsall Park on August 15^th. There were 4 events:  a half marathon; a 10K; and a 5K, with the half starting first, followed by the 10K, and then the 5K started last.  There was also a Kid’s Run after the main events finished.  Race management company did the timing and results, which show there were 42 finishers for the half-marathon; 64 finishers for the 10K; and 116 finishers for the 5K.

 On The Course:  In a word:  HILLY! No matther which event you were doing, all the courses started on pavement near the start/finish line and then went onto an off-road trail and began climbing….and climbing….and climbing on both uphills and downhills.  The course going up-and-down these hills was a  mix of dirt, gravely areas, and a bit of grassy areas. These were no baby hills either; these were fairly steep up-and-down climbs. About a half-mile into the course we were so high that we could see parts of what used to be Kelly Air Force Base – now known as Kelly Field Annex and is a neighbor of Port San Antonio.  We had quite some views of the surrounding area from the top of that hill. We then went downhill – a long and steep downhill –  turning onto a trail that took us to a paved part of the course; well, sort of paved; it was a mix of some pavement, gravely areas, and dirt; but hey, at least it was mostly flat, lol.  For those of us doing the 5K, there was a turn-round sign for us on this part of the course. After doing the turn-round, we then went back in the direction we had come, passing by a water station.  After passing the water station we then turned onto a paved concrete trail – and flat, thankfully, lol – that took us on a loop course through a wooded area; it was actually a pretty nice trail.  This loop included going through part of the Lower Pearsall Park; I kept thinking, dang, I hope I didn’t miss a turn; but nope, participants of all 3 races used this trail; I saw my speedy friend, who was doing the half, coming toward me – and then passing me like I was standing still and she told me all was good, participants from all events had to do this loop. OK, lol, so I did no get myself lost, and kept on trucking.  I finally came out of that loop and saw the water station I had passed when I began it so, whew, I was on track.  Right after the water station, we then climbed up the long, steep  hill we had come down to get to the paved trail. This was one long, steep climb. I ran the majority of it – at a very slow pace, lol, and got a couple of photos on the way up.  After cresting the hill, we then went toward the finish line, but did we get to go right to it? Nope, we made a turn onto the off-road trail we had started on and did it in reverse; s once again we were climbing some pretty steep hills, getting a second view of Kelly and the surrounding area.  When I finally reached the level part of this trail that we had started on, I ran non-stop to the finish and, whew! I was so happy to get to that finish line, lol.  I ended up with a pretty slow chip time time of 52:56, averaging 17:02 per mile, but I was quite satistifed with that. I aslo ended up 2^nd in my age group, mainly because there were only two in my age group, lol.  The first guy in my age group, Tom, beat me in by a good 14 minutes, lol.    With my spinal arthritis, off-road trails are pretty hard on my back, but I’ve been doing exercises my physical therapist gave to me and he told me I still have some back issues – expecially with my facet joint that helps you bend twist, etc – but it is stronger than it was before; so when I asked him about doing this one, he told me to just give it a try and see what happens, and if I had to, just walk more on the trails.  I love this guy and after I got done I called him and told him I was going to give him a big kiss, lol, the next time I saw him.

After My Finish: I was actually feeling pretty good after my finish.  I got my finisher medal and some water to get rehydrated – I had also made sure to hydrate before the start too, as this lovely Texas weather at our 7:15 a.m.  5K start time gave us a temp of 78 degrees with humidity of 84%, gaack.  Thankfully, Mother Nature was a bit kind to us, giving us quite a bit of cloud cover.   I stood near the finish line and got a few photos of others finishing and then chatted with some participants near the finish area, and got some more photos. There were also a few dogs present at this event, so I handed out some dog treats too.  After that, I wandered around the event area, chatting with other participants and supporters and getting a few more photos.  I also saw that my friend, Gilbert, had a tent at this one, so went to visit with him for a bit.  At the same races he and I are at he always has a chair for me to relax in for a bit post-race and also a banana for me, as well as an electrolytes recovery drink.  Gilbert is a super-great guy, very supportive of the local running community.  He is also quite a cyclist, riding some really long distances. After getting that banana and drink in me, felt much better, and continuued wandering here-and-there, getting a few more post-race photos.

Epilogue: As usual for e-Dragon – owned by my friends Kristine and Erik Burciaga – this is a well done event, with nice finisher medals; a really nicely designed race shirt, and unique age-group award medals. There werer severa; ‘eats’ after the finish too, including turkey legs; varous kinds of snacks; iced down bottled water and also iced down small towels to put on the back of your neck or on your head to help you cool down; one of those photo things that you stood on whlie a thing went spinning around you to get photos –  I passed on that; I’m kind of a klutz at times and would have gone flying off that thing, lol. There were also a few different kinds of backdrops to stand in front of for photos.  It was a pleasure seeing a lot of my friends here, as well as several other participants I see at several races I do over the year.   I noticed, sadly, that one participant was taken away by ambulance – I don’t like to speculate but  maybe possible dehydration, it really was very warm out there – but I hope everything turns out okay for him.   Mucho thanks to all who made this event happen for us:  the many volunteeers and the iaap folks who had to be out there very early to get everything set up, and thanks to iaap for doing the timing and resuits; the EMT folks and the law enforcement officers there for our safety; our MC, Anthony Zamora doing his usual great job for us; and the “official”photograhers at the event taking photos before, during, and after – much better than my amature photos, lol, with my old-time push-button Canon camera; the bike lead folks;  Erik and Kristine who do so much for our running community, as do the iaap folks too; and anyone else here involved that I may not have mentioned.  Thank you all!   Also, I guess I am a glutton for punishment because my next scheduled race is the day after this one – the last race of the e-Dragon Summer Series 5Ks, which will also be at Pearsall Park on August 16; this one starts at the ‘lower Pearsall Park area and probably will have some hills, but at at least this one will all be on the paved trails thankfully.   

Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it and may you have much success at it and always stay safe doing it!    If you are a fellow runner and see me at an event, give me a shout-out. I’d be glad to get a photo with you.

Photos are here: Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/2bRiNqiwySibRAdu8       

Before The Start:  My 46^th race of 2026 was the Watermelon Dash held on August 9^th at Mission County Park.   Each of the events include a 5K; a 10K; and a kid’s run.  This event is part of a series of races put on by Houston Run Company: The Lemonade Dash; The Popsicle Dash; and the Watermelon Dash being the last one, all held at Mission County Park.  I did the 5K for all 3 of them. For this 5K, there were 121 finishers per results posted on RunSignUp.  Not sure how many participants did the 10K.  I arrived pretty early – around 5:30 a.m, and some of my friends were there even earlier – so found pretty good parking, and we all waiting for race-day packet pickup to be opened.  After I got my packet, I got my bib on and then went and chatted with a few of the Park Police law enforcement officers there, that I had met at previous events.  Because I do so many races, I am running out of drawer space for running shirts; so, like I now usually do, I got a Youth Medium Shirt. I asked the officers if they had any kids or grandkids, and one did have a grandson; so, since he was working the event, I gave him my Youth Medium shirt to give to his grandson. After that, wandered around some more getting a few more pre-start photos, and before I knew it, it was time to start.

 On The Course:  Both the 5K and 10K had a start time of 7:30 a.m. and started together. The temperature at start time 7:30 a.m. start time was 78 degrees, with around 87% humity and just about no cloud cover, althouh we did have some short shade spots along the course, and also went under several overpass bridges that gave us bried moments of shade. The river was on our right on the way to the turn-round, and on our left coming back.  Both events were out and back, with the 5K doing one loop and the 10K doing 2 loops.  I never got this about the 10K folks doing 2 loops, as the turn-round was a bridge along the course – the usual turn-round for 5Ks done on this course. I think the 10K folks proably could have crosssed the bridge and then gone to the a turn-round on the other side and then they would have had to do only 1 loop also; but it is what it is. I did my usual thing of 8-minutes-running/2-minutes walking and got some on-course photos during my walk breaks. The only flat parts of the course was from the start line area up to where we exited the park and went onto the Riverwalk; and a short part of the course just before we got to the turn-round sign. The longest hills on the course were the ones that took us up to the course water-station, and then down a long hill as we headed for the turn-round. After the turn-round, we then did these hills in reverse, and it was quite a climb back up to the water station.  I had done a 5K at The Rim in San Antonio, the day before this one and that one was VERY hilly, even more hills than this event so, feeling those hills a bit as I went along, I also took a few very short walk breaks on the way back – mabye 30 seconds or so, as well as my garmin-notice walk breaks, and also stopped very briefly to get a couple more photos. My last mile was just about all. After the start, since we came downhill to get onto the Riverwalk  that meant, of course, after all those hills we had to climb one last hill before getting back into the park and then going to the finish line. I ended up with a chip time of 48:57, averaging 15:44 per mile, and my last mile was a negative split, 3 minutes faster than my mile 2 time. I ended up first in my age group – I think I was the only one in my age group, lol – so not only got a finisher medal, I also got a nice ribbon and medal for being first in my age group.  

After My Finish:  I got a few more photos of some other finishers coming in, and then headed to Rover – the name of my SUV, lol – to sit in my car with the air-conditioning blowing full blast. As I was getting ready to wind down a bit, a guy with TV camera came over and asked if he could interview me; sure, why not; so we had a question-and-answer session; very nice guy.  I did not realize until later that night, after I got home this was a camera guy from KENS-TV and I saw myself on the eventing news for all of about a minute or so, lol.  There were 2 other participants in that segment too; one lady in a wheel chair whom I had met at previous events and I was sitting nearby when Camera Guy interviewed her; she did really well; and the 3^rd guy on camera I did not know.  That was pretty cool, beiing on TV…my 30 seconds of fame, lol. After that, I did sit in Rover with the a/c on full blast while I cooled down and got rehydrated with some iced-down gatorade and water I had brought with me.  Ahh, felt much better. After that I began wandering around, getting some more after-photos and sampling some of the post-race goodies that vendors/sponsors were offering. This one group of ladies had this really tasty electrolyte drink, and they gave you a sampling of it in a very small paper cup.  I told them I wanted more than that, lol. They told me finish the water in my water bottle – which I did – and then they filled up my bottle with this drink and I drank that on the way home; now I can’t remember the name of the stuff, but dang, it sure is good. There was an awards ceremony with awards given to the top 3 overall male and female finishers, and the top 3 masters overall male and female. You could also check with a vounteer to see where you placed in your age group and if you were first, you got another ribbon that had printed on it “Age Group Winner” and also had a small ‘watermelon character’ medal on it; so I came home with two ribbons and two medals.  I think I was the only one in my age goup, lol.

Epilogue:  This series of races is well-done – and kind of like Andiamo races, as they are all held at Mission County Park, with a hilly course. Even so, Mission County Park is a very nice facility with two pavilions, indoor restrooms, and lots of shady area to relax in before and after the event.   I will most likely do this series of events again next year, and I would recommend them to others.  Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants; the race company folks that put up the start/finish line area and did the timing;  the EMT medics out there for us if needed; all the many volunteeers who did packet pickup, course marshalling, water station duty, and more; the Park Police officers out there for us; all the vendors/sponsors who helped pay for everything and offered some nice pre-and-post race goodies, including beer; The race medal and ribbon, as well as the age-group medal and ribbon for those who placed first in his/her age group are also nicely done; also kudos to our MC who did a great job for us; and to the lady who led the pre-start warmup – which I only watched, lol; I’d probably pull something, lol, trying to do those exercises, so I just “saved my body parts” for the race itself.  If you are interested in doing this series of events in the future, here is the company link:  https://houstonrunning.co/series/summer-dash-series/   I tend to do a lot of races over the years – although my friends, Ralph and Woody have done even more races this year than I have; yes, each of us are a little bit crazy, but we sure enjoy ourselves.  

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.