Scottydog Reports

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/sfA31AerCjk1AggN7    

Before the Start:   My 61^st race of 2024 was the Jubilee Joy Fest 5K held on Saturday, October 25^th in San Antonio at Southside Lions Park, with a race start time of 8 a.m.  There was also a Kids Run before the 5K started. This event helps fund scholarships for students at the Jubilee Academies, a public charter school district with schools in San Antonio, Austin, Brownsville, Kingsville and Harlingen, Texas area. For the 5K, there were 101 finishers.  If I remember correctly, there was also an untimed 1-mile walk with several participants.  The local race management company, Soler Sports, did the organizing, with iaap doing the course set=up, timing and results. I arrived with over an hour to go to start time – it was still dark – got my packet at the 7 a.m. pickup time and then, after it became light enough, got a few pre-start photos.

On the course:   The National Anthem was played and then we got a few instructions about the course, and then we were off.  I did my usual 8-minutes-run/2-minutes-walk and took photos during my walk breaks. I also took a few other short stops to get some photos. The course was on the park’s off-road paved trails, with nice views of the man-made lake in the park as we started and finished.  There were also 3 bridges we crossed on this course, so did each of those twice, since the course was out-and-back. Mother Nature cooperated fairly well with the weather too; it was a bit sunny, with some cloud cover, no wind, and a nice temp of around 68 degrees; that’s practically winter in South Texas, lol, given the high summer temps we get. After crossing over one of the park roads, we then headed in the direction of Comanche Park, another park in San Antonio off of Rigsby Road, which connected with our race park via the Greenway Trails System that Parks & Recreation and the City of San Antonio has established. One can walk, run, bike, etc. for a LONG way with this system and go through several different parks if one is so inclined; it is great; we have a lot of options now for safe running, walking, cycling, etc., with no traffic on these paved greenway trails.  At my pace – average 12 – 14 minute miles with my walk breaks and photo-taking – I got to see a lot of the lead runners heading for the finish, including the guy who won first overall for this 5K.  I looked at my watch when he went zipping by me and thought, dang, this guy is doing 6-something minute miles. I wish, lol…but then, I’d have to stop doing course photos; where’s the fun in that, lol. It’s all good. As Popeye says “I yam what I yam.” I ended up with a finish chip time of 43:09, which was good for first in my 70-99 males age group; especially as I was the only one in my age group. I jokingly asked the person giving me my medal “I don’t get 3 medals, since I’m first, second, and third?”  Umm, no.  lol.

After My Finish:  After a cool-down walk, they old-man legs wanted to sit down and rest a bit, so I did that for a while, getting rehydrated. I wasn’t feeling exhausted or anything like that, just wanted to sit and relax for a while. After that, I was back up, wandering here-and-there, chatting with finishers, supporters, sponsors, volunteers, etc. and getting a few post-race photos of participants, volunteers, organizers, etc.  Chatted with the law enforcement officers too, several of whom work the local races for street closures, etc., so they knew me from previous events.  My Dad was a juvenile probation officer, so I am very pro-law enforcement; although…after I started driving as a teenager, if I got pulled over for something, like a bit of speeding, the first thing the officer would ask me after seeing my student ID is “Are you Bob’s kid?” Uh oh, lol.

Epilogue: Wow. This is the first time I’ve done this event, but it won’t be the last.  Jubilee Academies had all kinds of things at this event, such as face painting; raffle tickets to win prizes; all kinds of vendors with lots of interesting items; food galore, such as sausage wraps and lots more, purchased with very reasonably priced ‘tickets” – I think they were  one or two bucks each if I remember correctly –  to help with the scholarships fundraising; there was a music performance by some of the Jubilee Academies band people – very well done – and lots of other things going on.  A play area with slides, etc, was right near the gathering area, so the kids there enjoyed that; and this is a pet-friendly event, so I handed out a couple of dog treats, which I carry with me whenever I run. For a smaller event, participant-wise, this really is a super-nicely done 5K. Very nice quality race shirt and very nice quality age-group placer medal; also music and sound provided by our “DJ” at the event, and our MC – his name went right out of my old-man brain – did a great job for us, and especially with the post-race awards, cracking a few jokes as he went along, lol, while up on the presentation stage. He kind of reminded me of Sonny Bono from the old-time Sonny & Cher Show;  and if you know who they are, you must be as old as me, lol. All in all, a very nicely done event which I will certainly do again and would recommend to others.

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/S2D5QMTrrfR8KgsY8

Before the Start:  My 60^th 5K of 2024, and second of this weekend, was the Mascarita 5K held on Sunday, October 20^th, after doing the Zero Prostate Cancer 5K the day before.  Mascarita is a type of professional Mexican wrestling tradition, with the wrestlers wearing masks originally to keep their private lives private from their public appearance bouts, if I understand it correctly. This event was put on by Andiamo Race Productions, with my friends at iaap doing the course setup, timing and results. The event had a 7:30 a.m. start at Greenline Park on Sidney Brooks Street.  I have never been to this park, so it was a new experience for me running at this venue.  There was a total of 196 registered finishers for this event.  There were probably more finishers, in actuality, as several people had unregistered family members and friends keeping some of them company on the course.  Since I was not exactly sure where I was going – even with map directions, lol, I am still directionally challenged – so got an early start in case I got lost along the way.  I did miss a turn, but then I recognized a friend in his truck who does a lot of the same races as I do, so I just followed his truck and that got me right to the race site, really early around 6:30 a.m.  I got my packet and then got a few pre-start photos with my old-time Canon push-button camera, which really does not like the dark, lol, even with the flash one, so apologies for the quality of some of the photos.  As I was by my car getting my race bib on, I heard someone playing the National Anthem at 6:45, so thought I had maybe mis-read the start time; found out later he was practicing for when he would play it for the start; never-the-less, the National Anthem was playing, practice or not, so the Veteran in me stopped what I was doing and held a salute until the music stopped.  After that, I got myself together and wandered around getting a few pre-start photos.

On the course:  The National Anthem was played for real, lol, and then we lined up to get started.  As usual, iaap had its drone there flying overhead taking a bunch of photos. We started right on time.  The course was done on the paved trails of this park, and we often had a view of the nearby river (creek?), not sure which one it is. The course was kind of both an out-and back and loop.  I did my usual 8-minutes run, 2 minutes-walk and took photos during my walk break.  Masks were included in the goodie bag for the event and several participants wore his/her mask during the 5K, so probably a good thing we had some fairly decent and cooler weather for this one!  Dang, if I tried to wear one of those masks when running…my pacemaker would probably explode in my chest, lol, as my heart-rate skyrocketed. The course was mainly flat with just a few mild inclines.  It really is scenic too, with views of the water near us, as well as some wide-open spaces around us.  We made our way to a turn-round point and then went back the way we had come out. As we came to the intersection where we had turned after starting, instead of turning to go back to the finish, we turned in the other direction and then did an out-and-back that way, climbing up a not-too-long incline to another turn-round point. After that, we then went back to the park pavilion where the start/finish line was. It really is a pretty well-thought-out course with opportunities to see friends coming-and-going and also cheer on fellow participants. There were 5 participants in my 70-99 males age group and I finished last in that group, with a chip time of 42:22.  I had a negative split for the last mile, so that was nice. My running acquaintances in my age group, Juan and Ben were respectively first and second; Juan finished averaging 10:07 per mile, wow.

After My Finish:   All kinds of post-race goodies included fresh fruits – mainly bananas – breakfast tacos, nutrition bars, bottle water, some juices, and more.  I indulged in a banana and then wandered around chatting with people and getting some post-race photos. I gave the mask in my goodie bag to a young kid; I forgot I had ordered a youth medium shirt, which I would have also given to a kid, but ended up taking it home as I didn’t take it out of the goodie bag while at the event.  The race photographers also got everyone in their masks – those who had them – and took group photos of the large group of participants.  Awards were given to first overall male and female and then to those who finished first in their respective age groups.  The drone, of course, continued to fly overhead during all this, . I think Jose Iniguez might have some spy blood in him, lol.

Epilogue:   Very nicely done event, one I would definitely do again if it’s held at this park again. I liked this race location MUCHO better than the Missions Park location, so hope Andiamo keeps this event at this location.  Very nice quality finisher medal; lots of post-race goodies; indoor restrooms; a very nice pavilion area, and really good course.  Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants and were out there for us, e.g., iaap; Andiamo; all the sponsors and vendors; all the volunteers; the young man who played The National Anthem; the police officers at the road crossings we did in the park (there were 3, if I remember correctly); the water station crew; our MC, she did a great job; and our music and sound person.  Thank you all so much!  Definitely would do this one again and would recommend it to others.

Note: If the link does not directly take you to the photos, cut-and-paste the link and it should work. Seems like this link is having a problem doing a direct connection. Cheers.

Before the Start:  My 59^th race of 2024 was the Zero Prostate Cancer 5K, held on October 19^th at Our Lady Of The Lake University, with a start time of 8:30 a.m.   As a survivor myself, I try to do this one every year.  This event raises funds to help find a cure for prostate cancer.  Headquartered in Virginia,  the Zero Prostate Cancer 5K organization, with a mission to find a cure for this disease, holds this 5K in several various locations around the US at various dates and times. It also encourages participants to help raise funds for the cause.  At many of these events, fundraising teams and individuals who raise the largest amounts are recognized and often win some kid of prize.  The schedule for the San Antonio 5K was volunteers, sponsors, etc., arriving around 6:30 a.m to set up., and then race day registration began at 7:30 a.m.  There was a pre-start ceremony around 8 a.m, with the Race Director letting us know why we were all here, giving us a bit of info on prostate cancer and then we heard from a survivor and his wife who shared their story with us – very motivating – and then there was a recognition for sponsors, the largest fund-raisers, both team and individual. The National Anthem was then sung beautifully by a young lady, and then there was a kid’s run before the main event got started.  

On the course:  This was a self-timed 5K, which is okay with me; hiring timing companies costs quite a bit of change, so personally I’d rather just see the funds that would have been spent on that go to the cause for this event, especially as I am a prostate cancer survivor myself, and a survivor of two other types of cancer. For those of you familiar with the Confetti 5K held at this university each year, the course for this one was pretty much the same. We started in front of the University and then did about a half-mile on the campus that took us out a back gate to 27^th street, if I remember correctly. We stayed on the sidewalk for a very short distance and then cut across a grass field that put us on a concrete trail that runs alongside Elmendorf Lake. The lake was on our left as we went down this trail. This took us to a bridge across the lake, which we crossed. This took us onto Commerce Street, if I remember correctly. We went down Commerce Street, and that took  us back to 24^th Street.  We then proceeded back to the gate from which we had left the campus, and then went back to the start/finish line.  I did my usual 8-minutes-running/2 minutes walking and took photos during my walk breaks.  For the last mile, I pretty much did that one non-stop, ending up with a finish time of 39:50, averaging 13:14 per mile, and my last mile was a negative split of 12:12, my fastest mile. I haven’t seen that time in quite a while; even 2 years after my last prostate cancer treatment, I am still dealing with some side-effects, but they are  starting to lessen now and this run/walk affirmed to me I seem to finally be on the way to getting back to my old running self.  I was really happy with my result.

After My Finish:  I got a photo of a young lady coming into the finish that I had run on the course with, off-and-on, and then got a photo of the two of us.   She pretty much stayed ahead of me until the last mile and even then, she was pretty close behind me. We chatted off-and-on a bit as we went along.  Super-nice lady. After that, I did a short cool-down walk, got some water and a banana and relaxed a bit, and then went to get some after-photos of finishers, supporters, volunteers, etc.

Epilogue:  This is one of my ‘must-do’ events, and I will continue to do this one as long as a am able, hopefully for many years to come, the Lord willing.  In spite of the cause we are running for, this is a very upbeat event – and an emotional one too, hearing the stories of some of these survivors.  Post-race the many vendors and sponsors for this one had lots  various food and drink (bananas, water, coffee, etc) and various give-away such as caps, small towels, pens, pins, and more; and darn it, I forgot to ask Erin of Thrivewell Foundation if I could have one of those small blue rubber bear figures – I think it’s a bear, anyway – to put into my car. Thrivewell Foundation is a major player for this event, as well as the Paint The Parkway Pink 5K for breast cancer, which the foundation puts on.  The Foundation assists with ALL types of cancer.  It is one really good local organization that does a great service for the “cancer community”, those experiencing cancer and their families. Much thanks to them, and also to all the sponsors and vendors out there for this cause, including the Holt family, UT-Health, Johnson & Johnson,  Pfizer Oncology, and many more. I took a phot of the back of my shirt, which shows all these sponsors and that will be in my photo race report where you can see the names of all of them.  I try to remember to do this for every event in which I participate because these sponsors play such a huge role in assisting with race costs, providing support, etc. Thanks to all of them.  Additional thanks to all the people out there for we participants, e.g.  our Race Director, Mr. Holt; all the many volunteers; the police officers and the medics there; our DJ for the sound and music and our MC there for us, they both did a great job; and, of course Our Lady Of The Lake University for the use of the location; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!  It was a good day and got even better for me when UTSA won their football game – I am a UTSA staff member – and when Alabama lost theirs. Sweet. Hope to see any of you at future events.  Whatever your passion may be, may you always be able to keep at it and stay safe doing it.

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/wQoCPD6mSgxSbXZU8  

Before the Start:  My 58^th race of 2024 was the Cleftstrong 5K held on October 13^th at Eisenhower Park, with a start time of 8:30 a.m.  This event raises funds for research and for oral cleft patient care.  I donned my running gear, which included purple shirt and purple socks – purple is the color for cleft awareness – and then headed out to Eisenhower Park, arriving about an hour before the start time. I had already picked up my packet the day before, so arrived about an hour before the listed 8:30 a.m. start time.  The start/finish area was in a fenced in part of the park, where the park pavilion was, with restrooms, water fountains, a storage unit, etc. Prior to the start, I enjoyed getting some pre-start photos and chatting with participants, volunteers, vendors, etc.  This is also a dog-friendly event too, so I handed out some treats to the doggies there.  I was taking some photos, when I noticed around 8:15 a.m., people were already crossing the start line, what the heck?  I found out the organizer had decided to start at 8:15 instead of 8:30.  Wel, shoot. I quickly got myself together, set my Garmin and then crossed the start line too, and got going.

On the course:   Since I started about 5 minutes after everyone else, I found myself weaving around the walkers in front of me; They were very polite about it, as I called out when I came on them and nicely made a path for me to get through, but it took a while. The course started from the pavilion area, then took us onto a paved trail that went past the trail that goes up an observation tower at the park. We exited the park with the parking lot on our left side and then went onto a very wide concrete trail and here the hills began. We went downhill for a bit, rounded a curve and the TRUE hills really began, and these were no baby hills either, lol.  I ‘smelled’ the hand of Rafa, my iaap friend, in setting out this course for us, lol.  This is one very hilly course, with long climbs, both up and down.  At least we had a nice day for it – sunny, but temps in the upper 60s, and fairly low humidity – and we did have several shady areas along the way. I did my usual 8-minutes run/2 minutes-walk and took some photos during my walk breaks.  I also made a few quick stops to get some additional photos. I wasn’t even to Mile 1 when I saw some speedy kid already heading back to the finish; checked my watch and wow, this kid was doing 6-something minute miles, good grief, and good for him.  I caught up to my friend Deborah, who was walking the course and wished her luck.  This course was kind of like a stationary roller coaster track, lol; we went up, we went down, we went all around.  I kept thinking, where is that darn turn-round, is this course going to turn out to be long? I knew better than that, though, since iaap did the timing, they are always very accurate.  The part of the  course just before the turn-round was all downhill so, of course, after we did make the turn-round, we had to go up to get back; oh yay, lol.

There were two guys at the turn-round in a 4-wheeler vehicle, making sure everyone did turn round, and I asked them “What, you didn’t bring any beer?”  lol Then it was turn around and head for the finish now.  The crowd had definitely thinned out by now so, for the most part, I was doing my run/walk with only a few people near me at any given time – especially at my pace, lol – and had plenty of room.  Along the way on the course, there were also some pretty nice views; at certain points you could see from these hills off in the distance the countryside laid out and even got a distant view of the 1604 highway, the Rim area and some of the La Cantera area.  After I finally reached Mile 2, I told myself ok, I am ready to be done, so for the last mile I pretty much ran to the finish nonstop, which gave me a negative split for that mile.  I ended up with a chip time of 43:19, averaging 13:57 per mile, with all my photo stops, which was good enough for first in my 70-99 males age group.

After My Finish:   First, get some water and then do a cool-down walk and then just sit for about 10 minutes doing nothing at all, lol.  Then it was off to mingle around again and get some after-photos of the happy finishers, supporters, etc.  There was an awards ceremony, which started with the younger age groups first so, at my age, I was waiting a while for them to get to me, lol, so I took advantage of the waiting time by handing out more doggie treats and getting a few more photos.  Friend Deborah did well too.  The overall winners got a really nice trophy for their places, and the age group winners got a nicely-designed medal.

Epilogue:  I’ve done this event in the past and will continue to do it in the future.  It is a really nicely done event with a well-thought-out course; hilly as all get-out, but well thought-out.  Very nice quality race shirt – I asked them to give mine to one of their cleft-strong patient kids – and lots of various post-race goodies too. Music played by our sound guy there, and two “official’ photographers taking photos for the event. This is an event for a really good cause. I will continue to do this one as long as I’m able.  Much thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants, e.g.,  the CleftStrong folks; all the many volunteers; the police officer on duty there for our safety; our sound-and-music guy; iaap, of course, for everything they did for us, e.g., course setup, timing, results, etc.; all the sponsors and vendors, of course, who help make this one happen for us; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all.  Hope to see you next year, the Lord willing.

Photos are here:     https://photos.app.goo.gl/Kh3HXGsEWcgPqQY27   

Before the Start:  My 57^th race of 2024 was the Paint The Parkway Pink 5K held on October 12^th .  Put on by the Thrivewell Cancer Foundation, this is an event I try to do every year in support of all the ladies who have had breast cancer, are fighting breast cancer, and in memory of all those lost to breast cancer. I have several friends who have dealt with this, and also friends who have succumbed.  All of us probably know someone who has dealt with this diseases.  This year the location changed to the San Antonio Police Training Academy, just off the frontage road of 410 North.  This is a new location for the event, and a very nice location it is too.  This was the first time I’ve ever been to this location so, of course, being directionally challenged, lol,  I missed a turn and had to call my wife who knows where this place is and she stayed on the phone, giving me directions until I finally did find the place. God bless her, she has a lot of patience, living with me every day, lol. I thought this event started at 8 a.m., but found out it was actually 9 a.m., so since I had an early arrival, I got some really nice parking, and then wandered around chatting with race day volunteers, the Foundation people, volunteers, supporters, police cadets, law enforcement and firefighter folks there , vendors/sponsors and other participants and getting some pre-start photos.   It was nice to see foundation director Erin again who, with all her staff and volunteers, makes this one happen for we participants.  She also told me there was a photo of me on the lobby wall at the Thrivewell office. I did not know that. She said it was in honor of me being a survivor too (colon; skin; and my most recent one, prostate) and also for coming out every year and doing these photo race reports on the event.  Awww, so nice of them to do that, thank you.  I’ll have to go check out that photo sometime….since I am so photo-genic, lol.  The gathering area was all decked out with various booths, tables, and so forth, with lots of the sponsors having a lot of give-away items;  there was also coffee, water, and some other drinks and food goodies available for those who wanted them from the various vendors out there. There were also a few pink balloon arches on the grounds.

On the course:   Before the main event started, there was a Kid’s Run and they got a lot of cheering and encouragement as they did their short route near the start/finish line. After that was done, The National Anthem was played and then we went down to the 5K balloon-arch start area. This was planned to be a timed run/walk, as it usually is each year, but one of the volunteers told me the person who was supposed to do the timing had gotten ill the night before; so this turned into an untimed fun-run, which I had no heart-burn about; it is what it is. We started in front of the main building, going underneath our pink balloons arch, and then proceeded out to the paved ‘track”. It was more like a paved trail in a park, this thing was very long, over a mile long, winding all around this way and that.  I did my usual 8-minutes run/2-minutes-walk thing and took photos during my walk break. The first part of the trail had a lot of cracks and uneven parts on it, and I was thinking, good grief, the cadets have to run on this thing? What happens if they trip over one of these uneven surfaces and fall before they even graduate to start police work.  You’d think San Antonio City Council would allocates some fund to repave this darn thing.  Well, I found out after I finished that has been done, and this thing will be repaved this year sometime, so that’s good. The firefighters doing this one ran in formation and, wow, are they speedy; they were waaaay ahead of me, lol. If I’d tried to run with them, they’d kill their finish time by having to stop and give me medical aid, lol. Just after I hit 1.5 miles – which gives you an idea of how long this track is – there was a water station tent set up. I got a cup of water and jokingly asked “What, no beer?”  After the water station, we continued on the track and then went onto a part where the 1-Mile walkers were doing their course.  They stayed to the left and made a turn that took them back to the finish, while we 5K folks went up an incline and then made a left turn and that part of the track took us toward the walkers. We then came off the track onto a paved road. The walkers went left and we went straight on the road.  This took us down an incline, and then we did a short loop that brought us back out to the street farther down, and then back up the road we had come out on, and then a right turn that took us to the finish. Whew!  The course was a tad short – I had 2.9 instead of 3.1, and another participant near me told me she had the same thing- but what the heck, no big deal, since this had become a fun run, so all good. I ended up with a finish time of 38:51, which I was happy with, as usually I finish in the low 40s, with my run/walk and photo taking; and I did run most of the last mile nonstop, ignoring my watch when it beeped for my last walk break. A volunteer handed me my finisher medal and I did a cool-down walk and got some hydration in me, overall feeling pretty good.

After My Finish:   After doing my cool-down, then it was time for me to do Stage 3: my after-photos of the event.  I happily wandered here-and-there, like the good dog I am, lol, chatting with volunteers, other participants, supporters, etc. and getting some more photos.  The Thrivewell folks did have trophies for the top overall male and female and I think they did get theirs. There was supposed to be age-group awards too, but since no timing was done, no results for that; so Race Director Erin cracked me by just randomly selecting people to get these, lol.   “First male in this age group….hey, you look like a first-male winner…here you go… first female in this group” and so forth and handed out the medals that way, lol.  It was quite entertaining and the crowd there got a big kick out of it, applauding and cheering.  Too funny; and a ‘good time’ (no pun intended) was enjoyed by all.

Epilogue:   Since there were no posted results, I don’t know how many participants were there, but it was a LOT, a very nice turn-out with probably several hundred participants, both runners and walkers. The course was busy for quite a while.  This is a great location for this event, and I don’t miss at all the original locations – used to be in Stone Oak area – especially the climbs in that area, and this year’s was one fun location, with the course, the police and firefighter, and all those police officers out there too for us; this is probably the safest 5K ever, in San Antonio, lol.    As I passed by them on the course, I tried to thank every one of them for being there for us. Post-race, all kinds of goodies! There was free food give-aways, including sausage wraps, sandwiches, lots of bottled water, various sweets from some of the vendors, and also item give-aways too, like pens, stickers, buttons, and lots more.  This is just a really super-nicely done event by Thrivewell, one of my very favorite annual events to do; one I will continue to regularly keep on my race calendar.  Thanks so much to all who made this one happen for we participants, e.g.,  Police Training Academy staff, and cadets; all the many-many sponsors and volunteers;  the person flying the drone over us during the event, that was pretty cool watching that thing buzz around; the fire-fighters out there, as well as the medical people on hand, if needed (thankfully none were, I think), and, of course, Thrivewell Foundation people.  Thank you all!  Hope to see you all next year at this one!

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/UhnKxHy7r4DGLvhYA 

Before the Start: My 56^th race of 2024 was the Spooky Sprint 5K held on Sunday, October 6^th at McAllister Park.  Put on by Bigfoot Running, this event had a half-marathon, 10K, a 5K, and a 1-mile walk.  The start and finish was in the pavilion area area across from the main baseball fields, after you enter the Wurzbach Parkway entrance.  Start time was 8 a.m. for all events. This is a Halloween-themed event with a costume contest, so several people were in various costumes.  I had picked up my packet the day before, so after getting parked, I got a few pre-start photos. As this was a Sunday morning event, there was a pretty nice turn-out for this one; not too many Sunday events were being held on this day. I am not sure of the total number of participants, but there were a lot of people there. This is also a dog-friendly course. Prior to the start, the costume contest was held, and then after that, we all got started. All the participants started together, no matter which event you were doing.

On the course:  We started right on time. The course took us past dog park, and then down a fairly long-but-not-too-steep hill.  After getting down this, we then proceeded to go under the overpass that took us underneath the Wurzbach Parkway.  It was flat for a bit, and then we began to climb a pretty long uphill.  We had a nice view of parts of McAllister Park from the top of this hill.  When we crested the top of the hill, we then descended a long downhill, which took us to underneath another overpass. This is where the 5K folks turned around and headed back the way we’d come out.  The 10K and half marathon folks kept going heading for Lady Bird Johnson Park, where they would continue their courses. One lady who did the half marathon told me after she finished that they had even more hills on their course because after Ladybird Johnson Park, they had to cross over the 410 frontage road and there were some pretty good climbs for them after that; and then, of course, they had to come back the way they’d come out.  Zowie!  I’m glad I only do 5Ks these days, lol.  I was feeling a bit the 5k I’d done the day before this one – which had been at Lady Bird Park – so just took it fairly easy.  I was feeling pretty good overall though, and just did my usual 8-minutes running/2 minutes walking and got some course photos during my walk breaks.  After going back under the Wurzbach Parkway underpass, I thought, I am ready to be done, so I just kept on going, ignoring my watch beeping for my last walk break.  I ended up doing a negative split for my last mile and had a chip-time finish of 43:42, averaging 13-something per mile.  This was good enough for first in my age group. I think I was the only one in my age group, lol.

 After My Finish:  That was a challenging course, but I felt pretty good overall.  I got some water and Gatorade from my car and then found a nice shady spot to just sit for a while and relax.  After that I wandered around getting some more photos and chatting with others there, and also handed out some more treats to the doggies. There was no awards ceremony; you just went up to the registration table and the guy there looked up your results, and then If you had placed, you got a nice little pin for placing.  That was fine with me, seemed to save a lot of time, especially with how many people turned out for these events; and maybe they only had a certain amount of time to keep the pavilion area.

Epilogue:  Again, I am not sure what the total amount of participants was.  RunSignUp website had a list of the placers for the events, but did not show the number of total participant, but there were quite a few, both runners and walkers; this is also a ‘chair-friendly event, and I saw a couple of ‘differability” people doing the 5K course in their chairs’ there were also a few people pushing strollers, etc.; they probably got a good workout on those hills!  Bigfoot Running did a good job with this one; I’d do this one again. It’s a somewhat challenging course, but a nice one, and the race location is nice; especially for me, lol, as I live pretty darn close to McAllister Park, less than 3 miles away, so got to sleep in a bit for a change before a race day. Nice quality race shirt – I got a small and then donated mine – and a very nicely done finisher medal. The age group “winner’ pin is a Winged Shoe a-la Hermes, the Greek messenger god. Mucho thanks to Bigfoot Running and all the many volunteers, sponsors, vendors, park police, etc., who made this one happen for us participants. Also, thanks to Fleet Feet near the Quarry for being the pre-race packet pickup location; and thanks to anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Happy and safe running, walking, cycling, or whatever your exercise passion is; I have five more races scheduled in October, so maybe I’ll see you on the road sometime. 

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/D72eRQWdHRXK9TBX8

 Before the Start:  My 55^th 5K of 2024 was the Gift Of Life 5K on October 5^th at Lady Bird Johnson Park in San Antonio, Texas.  This event is put on by Transplants for Children. Its mission is to “empower children and their families to master the lifelong challenges of pediatric organ transplantation.” The start time of this event was 10 a.m., so got to sleep in a bit, as I live a very short distance from the park.  Even so, I arrived after 8 a.m. to get some good parking, and then wandered around chatting with some of the vendors, volunteers, participants, and supporters, as well as getting a few pre-start photos.  This is also a dog-friendly event, so of course I handed out treats to all the doggies I met.  Last year, this event got canceled due to major thunderstorms in the area. Mother Nature was kinder this year, giving us sunshine with some cloud cover; a temp in the mid-60’s, and a fairly nice humidity level. I enjoyed chatting with the people I encountered, including a few fellow veterans there. My friend, Chaunte, had signed up for this one also, but one of her friends came up to me and told me Chaunte had asked her to let me know she would not be there for family reasons.  Her friend found me pretty quickly, so I guess I am getting easily recognizable in the running community, lol.  The park’s pavilion area had been set up very nicely by the volunteers and staff of Transplants for Children, with a table where you could get tickets for door prizes and also a table – very moving – with in memoriam photos of those with transplants who had passed on from their various medical issues.  I also chatted with folks from iRun Texas, who did the timing and course set-up for this event.

On the course:  We started right on time. I am not sure exactly how many participants were there, walkers, runners, and dogs – maybe 100 or so – since I have not seen the posted results yet. There is a traffic circle at the park, so we started on that, doing a loop around the circle, and then went down and incline to get to the main paved trails of the park.  We made a left turn and headed in the direction of Los Patios shoppes area and the 410 frontage road. The course was out-and-back, with the turn-round being right at the 410-frontage road.  I did my usual 8-minutes run/2 minutes-walk and took photos during my walk breaks.  A lot of the time, with my slow pace, lol, I had the course all to myself at various points; also, it probably did not help my finish time that I also stopped to offer treats to all the doggies along the way I encountered; the course was open to all, so there were several non-participants doing their own thing, e.g., walking, cycling, doing their own runs, walking their dogs, etc. Per my Garmin, I ended up with a time of 43:02, and had positive splits, which is the norm for me, with my stops along the way. My chip-time results may show a little faster as, from previous races done, I found that my old-time garmin watch is about 1/10 of a mile off;  e.g., when I got to the mile marker on the course, my garmin showed 1/10 short of a mile; this happens every race I do, so my watch result is .1 slower than my chip-time result, but what the heck, I like this ‘old-fellow’ watch, it’s been with me for quite a while, through many adventures, lol. I felt pretty good the whole way and the last mile I pretty much ran non-stop, with one exception of stopping for about 30 seconds to give a treat to a walker lady coming toward me with her dog, and then I was off again.

 After My Finish:  I got a few post-run photos of some other finishers coming in and then went and got some Gatorade and water from one of the vendors and then just sat in the nice shade of the pavilion for a while, relaxing and sipping my drinks.  After that, I was up-and-around getting some after-photos of volunteers, other participants, and so forth.  There was also an announcement of the door-prize winners – none for me, darn the luck – and our music guy was rockin’ us with some very nice music, including some tunes from my old-dog era, as well as Hispanic/Tejano tunes, and more; very nicely done. Awards were also announced, given to the overall winners in each age group, if I remember correctly.

Epilogue:    This is a fairly small, but very nicely organized event for a great cause. The event was presented by County Commissioner Grant Moody, with funding from the Hartmann Family Foundation. All participants got the race shirt and race medal in their packets – as usual, I gave each of mine to a kid – and the door prize winners got some very nice items. The course was very nicely done, and Mother Nature kindly cooperated with us for the weather. I’ve done this one in the past and will continue to do it in the future. I hope it grows bigger as time goes on; it really is a very worthwhile cause and a very nicely done event. Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants, e.g., Transplants For Children staff members and volunteers; all the vendors/sponsors there for us; the Park Police officers that were there for our safety; our music and sound guy; iRun Texas; the food truck guy that wat there – who is also a transplant recipient – with a nice variety of food you could purchase; and anyone else involved not mentioned here.  Thank you all!  Hope to see you next year at this event.

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/NAmRtYRg3jBM4rUY9

 Before the Start:  My 54^th race of 2024 was the 6^th Annual Veronica’s Journey 5K held on September 29th in Shavano Park, Texas. This was my 2^nd 5K of the weekend, having done the day before the Head For The Cure 5K. Veronica was an infant child diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of 13 months old. She put up a courageous fight, but sadly passed away in 2017, shortly after her 2^nd birthday. This 5K is in her memory and for all children who battle cancer. This even supports Veronica’s Boutique of Catholic Charities and also the Gabriella’s Smile Foundation, a local support cancer support center for kids in San Antonio. Gabriella also was a victim of childhood cancer. The event gathering point was at the Shavano Park City Hall location just off of Military Highway. Race start time of 8:30 a.m. Prior to the 5K, a mass was held at the race location, starting at 7 a.m.  I arrived about 7:30 a.m., got my packet, and got a few pre-start photos. This is also a dog-friendly event, so I soon made some new dog friends after giving them treats.

On the course:  This event had 148 timed finishers, walkers and runners.  We had to cross over NW Military Highway to get to the start area. Shavano police officers were there doing traffic control to assure a safe crossing for all of us, so big thanks to them. Our start and finish was on Saddletree Road and the course took us through a pretty nice neighborhood with large, spacious homes, wide streets, and dogs…lots of dogs who bark-cheered us on as we passed by their home grounds. The course was out-and-back and had a couple of pretty good-sized hills; nothing like the hills In Helotes or Eisenhower Park, but still fairly long.  I did my usual run/walk thing, 8-minutes run/2 minutes-walk and took some photos during my walk break. I was just trying to take it easy after my 5K the day before when I’d pushed myself a little; however, after I passed Mile 1, I was feeling pretty good so from about Mile 1.2 I pretty much ran most of the rest, with just a few more short photo-stops along the way. I ended up finishing in 42:08 chip-time, which was good enough for 3^rd in my 70-99 males age group. The first two guys ahead of me both finished with times in the 30s.

 After My Finish: I stood near the finish line getting a few photos of others coming in – making sure to stay out of the way of the official race photographer and then chatted with some other participants in the finish area and got a few more photos. We then went  back to the event gathering area at the City Hall outdoor pavilion and were treated to a cultural dance performance by dancers from a large dance company.  It was quite entertaining, and they were awesome with their dancing talent and flexibility. I’d seriously hurt my old-man bones, lol, if I tried that.  After they finished, I got a photo of them and then they allowed me to have a photo with them.  I also enjoyed chatting post-race with more volunteers, participants, and supporters of the participants and, of course, got a few more photos. There was an awards ceremony, starting from the youngest placers to the oldest – umm, I think they need to do this starting with the oldest first, since we need to get home and get our naps after all this exercise, lol – so I got a placer medal as well as a finisher medal.  I enjoyed chatting with some more people, as well as handing out my last few treats to the doggies still there, and then it was time to head on home. Epilogue:  This is truly a very nicely done event for a good cause.  Cancer for anyone is awful, but to me, especially so for kids; no kid should ever have to go through that, they should just be able to have a normal, happy kid’s life; hopefully someday a cure will be found, and this will happen; but until then, events like this will keep on being put on and someday hopefully help us reach that goal of finding cures for cancers.  The course was really nicely done – even with the hills, lol; very nice quality race shirts; nicely designed finisher medal and award medal;  and some post-race goodies afterwards; if I remember correctly, there were a couple of food trucks near the pavilion area.  The only “drawback” on this one was the restrooms; there two actual restrooms at the pavilion, but single-seaters, so the waiting time got a bit long. Maybe a local porta-potty company can be convinced to be one of the race sponsors; sponsors, if the Shavano Park city official would allow porta-potties on their grounds for the duration of the event; might be worth a try.  Being an old guy, lol, I’d even be willing to contribute something toward the cost.  Well, everything worked out and it really was a nicely done event, one I will continue to do as long as I am able.  Mucho thanks to Veronica’s family for founding this quality event for such a good cause; Thanks also to all the people involved that participated and/or made this one happen for we participants; city officials; local law enforcement; all the sponsors; our course setup and timing folks at iaap; the many volunteers out there for us; the dance company; our race directors; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!  Lord willing, and the creek don’t rise, see you again next year!

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/A9mUUDjKR3Ycrpu7A    

 Before the Start:  My 53^rd race of 2024 was Head For The Cure 5K held in San Antonio on September 28^th at Providence Catholic School on St. Mary’s Street. This 5K raises funds for brain cancer research to find a cure and also is an event for families and friends to recognize, honor, and remember those they personally know who are fighting the disease, or who passed away from it.   The Head For The Cure Foundation organization has its headquarters in Kansas City and several of these events are held over the year at various locations in the US. Local TV station KSAT-12 is a big supporter of this cause, as one of their former staff members passed away from this disease. They usually have a film crew on site and chat with various participants, race officials, and so forth. Race start time was 8 a.m. There was also a kids run about 15 minutes before the main event started. I arrived fairly early, got myself parked, and then wandered around chatting with race volunteers, the MC, packet pickup people and some of the sponsors/vendors there, getting a few photos before the start.  Right before we started, the colors were presented, and a choral group of the school beautifully sang The National Anthem for us.

On the course:  We started right on time. The course had us exit the school grounds and make a left turn onto St. Mary’s Street.  We then made our way down to an intersection and turned left onto North St. Mary’s Street, a fairly long street intersecting with several other streets.  The local police officers were out in force for our safety at each of these intersections to stop traffic for us.  At Camden Street, we made a left turn and proceeded down this street, which brought to the far end of St. Mary’s Street. After making a left turn here, we then went up to a turn-round point – passing by the school on our way – and then proceeded back the way we had come out. Technically, it was an out-and-back but didn’t really feel that way with the way the course was laid out. The planners did a good job with this course. Plenty of room for everyone and, since we passed by participants coming and going, lots of cheering each other on and supporting shout-outs.  I did my usual run 8 minutes, walk 2 minutes, and took some photos during my walk breaks. I took my last walk break on Camden on the way back to the finish, and then ran non-stop to the finish, ignoring, lol, my watch beeping to take my last walk break.  Normally, it takes me about 40 – 42 minutes to do a 5K with my run/walk but this time I did it in 38 minutes and change, ending up 2^nd in my 70-74 males age group, nice.

 After My Finish: I stood near the finish line getting a few photos of others coming in – making sure to stay out of the way of the official race photographer – and then went and got some water and a banana and just relaxed for a bit. After that, I was up-and-about again, chatting with participants, supporters, volunteers, etc. and getting some after photos. A couple of the KSAT-TV people also interviewed me post-race, which was pretty cool.  I’m not the most photogenic person, so I hope I didn’t break their camera, lol.  There was also a couple there that performed a dance for us post-race; I don’t recall the type of dance it was, a traditional Hispanic cultural one and it was truly grand to observe; I wish I had their flexibility, lol.

Epilogue: This is truly a very nicely done event, and also a popular one. This year’s event had 750 participants between runners and walkers.  Finisher medals were given to all finishers, and there were also age-group medals for the top 3 in each age group.  Lots of fun things post-race too; there waw a soapy bubble machine which was quite popular; quite a few people were playing in that post-race; lots of goodies from various sponsors, including Dunkin Donuts that was on site very early with coffee, and more; Force Water; University Health, and lots more, so many I can’t remember them all.  This is also a dog-friendly event; since I carry dog treats with me when I run or do a race I was very popular with the dogs there, lol.  Very nice quality race shirt too. I do so many races in a year that I’ve got a ton of shirts, and hardly room for any more, so I usually donate mine and this race was no exception.  I got a Youth Small and asked one of the race folks to give it to a child who perhaps had a family member fighting brain cancer, and the child could wear it in support of that family member. The Head For The Cure folks kindly accommodated me, telling me they could do that for me; thank you.  I will certainly keep doing this event as long as I am able to, and I most definitely would recommend it to others.  Mucho thanks to all the people involved that made this one happen for us; all the sponsors, the many volunteers, our timers, the police and EMT folks out there for us; our MCs and the DJ guy; Providence Catholic School for the use of their grounds every year for this event; KSAT-13; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all so much!  The Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, I will continue to do this one as long as I am able.

Photos are here:       https://photos.app.goo.gl/aWq2zHqWYvmXtje48

 Before the Start:   My 52^nd ‘race’ of 2024 was the Strides Against Kids Cancer 5K, an inaugural 5K held on September 21 in Alamo Heights, a small city within the boundaries of San Antonio. This event was put on by UT-Health San Antonio and the Greehey  Cancer Research Center, on of the few institutes in the US focusing exclusively on pediatric cancer.  As a cancer survivor myself, I chose this one to do; cancer is a terrible thing for anyone, but really terrible for kids in my opinion; no kid should ever have to have his/her growing up young life interrupted by having to deal with this awful disease.  This was an untimed fund-raiser event 5K that included a 5K run, with no age-group awards but did include a finisher medal and a really nice quality race shirt; I opted to donate mine to one of the cancer kids. Start and finish area was by the Alamo Heights Swimming Pool. I arrived fairly early, got my 5K bib and then got a few pre-start photos.   Before we started a team of young ladies from a local high school – sorry, the name of the school went right out of my old-man-brain – led participants in a warm-up.   They were also at the finish, cheering in all the participants as they crossed the finish line. There was also a guy there taking photos; he looked very professional, so I’m sure his photos will be much better than the ones I take, lol, with my old-time Canon push-button camera.  The two young ladies doing the race-day packet pickup were also very efficient. They gave me my bib and kept looking through the event shirts they had, before it hit me that they were trying to find a shirt with my bib number; I had forgotten to tell them, duhhh, that I was not getting a shirt as I had donated mine. They were polite about it with this old dog.

On the course:  The runners started at 8 a.m., with the walker starting at 8:15 a.m.  If I remember correctly, there was also a 1-mile walk. Mother Nature actually gave us some pretty decent weather – decent for San Antonio at this time of year anyway – with a start temp of about 78 degrees and a mix of cloud cover and sunshine.  As this was a non-competitive 5K, I just raced against myself, lol. I did my usual thing of 8 minutes running/2-minute walk breaks and took some photos during my walk breaks.

Starting to the side of the Alamo Heights Swimming Pool, we made a right turn on Viesca and went in the direction of a nearby dog park. Another right turn took us onto Greely Street. Where we began to climb in earnest. We went around a short curve in the road, with silly me thinking we’d be done with this hill, but nope a left turn took us onto Cresent Street and then a left onto Patterson and with these turns we really began the up-and-down course hills in earnest.  These hills are not as steep as Eisenhower Park or the hills in Helotes, but even so, they had their moments, lol. Mile averaged a 702-ft elevation; Mile 2, a 764-ft elevation; up-and-down-and-all-around we went, getting a pretty nice running/walking tour of the Alamo Heights area. Mile 3 was mostly downhill, which  I did not like at all, since, with spinal arthritis, downhills are actually harder on the back than up-hills. The whole time I was out there, I was thinking, lol, Alamo Heights has to have at least one level street doesn’t it. Yes, it did, for about ¼ of a mile, lol, as we eventually came onto Normandy, which took us Alamo Heights Boulevard, where we had to do a small up incline and then turn right and to up the last incline on Viesca, the street we had started on, but went to the finish in the opposite direction from which we had started. That last .2 of the course was flat to the finish, thank you very much, Ms. Race Director, for that small blessing, lol. I ended up with a time of 46:26; Mile 1: 13:55. Mile 2: 15:56; and Mile 3, a negatives split from Mile 2 of 14:41.  Guess I was ready to be done, lol.

 After My Finish:  One of the University Health people greeted me at the finish – wow, did I look that bad, lol, that he thought I need aid – and kindly gave me a bottle of water and a small bag of ice which I put on the back of my neck and sat down and just relaxed for a few minutes.  After that, I went over to my car and sat in there with the a/c on full blast for about 5 minutes and that cooled me down quite nicely; then it was back to the pavilion area to chat with participants and supporters and get some post-race photos. Post-race they had some cold drinks, including water, some kind of cold drink with ginger in it – could not have that since I am on a blood-thinner because of my A-Fib – and some various treats, e.g., pastries, nutrition bars, etc.

Epilogue:  There were several other local area events going on, most of them competitive, with age group awards, chip timing and so forth, so this one had a fairly small turn-out compared to the other events.  Even so it is a very nicely-done event with a very nice quality race shirt, numbered bibs, and a challenging but very unique course that gives you a very nice tour of just about most of the Alamo Heights neighborhood.  The roads were all very paved and smooth and very wide.  Most of the course was open to traffic, with just a few exceptions and local police officers were at the road closure for our safety, and I also saw a couple of police vehicles going around the course route too. The residents were very patient with all of us.  As usual, I carried dog treats with me and stopped when I saw a dog to give it a treat – with its human’s permission of course. I think I made a few new life-long 4-legged friends, lol, as well as some new human friends.  Would I do this one again? Definitely so and I would recommend it also to my fellow runners.  If they get enough sponsors, I’d sure like to see this one turn into a chip-timed event with age-group awards and medals.  All of us, I am sure, know someone who has had a child with cancer, or lost a child to cancer so, with a cause like this, I’d bet they’d get a great deal of participants.  I don’t know if it’s possible, but if the race were held on a Sunday, the participant level would probably really increase as there are usually not too many Sunda races held, and we runners often look for Sunday events.  Much thanks to all who made this event happen for we participants, e.g.,  UT-Health; Greehy Cancer Center; all the many volunteers and the law enforcement people out there for us; the ‘official’ photographers – I think they were from UT-Health; the patience of all the residents and drivers as we invaded their space for a while;  the high school cheer/drill team; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all so much!  See you next year!