Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/ypNstbujmfK7f22L6

Before the start:  My 11^th race of 2024 was The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Diploma Dash 5K held on February 24 at the UTSA campus.  This is one of my favorite events of the year.  I started working for UTSA in 1996 and have done just about all the Diploma Dash 5Ks since that time. Put on by the UTSA Alumni Association, this event raises scholarship funds for students.  For this event there were 1,214 participants, including runners and walkers. The start time was  8 a.m., although I mistakenly read the wrong RunSignUp site and thought the time was 9 a.m., so got there a bit late.  I had planned to arrive an hour before what I thought the start was, but got stuck in a bit of traffic, so arrived at 8:15 a.m. and the event had already started…duhhhh.  Quickly parked, got my stuff together and then headed over to the start area.  Since everyone had left, I was able to get a nice pre-start photo at the start line with mascots Rowdy Roadrunner and another mascot.  Then I was off on my own to try and catch up to the pack.

On the course:  I did my usual 8-min-run/2-min-walk thing and took a few photos during my walk breaks. I do training runs on campus quite a bit, so knew what to expect from the route.  I started in front of the Convocation Center, went down to a 3-way stop intersection with a parking garage directly ahead of me and made a right turn onto the street leading in the direction of UTSA Boulevard.  Right before going up the hill to the stoplight, I made a left turn and went up a short hill, with parking lots on my left and views of UTSA Boulevard on my right.  At this point, I began to encounter a few other lone participants, mainly walkers, but a couple of runners too, who all told me they too had gotten a late start for various reasons.  After going along this street, I came to an intersection stoplight on my right with a campus road and UTSA Boulevard. The course took me on a left turn, with the traffic light behind me, as I headed in the direction of the Main Building and JPL Library building ahead.  When I came to a 3-way stop, the course had me right turn and proceed on the road that took me up toward the campus parking lot that is across from Valero Headquarters. At this point, I began to catch up with a lot of the walkers already on the course, and a few other runners, some on the other side of the road, coming down the hill, and some on my side, going up.  I ran this hill non-stop to a turn-round and then came back down. Once back at the stop-sign, a right turn took us again in the direction of the Main Building.  I was catching up to more people now, so the course was pretty crowed along here.  Also, for some reason this road was still open to traffic but thankfully the drivers were all very polite and patient with we participants. At a stop sign where the Baurle Parking Garage was directly in front of us, we made a left turn, going in front of the Main Building, then passing by the Alvarez College of Business (ACOB) building. We then turned on a service road that took us alongside the ACOB building, coming out onto a road that went past the UTSA ROTC building. In front of the ROTC building we made a left turn onto a road taking us past the UTSA police station, where there was a water station. I got a photo of the volunteers there and thanked them for being there for us. We then made a right turn on a road that headed in the direction of Loop 1604 and went up yet another steep hill – shorter than the first one we had been on – that took us up and past the Roadrunner Café area. I also ran this hill non-stop, finally catching up to some of my department co-workers I had seen on the first hill, gave them a shout-out and passed them by. At the top of this hill I could see the Loop 1604 frontage road ahead of me.  The course had us turn left onto a road that took us in the direction of some of the student dorms, and past a fairly recently built parking area on the right.  We intersected at a road with the 1604 frontage road on our right and turned left onto this road, heading in the direction of the UTSA baseball field. This was a nice, flat part of the course – at least for a short while, lol.  Once we got to the baseball field area there was another water station, so I got another photo, and then was off again with, as I knew, one hill on the course left to do. After passing by the UTSA track and soccer fields – where the ROTC students do a lot of training in the early a.m. hours before school starts -and rounding a bend in the road, there was the last hill, short but steep, leading up to and past the front entrance of the RACE (Roadrunner Athletics Center of Excellence) building.  Almost done now! Down a short hill past a small traffic circle and then a right turn that took us back to the huge parking lot areas near the UTSA Recreation Center, some of the student dorms and those near the Convocation Center.  We proceeded down to the 3-way stop sign intersection, made a left turn onto a street that showed us the Convo Center on our right, and then turned into the Convo parking lot area to head for the finish.  Most all of the other runners – since they were not idiots like me, lol, and showed up for the correct start time – had already finished, so as I pushed myself strongly for that final little stretch, pretty much with nobody around me, I had a whole LOT of other runners, including several of my running friends, strongly cheering me into the finish, which was very cool.  Because of my late start, I ended up with a terrible gun time finish of over 53 minutes, but my chip time – my ‘race-time’ finish’ – was 40:53, averaging 13:10 per mile, and my last mile was done in 12-minutes and change. I’ll take it!  My age group for this one was 60-99 males – so pretty much every old guy there participating, lol – and my place was 9^th out of 15 in my age group.

 After my finish:  First thing after my finish:  where’s the oxygen?!!  Just kidding. I felt pretty good; did a short cool-down walk, then went in search of some water and post-race goodies and, of course, also began taking some post-race photos – which I call the Happy Finisher photos, because it seems to me more people are smiling after they are done than before and during the event, lol.  I also had brought a jar of dog biscuits with me – hence the nickname my friends gave me, Scottydog, since I treat all the dogs I meet during a race or run – and handed those out too.  I was very popular with the dogs there, lol.  There was also an awards ceremony for those who placed in their age groups. I can’t remember if it was the Top 3 in each age group or just the first overall male and female for the race, the Master’s Division, and each age group.  Either way, I did not have to worry about it, since I only have two paces, lol, slow and slower, and only two race goals: finish standing up and no ambulance at the finish waiting for me specifically. Anything I get after that, lol, is a bonus.  I have a lot of fun doing my chosen races and chatting with my fellow participants and that is quite enough for me.

Epilogue:   As noted at the beginning of my report, this is one of my very favorite events – in my personal Top Ten list of races I like doing – and is always well-done. There is also a great after-party with a ton of various ongoing things, including massage chairs; all kinds of food and drink such as Shiner Beer; Gatorade;  orange juice; milk – I think it was a special kind of milk, but not sure ; water, of course; sausage wraps; all kinds of fresh fruits and lots more;  one of those photo things that you stand on while an ‘arm’ spins around you taking your photo – I passed on that since I’m a klutz and would probably fly right off the thing, lol;  and the mascots were still there for photo ops, as well as this GIANT roadrunner balloon, very cool.  People who don’t organize races probably don’t realize all the work that goes into putting one on and/or having to adjust when the unexpected happens and the poor Race Director has to fix something, come up with a solution, etc. It is very time-consuming to get these organized for we participants, can take up to months in advance to get everything arranged; so big KUDOS to all the people that made this one happen for we participants: the Alumni Association folks; all the many volunteers; the police officers and volunteers who were all out there for us; all those drivers near/along the course showing so much patience with us all; UTSA leadership for their strong support of this event; iaap for the course setup and race timing; iaap is a local-based top-notch family-owned race management company with whom I have the privilege of calling the family members friends; and, of course to all the many sponsors supporting this one; and to any others involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!  The Lord willing, and no Klutz Incidents happening, hope to see you next year at this event!