Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Pn6gsWk1FCnCVcb39
Before The Start: My 54th race of 2026 was the Britta’s Chase 5K held on Saturday, October 3rd 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 5th 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 3rd 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.
