Scottydog Reports

Photos are here:     https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ab8T4kwdEQaQPwfi8   

Before the Start:   My 11^th  5K of 2025 was the Kick Cancer Pep Rally 5K held on March 1^st at Pickrell Park, a 17-acre park in Schertz, Texas.  Formerly the Wilenchik Walk for Life, this event, to quote, “invites the community to come together to rally in support of the many cancer research programs of the UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center (Mays Cancer Center).”  As a University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) staff member, and with UT Health in the process of merging with UTSA, I came out to support our ‘sister university” UT Health, as well as its excellent cancer center. Additionally, as a cancer survivor myself, I try over the year to do as many cancer-related events as I can.  The 5K start time was 9:15 a.m. with a kid’s race before the main event. I arrived at Pickrell Park with just over an hour to start time, got my race bib and my race shirt – a children’s small, which I gave back to the organizers, asking them to donate it for me to a child currently fighting cancer. After that, I wandered here-and-there, chatting with participants, volunteers, supporters, etc., and getting a few pre-start photos.

On the course:  The weather cooperated nicely, with a sunny day, blue skies, no cloud cover, and temp of 61 degrees at the 9:15 start time; my kind of weather, lol. I much prefer running in warm weather than cooler weather.  Before the main event started, there was a kid’s run. The routes for the kid’s run and the main event were both done completely on park grounds, with the kids doing a one-lap course and the 5K participants doing a 3-lap course. I am not a fan of doing laps, lol, but this course was laid out in such a way that you actually did not feel like you were doing laps. We started just up from the park’s main pavilion and then went off-road onto a grass-and-dirt part of the course.  This took us to a trail/sidewalk in the park, upon which we passed a smaller pavilion where volunteers were manning a water station and cheering everyone on.  After passing the water station, we went down more sidewalk and then veered left across a short, grassy area.  This brought onto Aero Street, which was blocked off at both ends for this event.  We made a left turn off the grassy area, went toward Main Street, rounded some cones, and then went back toward the start finish area. After a short distance, we then turned back into the pavilion area, heading for the start/finish line, went over the timing mats once more, and then proceeded to do this same route twice more. I did my usual 8-minues running/2-minutes walking and got some on-course photos during my walk breaks. On my 3^rd lap, I pretty much ran that one non-stop, getting to the finish with a chip-time of 33:18, averaging 10:43 per mile, WHAT?  I knew something was wrong here since I usually do 12 – 14 minute miles, and saw that my garmin had the course distance at 2.5 miles, so the course was short.  In talking with the Race Director after I finished, I found out we were supposed to have gone all the way up Aero Street to the other blocked end and then come back down, before making the turn to where the start/finish line was; apparently some instructions were misunderstood by the volunteer working with Athlete Guild – my friends who did the timing and results for this race – so the result was the course being a bit short. Lester, my friend with Athlete Guild doing the timing, told me yeah, he had gotten questions from several participants about the end-time, lol, with some of them thinking their timing devices were off;  not; the course was a bit short, which Lester confirmed to them.  As for moi, not like I was going to win anything at my slow pace so I was just happy to have met my two primary goals when I do a race:  finish standing up, and no ambulance waiting for me, lol. Anything I get after that is a bonus.

After My Finish:  Despite the short course, this really is a very well-organized event, with, as noted As usual for me, post-race, I wandered here-and-there again, chatting with a lot of people and getting some post-race photos.  There was a nice awards ceremony, with the top 3 in each age group getting an additional medal. They started with the younger folks first; I jokingly told one of the organizers they need to start with we older participants first (I’m 71), so we can get home and get our nap.  There was no 70-and-up age group, so I ended up 6^th in the 60-99 males age group, which is okay.  At my two paces – slow and slower – I don’t expect to get an award anyway, so it’s always a nice surprise when I do get one.

Epilogue:  There were 379 finishers for this one: 173 male and 206 female. A really nicely-done course; very nice quality race tees; finisher medals to all; and a whole lot of goodies and giveaways from the organizers and the sponsors.  They were even giving away bags of apples and oranges to those who wanted them; there was also these ‘clapping hands” thingys (yes, “thingys” is a word, lol) that made a noise when you shook it; and all kinds of food-and-drink items from both the organizers and sponsors such as sports drinks, nutrition bars, water, of course, small hand towels, and lots more.  As usual, I had a pocket full of dog treats, so the doggies there that got them from me – with permission from their humans, of course – soon knew who I was, lol. I was very popular with them.   I enjoyed this event very much and would recommend it to others.  Mucho thanks to all the people who made this one happen for us, e.g.,  Race Director; all the many, many volunteers; the school band musicians that were out there for us; the EMT folks and the police officers in the area for our safety;  also the firefighters there who ran the course in their gear, wow; all the sponsors, of course, who help pay for all this; Athlete Guild for their usual great job of timing and results – which you can find on their Athlete Guild website.  Thank you, and to all, happy-and-safe running, walking,  cycling, or whatever activity is your passion. Next up for me: Active 5K on March 8 at Mission County Park in San Antonio.

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/AXoVhvGo9qkZhaEc6      

Before the Start:   My 10^th race of 2025 was the Trail to Eagle 5K held on Sunday, February 23, with start and finish at Olmos Basin Park in San Antonio. This was my 2^nd race of the weekend, after doing Diploma Dash 5K on Saturday. This even was to help raise funds to help Eagle Scout Thomas Murray with his Eagle Scout community project of building a musical sound garden with outdoor musical instruments, to be installed at McAllister Park.  The weather for this one was much better than for the one on Saturday.  The rain had moved out and we had sunshine and blue skies, with a temp at the 8:30 start time of around 43 degrees, and no wind.  I arrived about 40 minutes before the 8:30 a.m. start time and got some pre-start photos. There were also a few dogs in attendance, so I also handed out treats to them.  I was very popular with the dogs after that, including one specific dog, Dutch, who is very friendly and a real hoot, lol; appropriately named too; he looks just like one of the Dutch Boy Paint dogs I used to see on TV in their commercials when I was growing up.

On the course:  We started in the park, going on the park’s main road. The course took us over to one of to the park’s off-road paved trails.  We did a short stint on this, crossing a wooden bridge and then went across a parking area. This brought us onto Contour Avenue, where we turned right and began a climb up a long hill. It was not all that steep, but it sure was long, lol. When we got to the top, we then turned right – I think this was McCullough Drive but may be mistaken – and then went to a turn-round point. After making the turn-round, we went back to the start/finish line the way we had come out. It was a nicely thought-out course, very accessible to walkers and runners.  I did my usual run/walk thing of 8-minutes-run/2-minutes-walk, and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. After getting back onto Contour Avenue, I ran the last part of the course non-stop to the finish.  I usually do a 5K in about 43 minutes or so, but for this one I managed a chip-time finish of 40:10, averaging 12:56 per mile, which was good enough for first place in my  70-99 males age group.

After My Finish:  I got a few photos of others coming into the finish and then headed back to the area where race-day packet pickup was, along with our music-and-sound-guy, and where the awards ceremony would be. I got a few more photos of participants and supporters and also some photos of those who earned age-group medals.

Epilogue:  Very nicely done event. There were 96 finishers, 64 male and 32 female, so not a huge number, but this only made it feel like a big group of friends had gathered on this day to help this young man out. For the time on the course, since it was out-and-back, as we participants passed each other by, there were lots of supportive call-outs of encouragement, which was nice.  All the volunteers for us on the course were also very supportive, cheering us on.  Post-race, there were grilled sausage wraps, lots of water, of course, and various other things. The goodie bag for this one is pretty nice too, with a nice water bottle, 2 bags of Rico’s Air Popped Popcorn, nicely designed race shirt, and so forth. When I did packet pickup, our Race Director asked me if I had ordered the wrong size shirt.  No, lol.  I do so many races over a year, I am running out of drawer space for them; so I usually order a youth-size shirt, and then donate it to either the Multi-Assistance Center at Morgans Wonderland, which helps kids with disabilities (I was a disabled kid) or to the kids’ cancer ward of UT-Health or Children’s Hospital. Since this event is for a specific project, I don’t know if this is a one-time race or if it will be held again for some other good cause. If so, I will certainly do it again would recommend it to others.  Much thanks to all the people who made this one happen for us, e.g.,  our Race Director and her family members; all the many volunteers; Athlete Guild for course-setup, timing, and results; law enforcement officers out there for our safety; our music-and-sound guy; Thomas, who did a good job with the awards ceremony; iRun Texas for allowing packet pickup at one of its locations; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all! Next up for me:  Kick Cancer Pep Rally on March 1^st, at Pickrell Park.

Photos are here:      https://photos.app.goo.gl/MUgoRNkcTJUJYbD29

Before the Start:  My 9^th race of 2025 was The Diploma Dash 5K on February 2, 2025 at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Hosted by the UTSA Alumni Association, this event was ‘presented’ by primary sponsor North Park Subaru.   The event started and finished in front of The UTSA Convocation Center, a physical ed building where UTSA teams play basketball, volleyball, and more. There was some concern that this event might have to be postponed to a later date, as San Antonio was expected to receive some freezing rain the night before and possibly on the morning of the event. After discussion, the event went on as planned. For having some bad weather predicted, there was still a very nice turn-out, with the 5K having 1,187 finishers, wow.  The weather was a bit chilly – around 37 degrees – but Mother Nature was kind; there was no rain and very little wind. Also, the Convocation Center had been opened for restroom use and lobby use, so it was nice and warm in there for people to get out of the cold for a bit.  I arrived just after 7:15 a.m.   I had picked up my packet a couple of days before Race Day, so enjoyed pre-race chatting with volunteers, other participants, my friends from iaap, the company that did the timing and results for this one; and also handing out treats to the dogs that were there; hence my nickname and race name of Scotty Dogg, since my first name is Scott. I carry dog treats when I run; if one chases me, I toss it in the opposite direction I am going and the dog usually chases that, giving me time to walk away; for the friendly ones, I hand them a treat, with the permission of their humans.   

On the course:  The event started right on time.  Once we got started, it actually was a pretty pleasant event since, as mentioned, we had no wind and no rain coming down on us, sweet. The 5K route is a complete loop around the whole campus.  We started in front of the Convocation Center, proceeding out onto the road in front of the parking lot and then at a stop sign, made a right turn onto the road that headed toward UTSA Boulevard.  When we came in sight of the stoplight at UTSA Boulevard, we turned left, proceeding up a short hill, with a parking area and shuttle bus stops on our left.  This took us to a road where we made another left, now heading in the direction of the business building and Baurle Parking Garage. Before getting there, however, we made a left turn that took us up a long hill toward the East Parking lot.  Atop this hill, we did a turn-round and passed the Mile 1 marker on the way down.  Next, a right turn onto the road we had left to go up the hill, and this took us in the direction of the parking garage and 1604 campus entrance.  We did not go that far.  We turned left onto a side street, with the Business Building on our left, and we could see the North Paseo Building on our right. After we got to the end of this street, we then made a right turn, up  short hill, and then a left turn that took us past the campus police station. At the end of this street, a right turn took us up a fairly steep hill – but short, thankfully, as we headed in the direction of 1604.  At the top of this hill, a left turn took us onto a road that took us past the 2-Mile maker and onto Tobin Avenue.  We stayed on this road for a while, passing on our left the campus track and the Roadrunner Athletics Center of Excellence (RACE) building, and then had one more mid-steep hill to climb. After cresting that, we then passed a traffic circle, and made a left turn onto the road that took us back to the parking area for the UTSA Recreation Center and Convocation Center. A left turn at the 3-way stop brought us back to the Convocation parking area, where we turned in and there was the finish line. As noted, a very nicely planned route, giving one a tour of just about the whole campus. I ended up with a chip time of 43:25, which was good enough for 3^rd in my 70-99 males age group, nice.

After My Finish:  I got some water, did a short-cool down walk, handed out some more doggie treats, and got some after-photos.  Friends and I also watched the awards ceremony – dang some of those runners are speedy! The overall male won in 16 minutes and change; averaging 5:25 per mile, wow. Tope female was no slouch either, 6-something per mile. The MC started the awards with younger folks first, we old folks had to wait quite a while until the got to us. I’d request that next year, start with we older folks first….we have to get home and get our nap after an outing like this, lol. There were even separate category awards for best times for team participants ; and for runners with dogs too, nice.Epilogue: Very nicely done event with a well planned route, good facilities – indoor restrooms are always a plus over port-a-potties, especially in this kind of weather – and lost of post-event goodies, including all kinds of snacks from the vendors/sponsors; water; coffee; beer;  fruit; sausage wraps; and some sponsors cooking up this menudo-looking stuff that looked pretty darn spicy.  Vendors were also giving out various free items which had the company name on each of those, of course; for example, I saw one sponsor giving out headbands; another had memo pads, and so forth. This is definitely a keeper event for me, and I certainly would recommend it to others.  The event helps raise scholarship funds for students, so most certainly a worthy cause.  Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants:  Alumni Association; UTSA leadership; our MC who did a great job; iaap who did the timing and results for the event; our music-and-sound man; all the many volunteers it took to make this one happen; all the many, many, sponsors, with big thanks to North Park Subaru for being the primary sponsor; our UTSA police and security folks for being out there for our safety; and the EMTs on site for us, just in case; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all so much! See you next year at this one!

Photos are here:     https://photos.app.goo.gl/Xsp2JYgnr7RgiKSu6   

Before the Start:   My 8th 5K was Street2Feet 5k, held on Sunday, February 16^th at Brooks City (formerly Brooks Air Force Base) in San Antonio. This was my 2^nd 5K of the weekend, after doing the Aiden Alexander Memorial 5K on Saturday.  Street2Feet 5K program, founded in 2008 by Race Director Lana Hernandez, is a wellness program for those experiencing homelessness in San Antonio. It promotes health in mind, body, and spirit”, using walking or running a 5K as a medicine. The start and finish at Brooks City was at Hanger 9. Built in 1918, Hangar 9 is an historic setting at the former Brooks Air Force Base.  It is one of the oldest aircraft storage and repair facilities. Now used as a special event facility, it was named in 1976 as a National Landmark. Race start time of at 8 a.m.  I arrived around 7:20 a.m. Someone told me that about 300 people had registered for this one, both runners and walkers. In checking the results from iaap, the company that did the course set up, timing, and results, there were actually 352 finishers, so a very nice turn-out for this one.  After arrival at the race site, I enjoyed chatting with friends and other participants and getting some pre-start photos.  This is also a dog-friendly event, so I handed out a few treats;  I was very popular with the dogs there after that, lol, including the dogs of two of my friends. These two dogs –  Lucy and Luna – always recognize me when I show up at a same event they are doing and come right for me, lol, to get a treat.  I always carry treats when I run. If one chases me on a run, I toss the dog-treat in the other direction, and the dog usually goes after that, giving me time to walk away in the other direction. If the dog is friendly, then I give it a treat, if its human gives me permission. Hence my name “Scottydogg (yes with 2 ‘g’s to make it unique) since my first name is Scott. Just about all my running community friends call me this now, lol.

On the course:  When I first checked the predicted weather for this event – on the Thursday before race day – the predicted forecast was a temp of about 47 at the 8 a.m. start time, with sunshine, and wind at 5 mph, so not bad.  Well, that sure changed on Saturday evening, when a cold front moved in. At start time, the temperature was 41 degrees, with a ‘feels-like’ temp of 37, and the wind was blowing at 15 to 20 mph, good grief. I am not a fan of cold; I am probably one of the few runners who actually likes running in warm weather; 60 to 75 degrees is fine with me, lol. After seeing the new forecast, I layered up like crazy with two base layers and my race shirt on top of that, as well as a pair of long-legged running tights designed for cooler weather; a hat on my head and gloves on my hands. Even with all this, that darn wind was still tough to run in, but at least I felt comfortable. The course was an out—and-back on the paved concrete/ streets of Brooks City.  We started on a street just to the side of the hangar, and then made a left turn that put us with out of the wind for a bit.  These streets are very wide, making lots of room for everyone to maneuver. We made a left turn onto another street that put us right back into the wind, and that took us to a turn-round point.  After making the turn-round, the wind was still blowing, but it felt a bit weaker on this part of the route; I have no idea why, but I was thankful for it, lol.

After going down this part of the course, we then made a turn that took us toward the 2-mile marker. Again, the wind felt a little weaker along this part.  After the 2-mile marker, we ended up going back onto the second street we had been on after the start. This took us back to the start/finish street. When we turned onto that, I could see the finish line ahead and tried to pick up some speed, event though, on this last part of the course, the strong wind was blowing head-on, right into our faces, good grief. Never-the-less, I kept on pushing ahead as fast as my old-man legs would let me and crossed the finish line.  I ended up with a gun time of 42:07 and chip time of 41:46., finishing 2^nd out of 4 in my 70-99 males age group. My speedy friend, long-legged friend Jim, was first with a chip time of 27:57, zowie. Our friend Roland, was 3^rd, so we were all happy that each of us had placed.

Photos are here:     https://photos.app.goo.gl/L2qRA68vxY3aCeTi8    

Before the Start:  My 7^th 5K of 2025 was the 4^th annual Aiden Memorial 5K in honor of Aiden Alexander Memorial 5K. for sudden death syndrome and infant loss. Aidan sadly passed unexpectedly due to birth issues.  His family started this 5K in memory of Aiden. Proceeds from this event support stillbirth and infant loss syndrome organizations, such as  Kain’s Comfort, which donates Comfort Boxes to bereaved mothers in the hospital; and Sarah’s Heart which offers free counseling and support groups to those who have experienced infant loss.  I do this one every year – I think I may have done all 4, but not sure of that – as I have a personal experience with infant loss, having lost my 4-month-old son and first wife to a drunk driver. I picked up my packet the day before this event, so upon arrival I chatted with friends, volunteers, supporters and other participants, as well as getting some pre-start photos.  The event was held in Lady Bird Johnson Park in San Antoinio, on Nacogdoches Road, with a  9 a.m. start time.  I live about 5 miles from the park, so I got to sleep in a bit, which was nice.  

On the course: Weather at 9 a.m. was around 54 degrees with crazy high humidity at something like 71%, good grief, very sticky, and lots of cloud cover.  Thankfully, it did not rain on us. The timing and results were done by iRun Texas, an excellent San Antonio-based activity store, selling gear for runners, walkers, swimmers, cyclists, etc. They also hosted the pre-race packet pickup for this event. The event was chip-timed. The course was the most frequently used one for a 5K at this park. We started in the park’s traffic circle near the park pavilion, doing a loop around the circle and then down a short hill paved hill that took us onto the park’s paved off-road trails. Once on the trails, the course took us all the way out to the Los Patios Shoppes area, where we proceeded to the Loop 410 frontage road, did a turn-round and went back to the finish the same way we had come out.  I did my usual 8-min-run/2-minute walk thing and took photos during my walk breaks.  After I made the turn-round, I was feeling pretty good, so ended up running most of the way to the finish, with just a couple of photo breaks.  One lady, who was also doing run/walk,  told me she was going to try and keep up with me to the finish, and she was true to her word, lol.  For the occasional stops I did – I think I made 2 stops on the way to the finish – when I looked behind me, she was not all that far behind me, doing really well.  As I got closer to the finish, I began to push it a bit more, feeling pretty good. Finally, saw that hill we had come down to get to the main trails and knew the finish line was near. Pushed a bit more going back up to the traffic circle, then wound around in reverse of the way we had started…and I was done, yay.  Chip time of 40:54, gun time of 41:08, gun time. I was first in my males 70 – 99 age group, nice; umm, I think I was the only runner in that age group, lol; even so, I’ll take it.  

After My Finish:  Short and quick cool down walk, then got some photos of others coming in, including the 2 ladies I had been the most in proximity with on the course.  I also treated a few dogs that were there – I always carry dog biscuits when I run; treat the friendly ones; toss the biscuit in the other direction, if one chases me, giving me time to walk away; I like dogs so don’t want to hurt one, and this system works well; which is why a friend way back when nicknamed me “Scottydogg”, lol, and that name stuck so I use that as my race name.  I also gave a few treats to the dogs in the park’s dog-park, with the permission of their humans. Back at the park pavilion, enjoyed a banana, chatting with other participants and volunteers, and getting some more after-photos.    

Epilogue:   Infant loss support has come a long way from back-in-the-day when my loss happened.  I am sorry for the need of this kind of event, but it is an event that serves a very useful purpose,, making people aware that there is help out there.  One volunteer told me there were 300 registered, but not sure how many actually did the 5K.  On this Saturday, there were several races in our local ‘driving-distance’ area, which includes San Antonio, New Braunfels, and more, so lots of events for participants to choose. Even so, this was very nicely done, as always, with a very nice quality race shirt; chocolate and vanilla cupcakes; breakfast tacos; coffee and water;  Kind bars; and more. The race shirt is very nice quality; awards for Overall Male and Overall Female; and a nice quality small medal for those who placed first in his/her age group; so I got a nice quality small medal, which, as usual for me, I toss into a bag and when I get enough of them, I then donate them to kids with cancer (I am a survivor myself) or to the disabled kids at the MAC (Multi-Assistance Center) at Morgan’s Wonderland, as I was a “March of Dimes” baby – look that up if you are too young to know what that is – born with dislocated hips, so can relate to that too.  I will continue to do this event, and certainly hope it keeps on growing. Much thanks to all  who made this one happen for us:  all sponsors; the founding  Alexander Family; all the many volunteers; iRun Texas for the course setup, timing, and results; also thanks to other park patrons – the park was still open for public use – e.g., cyclists, walkers, and other runners – for their patience with us invading the park space for a few hours; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all.  Next up for me:  Street2Feet 5K on February 16, the day after this one.

Photos are here:       https://photos.app.goo.gl/rPJFBfKjJjH4UaTc7      

Before the Start:   My 6^th race of 2025 was Cupid’s Chase 5k, held at OP Schnabel Park, San Antonio, on February 8, 2025. This event was put on by the San Antonio office of Community Options, Inc.  This is a national organization with offices in several states in the United States. In their various locations, they assists people with disabilities (both mental and physical) with helping to find housing, employment, education opportunities, and much more. As someone who was a March of Dimes baby, and who now has some disability from that, and from other incidents, this event is always on my race calendar every year. Race start time was 9 a.m., with two packet pickup opportunities on both Thursday and Friday before race day, so I was able to get mine on Thursday.  There was also a packet pickup on race day at 8 a.m., also convenient, as a friend of mine who had registered could not make it, so after arriving with about an hour to go to start time,  I picked up his packet.  After that, I wandered here and there, chatting with volunteers,  other participants, supporters and, as this is a dog-friendly event, handing out treats to the doggies. Chris Suchan of WOAI-News 4 was there as well, serving as the ‘starter’ for the event. Athlete Guild, a New Braunfels-based company owned by my good friends Scott, and his wife, Amy, who is a fellow cancer survivor who went through some of her cancer treatments around the same time I was getting mine for my prostate cancer. Thankfully, we are both still here.

On the course:    We started right on time, with Chris Suchan starting us off.  I did my usual 8-minues running/2 minutes walking thing.  The start line was in the park’s parking lot near the park pavilion, with the route being the paved off-road trails in the park.  We began by going uphill, passing by a small pavilion on our left, and then making a right turn and going down a long incline.  A left turn brought us to another downhill, and then after going around a curve in the trail, we proceeded onto a downhill bridge. After the bridge, we turned right and went onto the paved trails.  We came to a trail intersection with a trail to our left closed off, so my first thought was “Darn!” (well, maybe a bit stronger word, lol, but I’ll behave) because, having run in this park several times, I knew that closed off trail was a bit flatter than trail we proceeded onto; and so on we went and, sure enough, we did have hills along the way; not really long hills, or all that steep, like in Eisenhower Park or Helotes, if you’ve ever run there, but it was still a bit challenging. I only have 2 running paces, slow-and-slower, and I was also taking photos along the way, some on the run, some I stopped to get,  and also handing out treats to the doggies I saw – with the permission of their humans, of course – so it took me a while to get to the turn-round. My old-time push-button Canon camera is not really a “motion” camera, so some of the photos probably came out a bit blurry.  I was not even to the halfway point when I saw the lead runner already heading to the finish and glanced at my watch…..dang….the guy was doing 6-something minute miles, good grief. Finally got to the turn-round and headed back to the finish, after getting a photo of the water-station volunteers, and handed out another doggie treat, lol.  I took one more walk break and then, since I was feeling pretty good, did a stint of running non-stop back to that bridge we had come down on.  I got a photo of that going up – it was much less crowded, lol, than it had been after the start – and also got a photo of the next hill waiting for us around a curve after the bridge. After that I was then on the trail we had come out on,  heading for the finish; since this was down on the way out, we were going up on the way back. I finally saw the smaller pavilion on the course and knew that was the turn to take us downhill to the finish. I picked up my pace a bit, made the turn and went non-stop to the finish. I ended up 4^th out of 4 in my 70-and-over age group, with a chip time of 42:01 (42:17 per my Garmin) averaging 13 minutes and change per mile, and my last mile was a negative split, nice.

After My Finish:   I got a few photos of others coming into the finish and then wandered around chatting with other finishers, volunteers, supporters, etc., while I got some water in me, and also handed out more doggie treats.  All finishers also got a really nice finisher medal.

Epilogue:  This is a really nicely done event, one that will stay on my race calendar. It is not a huge event – there was a total of 223 finisher, 71 males and 152 females, and that was fine with me.   As noted, very nice finisher medal; nice quality race shirt; and very nice awards for the age-group winners. Only the top winners, male and female, in each category got an age group award, as well as the top overall male and female.  That’s fine with me; I know Community Ops has a pretty tight budget, so better the funds go to those people the organization helps. OP Schnabel is a nice park to run in, with well-made running trails, both paved and off-road;  a nice large pavilion with indoor restrooms; water fountain; and a kid’s playground; baseball fields; and more. There is also a YMCA right in the park, which is convenient for me, since I am a member, so post-race I was able shower and change before driving home. I would recommend this one to others.  Much thanks to all the folks who made this one happen for us and were there for us: Community Ops; Athlete Guild; all the sponsors, of course; the Park Police Officers that were there for our safety;  the other non-participating park users for their patience as they did their own thing – although some of those cyclists need to learn trail etiquette and call out Bike Back when coming up on the runners and walkers; most of them, though, were pretty good about it; the official race photographer – I’m sure her photos will be way better than mine, lol; and anyone else involved I did not mention here;  thank you all!  Maybe I will see you next year at this one, the lord willing; and next year the event actually is on Valentine’s Day.  Happy and safe running, walking, biking, etc., to all!

Photos are here:          https://photos.app.goo.gl/d7AYZN8Ea4mFz7De7

Before the Start:   My 5^th race of 2025 as the Scallywompus San Marcos 5K, held on February 2 in San Marcos, Texas. This event was one of 4 races for the Texas Hill Country series of races.  There was a half-marathon, a 10K, a 5K run, and a 5K walk, with staggered start times.  We 5K folks started last at 8:35 a.m.  The half folks went first, followed by the 10K and the people doing the 5K walk. I mis-read the start time for the 5K and got what I thought was a late start from home, so was putting the pedal to the medal to get there on time; I didn’t even know my old car could go that fast, lol. When I finally did arrive on race time, it was around 8:14 so, thinking I had to get going quick, I ran to the packet pickup table to get my bib….and they told me no, the 5K start time was 8:35; well, shoot hen, I had plenty of time, lol.  Got my packet and then proceeded to get a few pre-start photos. The half-marathoners had already started and the 10K and walkers would be starting pretty soon.  We had some very nice weather for this one; lots of runners like some cloud cover; me, I like running when it is sunny and warm and today we had ‘abundant’ sunshine, almost no cloud cover, and a temp of 57 degrees at the start; nice.  This is also a dog-friendly event so the doggies were very happy to see me, lol, after they found out I had a pocketful of dog treats.

On the course:  We started in the parking lot area of the Tanger Outlets mall area, full of various stores, shoppes, places to eat and, nicely, indoor restrooms. We proceeded to go through the parking lot to a point that brought us out to Center Point Road on the north side of the mall, where we mad a right turn and went onto a paved asphalt road.  It was flat for a while – a very short while, lol, and then we began to climb.  The course is mostly up-and-down hills to the turn-round, and then we do it in reverse on the way back to the finish. The hills are not really steep, just kind of long in places; I was thankful for that, as I am still getting physical therapy for my ankle that I had a stress fracture on back in November.  I showed my therapist photos of the course, and he said I was okay to do this one, just take it easy, don’t push it, which made me laugh, since my pace is about 13 – 15 minutes per mile these days as I still have some cancer treatment side effects, and while I get my ankle strong again; push it indeed; lol.  For this one, I was just a ‘Clairol’ runner –  Nice ‘N Easy’, lol – and took a couple more walk breaks than I usually take to get a few extra photos.   After the turn-round, back we went, the way we had come out, with the sun at our backs now as I continued my 8-minutes run/2-minutes-walk thing.  As we came down the last hill, I saw the outlet’s huge American flag flying (hand-salute!), so tucked my camera away and did about ¾ of the last mile non-stop.  I ended up with a chip time of 44:35, averaging 4^th in my 70 – 79 males age group. There were only for in my age group, lol; we all placed because the awards went 4 deep.

After My Finish:   I got a few photos of others coming into the finish and got a photo with my friend Jill, who did the 5K also.  Since this is a Scallywompus event, there were all kinds of goodies and services, such as grilled sausages; beer; margaritas (I think); cold drinks, water; photo backdrops; a massage therapist on duty; and all kinds of other sponsor booths;  I enjoyed a cold beer – one is my limit as I was driving – and some gatorade and water as I wandered here-and-there getting some after-photos.

Epilogue:  This is a really nicely done event.  I have not done it in a while, so it was good to be back. Very nice course; finisher medal to all finishers; nice quality race shirt; and the age group awards were various types of wine glasses, depending on where you placed. There were also several fellow veterans at this event, so I enjoyed swapping stories with them about our experiences. I would recommend this one and definitely will do it again sometime.  Mucho thanks to all the people that made this one happen for we participants, e.g., all the sponsors and volunteers; the patience of any drivers that were on the course, as the road was still open to traffic; and to all the mall area employees and customers who were there at the time of the event; Pushbutton Photography for their camera work; our MC, Anthony, doing his usual great job; iaap for the course set-up, timing, results; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned; thank you all! Hope to see y’all again at future events.   

Photos are here:        https://photos.app.goo.gl/VJ7BzrupU6SL734e9

Before the Start:  My 4^th race of 2025 was the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo 5K Stampede held on February 1^st in downtown San Antonio, in Milam Park.    Race start time of 9 a.m. Parking can be kind of crazy in downtown San Antonio and there was parking opening at 7 a.m. at Cattleman’s Square, first-come first-serve until the lot was filled.  I did not take advantage of this. As retired military and now an employee of UTSA, I first went to Fort Sam Houston and stored some gear at the gym, so I could shower after the event.  I then went downtown and parked in the Buena Vista UTSA employee parking lot, so got to park for free, and the walk from there over to Milam Park was about 7 minutes, very nice. I’d already picked up my packet a few days before race day, so prior to the start I enjoyed getting some pre-start photos and chatting with many friends and other participants. There was quite a nice turn-out for this one, with 566 finishers for the main event.  There was also a 1-mile walk option. Also, someone told me there was a sign with the names of people who had done this event several times and my name was on it; and so it was.  I’ve done this even 6 times – not consecutively – during my running life here in San Antonio, so that was a nice touch from the organizers, recognizing participants who have done this event several times. I became a runner way back in 1983 when I was in the Air Force, assigned in Turkey  on Tax Day, lol, so this coming April 15^th will be my 42^nd anniversary of being a runner. Too bad it’s on a Tuesday, so no race for me to do that day.

On the course: The start and finish was right alongside Milam Park, so for this event we made a kind of big-and-wandering ‘loop”, with the course giving us a pretty nice tour of parts of downtown San. We started out on asphalt and then got onto a cobblestone surface for a while; the road also had a pretty good slant to it, so I tried as much as possible to stay on the most level parts of the course, as I am still going through some physical therapy after being in a boot for 6 weeks because a small stress fracture in my ankle. It also included an out-and-back on part of the San Antonio Riverwalk, outgoing on one side of the River and coming back on the other side.  We also also went through a part of San Antonio that had some really nice homes.  I did my usual 8-minutes running/2 minutes walking and took photos during my walk breaks. After getting to Mile 2, I then got ambitious and ran non-stop to the finish. After we got to Mile 2.5 I was thinking okay, just a half-mile to go;  nope….the course ended up being 3.5 miles per may Garmin, good grief; but it was okay, as for the last few weeks I’ve been able to get my training runs back up to 3.6 miles and even did a 4-miler the Sunday before this event. I did not push it, just got the distance done, and ended up with a chip time of 43:30, averaging 13:44 per mile, and my last mile was a 13:07 negative split, nice. In my 70 – 79 males category, I ended up 7^th out of 12.  I really don’t worry or care too much about placing; if I do, fine; if I don’t fine.  At my age, I accomplished my two primary goals: finish every race I start; and no ambulance waiting for me, lol.

After My Finish:  Cool-down walk and got some water, and then enjoyed going around getting some ‘after photos” and chatting with friends and other participants.  There were several “goodies” at this event, including coffee (blech), water, grilled sausage wraps, cold beer, and more.  This event was also quite close to Market Square – about a 5-minute walk from the start/finish line – so you could also get lots of food and drink choices from there too.

Epilogue:   I really like this event – in spite of a bit of crazy traffic in this area, as well as some road closures while street renovations are being done –  will do it again in the future; and certainly would recommend it to others.  The event raises funds for the  San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo Scholarship Fund. Also, after the race, you can stick around to watch the Western Heritage Parade and Cattle Drive, and they actually herd some Longhorns right up the street. All-in-all, a very nicely done event, one of my favorites. I will certainly do it again and would recommend it to others. Mucho Gracias to all the folk who made this one happen for we participants, and apologies if I miss anyone: all the sponsors; iaap for the course setup and timing results; all those many volunteers, police officers, etc., all along the course for us to keep us all safe; Race Director Carolyn, who is now a friend, lol, after we shared lots of emails, where she patiently dealt with all my questions, and I finally got to meet her in person at packet pickup; super-nice lady…and patient…very patient, lol; the costumed “rodeo clowns’ out there for us, too; and also thanks to all the drivers, business owners, residents, etc,, along the course for their patience as we invaded their space during this event. Thank you all!  Apologies if I missed anyone.  See you at the next one of these I will do; probably next year, I may just make this one of my ‘regulars’ on my race calendar. Whatever your exercise passion is, may you always enjoy it and always stay safe.

Photos are here:      https://photos.app.goo.gl/5oFSLDvvTZBJKxPA7

Before the Start:   My 3^rd race of 2025 was the Martin Luther King 5K (MLK 5K) held on Saturday, January 19^th at Martin Luther King Park in San Antonio.  This event raises scholarship funds for the Young Men’s Leadership Academy (YMLA). This is one of my ‘streak’ races, having done this event ever since it first started. Start time of 9 a.m.  I do not know why, but for some reason this race always seems to be held at the same time San Antonio gets hit with cold weather. This year was no exception, and actually a little coler than some previous years. A really nasty cold front began to move in on Sunday Morning – predicted to stick around until Wednesday – so race day morning brought us a temp of 41 degrees with a ‘feels like’ temp of 29, per the weather channels,  yikes!  I am not a fan of cold weather, lol; I much prefer running in temps of 65 and above; I’d rather have a temp of 80 or 90 than a temp that is below 50, lol;  so I was VERY layered up, lol, when I arrived at the race site; kind of felt like Charlie Brown in the Peanuts cartoon who was all layered up for winter, saying “Oh, I am quite warm now….but just can’t move.” Lol.  Well, I was not quite that bad, but I did have on some thermal tights, then winter long-racing pants over that, one of these ‘face-mask” warmers, with a hat on top of that; a thick pair of thermal socks, and  2 pairs of gloves. Unlike Charlie Brown, though, I was still able to move.  It was very chilly before the start, with an actual temp of 38 and a feels like of 28 for a bit.  We did have a very nice sunny and rain-free day, so that was good, but a brisk wind made it feel a bit cooler as we waited for the start. I  had picked up my packet on the Friday before the event, so when I arrived I wandered around chatting with friends and other participants, volunteers, etc, and getting some pre-start photos, and also handing out treats to the doggies there – hence my nickname of Scotty Dogg, which I also use as my race name and that is what just about all the people in the running community call me. 

On the course: The course setup, timing, and results were done by my good friends at iaap, probably the top-notch race management company based in San Antonio; they always do a great job.   The course was out-and-back on the park’s paved trails.  We started right on time. For a very chilly day, there was a nice turnout, with 353 finishers for this event. Right before the start, I rolled up my sleeve a bit to start my garmin watch for my run/walk method and….no garmin, what? Oh shoot…I remembered I had taken it off to charge it…and forgot to put in on when I left.  At my doc’s orders, I do run/walk because I have spinal arthritis; I also had my old-time San-Disk player, so I came up with a plan to “run 4 songs” and walk 1 song, since most songs are about 2 – 3 minutes or so – and glad I did not have Stairway to Heaven on there, lol, that would have been a long interval – and this ended up working just fine. Also nice was that once we got onto the trails, there were lots of woods on either side of us, so that gave us a nice wind-breaker; all those layers I was wearing, lol, I actually started feeling a bit too warm, so  pocketed the face mask, which helped, but did keep on my hat. My last walk break was just a tad after Mile 2, and shortly after encountered a very nice lady who kindly kept me company for a while as we ran along, unlike me with my memory, she actually did have her timer, so was able to let me know how far we had left. With about a half-mile to go, she told me she was going to push on ahead. I wished her luck and kept going myself. I had one short stop from Mile 2 marker to the finish, but ran just about all that last mile. Saw the finish line and pushed a bit more.  The clock read 45 minutes and my chip time was 44:09, which is about right for the pace I do, I usually average between 12 – 14 minutes per mile,  so my ‘music timing’ worked quite well, lol. Even so, I think I will try to remember my garmin from now on.  I ended up first in the 70-and over males category, mainly because I was the only one in my age group, lol. Even so, I’ll take it.

After My Finish: Very nice little after-party with drinks, snacks – lots of tasty pastries too, I indulged in a couple – and other things. Finisher medal to all finishers, and I got an additional medal for placing. Very nice quality race shirt, but since I do so many races, I have lots of race shirts – including one from this event from a past race – so when I registered I asked for a youth shirt and told them to give it to one of the students. 

Epilogue:  This is a very nicely done event with lots of good people there, including the participants; the many volunteers; some of the music students entertaining us, thank you very much; iaapweb doing the timing, results, and course set up; an official photographer; also indoor restrooms, which was nice, let us get out of that wind for a bit; and local police on-site for our safety, thank you.  It was also nice seeing Mr. Derrick Brown again, the Principal of YMLA; he really does a great job with this event and was our announcer for the awards.  I always enjoy a nice chat with him when I do this event. This event will always be a keeper on my race calendar as long as I am able; although, Mr. Brown, maybe you could say a little prayer to Dr. King in Heaven and maybe ask him to speak to Mother Nature about maybe giving us some really nice weather for this event just a few times in the future, lol. Oh well, either way, I am still going to be there.  Happy running and/or walking to all! Stay safe, and see you next year at this one!

Photos are here:    https://photos.app.goo.gl/CuB5Vp6Tv28kYKp69

Before the Start:   My 2nd ^t organized run/race of 2025 was the Coffee Lovers  5K, put on by The Best Races on January 18^th, held at Lady Bird Johnson Park.  There was also a half-marathon and a 10K.  Best Races puts on their events a little differently than most race companies.   You sign up for an event and then they give you an option of choosing your start time.  They usually do their events in ‘waves”; so, with this one, for example, one could choose a start time of 7:30  a.m.;  8 a.m., or 9 a.m. Because their event was the longest, the half-marathon folks did have to show up for the first wave.  I chose to sleep-in a bit and selected a 9 a.m. start time. By the time I got there, the majority of participants had already finished, having chosen the earlier waves.  I got my race bib, got a couple of pre-start photos – including one of the two KSAT-TV folks that were there doing a filming – they remembered me from the Brain Cancer 5K, where Steve Spriester interviewed me post-race – and then got going.

On the course:  The laid out courses were designed to be out-and-back courses of  two laps each. I really hate doing out-and-back laps, so asked one of the organizers if it was okay if I just used the usual out-and-back 5K course that was used by most race companies at this park. They told me that would be fine, just as long as it was 5K distance. Nice.  I got my bib and off I went using the 5K route that iaap uses for its races here, which took me to the 410 frontage road and then back.  Because I started with the last time available I pretty much had the course mostly all to myself, although I did see some other participants out there, some doing the 10K, others the half; and, as the park was open, of course, to all users, I also saw some cyclists, walkers, and other runners doing their own thing. I did take a few photos along the way, and also stopped to treat some dogs, so my time – as usual, lol – was pretty slow.  With my late start, the weather was actually not too bad at all; sunny; a very light breeze; and 54 degrees. I did my usual 8-min walk/2 minutes run and felt pretty good. With my stops along the way – dog treat stops mainly, and one stop to take a photo of a friend of mine and his friends who were out doing a group cycling thing – I ended up with a finish time of  46:43, averaging 14:53 per mile, and had a negative split for Mile 3, nice.

After My Finish: There was no official timing, as these events are mostly “fun runs” although you do pay a registration fee to help with expenses. I did a short cool-down walk and then enjoyed chatting with one of the organizers post-race, a very nice lady, who gave me my finisher medal, which all participants got. Also available was coffee – lots of coffee, which my coffee-fanatic friend, Woody, would have loved. As for me, I can’t even stand the smell of the stuff, lol, so found it ironic that I signed up for an event named for coffee; mainly because I only live about 5 miles from LBJ Park, so very convenient.

Epilogue:   Thebestraces.com pretty much organizes these events in local communities all over the US so that participants can just do their own thing at their own pace – so kind of like a big “get-together run” like running clubs do, except there is an entry fee to help pay for expenses.  It is different, and kind of nice for those who would like to do a relaxed ‘fun run” with no pressure. Registration is usually done through RunSignUp.  They put events all over the US and you can do them virtually to. My personal preference is to do ‘normal’ races, lol – I like BIG races with lots of people –  and am always skeptical at first of these types of events, but once I get there and do them I manage to enjoy myself; also, the staff folks representing the company really are very nice people and they took very good care of everyone, from what I observed.  Also, like other events, you can also choose to do these virtually. I don’t see myself doing a whole lot of these, but I probably will do some more at some time or other.  Mucho thanks to the two besraces.com people out there for us, who had to stand there the whole time waiting for the finishers – and with all those wave options, that’s a lot of patience, lol. Next up for me is the MLK 5K the day after this one – and the weather for that is supposed to be VERY different than for this one….start time of 9 a.m. with a temp of 41 and a ‘feels like” of 29..WHAT?!! I am not a fan of the cold. I’ll probably be in so many layers, lol, I will be hardly able to move.