Scottydog Reports

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!

Photos are here:      https://photos.app.goo.gl/WQMNwCAWGdVHcFMW6       

 Before the Start:  My 51^st 5K of 2024 was the Real Life 5K on Thursday, September 19^th.  Starting and finishing at River City Community Church in San Antonio, Texas. Put on by University Health, this 5k provided a certified course, starting and finishing on the grounds of the church. The course also included participants getting to do a route on the grounds of Retama Park the San Antonio horse racing venue. This was a smaller event with 47 finishers at the ‘live’ event. There was also a virtual option.  Race start time was 6:45 pm, so it was fairly warm, with a temp in the low 90s, but Mother Nature was kind; we had a lot of cloud cover and a pretty good wind blowing, so it actually felt a bit cooler than what the actual temperature showed.  I arrived with about 45 minutes to go until start time and got a few pre-start photos.

On the course: We started right on time. The course had us line up on a slight down incline on the sidewalk are near the church’s Real Life Pavilion. We crossed over the timing mat and made a right turn. This took us on a curving course in the direction of Lookout Road.  I did a “Clairol” run/walk – nice’n’easy – doing my 8 minutes running, 2 minutes walking routine. Given what the heat was like, I also took a few extra shorter walk breaks.  As slow as I run, I pretty much did most of the course without anyone close to me, which was okay. We passed by a water station right before getting to Lookout Road. Once at Lookout Road, police officers were there to give us a safe crossing, and this took us onto the grounds of Retama Park.  We got to the 1-Mile mark after turning onto one of the park’s back access roads.  This road took us past horse stables on our right. Once past those, we went onto a small paved road that took us onto a dirt-and-grass area and began a loop on this.  The loop took us past Retama Park’s main stadium area and also by these ‘lookout’ towers along the way. I am not that familiar with horse-racing, so not sure what they are for; safety reasons, maybe; or maybe for observing and reporting on the race?  This long loop took us around this fenced in area that had a pond in the middle of it, and then back onto the side we had started on. We then headed back for the road where the stables were, passing the Mile 2 marker as we exited this pasture.  At this point, Mother Nature decided she had given us enough break and so for the last mile back, the darn sun was in full blast as we went past the stables, gaack. We then went back to the finish in reverse of the way we had come out.  Thankfully, after we re-crossed Lookout Road, there were lots of trees and shade and a housing area to our left with some tall homes, so the sun was pretty much blocked out for this last half-mile, which felt better I ended up finishing with a slow chip-time of 47:25, doing positive splits, which meant I had behaved myself and just did this one very easily like I had planned.  I could have crawled, lol, and still placed as there were only two in my 70-74 males age group. My speedy friend and excellent running friend Jim was the other in my age group and he finished in 25 minutes and change, good grief.  

 After My Finish:  One of the University Health people greeted me at the finish – wow, did I look that bad, lol – 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, get some after-photos and also get my 2^nd place age group award.

Epilogue: This was a fairly smaller event, but very nicely done; lots of good things, including live music from DJ Paul; our MC, Anthony did his usual great job; Pushbutton photography was there doing their normal great job of getting the official event photos; and post-race goodies included a variety of snacks and some Kiolbassa sausage wraps. Participants got a very nice finisher medal; and the age group awards were miniature horseshoes. I donated my race shirt so did not get one, but from what I saw of others that had them, very nice quality.  All-in-all, a very nicely done event, even with the warmth we experienced.  I would do this one again – hopefully in a cooler month next year, lol – and would recommend it to others. Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants, e.g. iaap web for course set up, timing, etc.; our sound man Paul and our MC Anthony; Pushbutton Photography; all the many volunteers out there for us; the folks of both University Health and River City Community Church that were out there for us; all the many volunteers; the police officers and firefighters/EMT folks at the street crossing; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here; thank you all!  P.S. – indoor restrooms too….LOTS of them…no waiting.

Photos are here:       https://photos.app.goo.gl/aAvjJTcaXWjA4v2s7

 Before the Start: My 50^th race of 2024 was the Gruene 5K held in Gruene, Texas, just outside of New Braunfels, Texas. There was also a 10K.  Race management company  Athlete Guild, co-owned by my good friends Amy and Scott Wood, put on this event. They are both great people, and Amy is a fellow cancer survivor.  Gruene is famous for Gruene Hall, a music and dance hall built in 1878 by Henrich “Henry” Gruene and still operating today for various events, concerts, and so forth.   Musicians, singers, etc. who have performed there include Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, LeAnn Rimes, George Strait, Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff Walker, Lyle Lovett, Hal Ketchum, and Gregg Allman. For the movie ‘Michael’ the dance scene of John Travolta was filmed there.  Start time for the 10K was 7:15 and the 5K followed after at 7:30 a.m.    There were 351 finishers for the 5K and 187 finishers for the 10K, so a pretty nice turn-out. I arrived about 40 minutes before start time, got my packet from Sherri Purnell – nice to see her in person again, it’s been a while – and then got a few pre-start photos as I wandered around chatting with friends there and other participants.  The weather was fairly cooperative; it was sunny and in the low 70s but did not feel too humid out there to me.

On the course:  Each of the events started right on time, in a parking/picnic area right across from Gruene Hall.  The 10K route took them down a long hill in the direction of Rockin R’ River Rides on River Road.  They went 3.1 miles out and then did a turn-round, came back the way they had gone out and then did the 3.1 miles 5K loop course to get in their 6.2 miles.  We 5K folks did not have to go down the hill, thank goodness, lol.  We made a turn in the other direction from the 10K route, going past Gruene Hall on our right and then heading down the road to make a left turn into a residential area. We made a large winding loop through this area, which eventually brought us back to the main road that took us back to the start/finish area.  After having been in the Emergency Room on Thursday for quite a while for a prostate cancer side-effect issue.  Per my doctor’s instructions, I gave away an entry I had for a Friday night 5K, to rest up, and for this 5K, also per my doc, just take it nice and easy and finish. To do that, I made my goal for this one to do positive splits. I took more walk breaks than I usually do and just took it pretty easy the whole way. I succeeded in doing my positive splits and ended up 4^th in my 70-75 males age group with a chip time of 45:04, averaging 14:30 per mile

 After My Finish: .  I did feel tired after this 5K, but not overly so; I went and sat in my car for about 10 minutes with the a/c on full blast while drinking some water and Gatorade I had put on ice and brought with me; really hit the spot. After that, I went back to the race area to get some goodies and take a few post-race photos.  Enjoyed chatting with old friends there and making new ones. As usual, I also had a pocket full of dog-treats, so I soon had all the dogs at the event loving me, lol, as I handed them out. I handed some out while I was on the course also, to some dogs of the residents who were outside watching us pass by and cheering us on.  Shiner Beer folks were there too and had some nice cold beer; I enjoyed about half a cup. Epilogue:  Athlete Guild does a pretty good job with their events. This was a really nicely done event, although there were a couple of glitches, such as the water ran out by the time I got back, so when I finished there was no post-race water to be had. Thankfully, one guy had an extra bottle and kindly gave me one, appreciate that; and I had brought my own too, which I drank when I went to do a cool-down in my car.  I think they also had a computer glitch for a reason beyond their control, so they were having difficulty in verifying who placed where, so no awards ceremony was done. Well, stuff happens sometime, so you just go with the flow and deal with it. It was still an enjoyable event for me – I was just happy my doc gave me permission to do this one, it felt good to be out there, mentally and physically – and I enjoyed chatting with people post-race and doing my usual thing of getting post-race photos. This is a very friendly event with lots of friendly people, and also dog-friendly, stroller friendly, walker friendly…just friendly, lol.  The race bibs and finisher medals are pretty cool for this year’s event. I’ve done this one a few times in the past and will do it again in the future and would recommend it to others. Mucho thanks to all the people making this one happen for us, e.g.,  Athlete Guild folks; all the race sponsors;  the residents who patiently let us invade their space for a while; all the many race volunteers; the police officers out there for our safety; and the EMT responders; sadly, around Mile 2, I saw that some of them were on the course, taking care of a young lady who had an issue; hope it turns out okay for her, and glad they were there for her; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here; thank you all!  Happy running, my friends and fellow runners; may you always reach your goals and stay safe and healthy while doing so.  

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/GwssY5VwHYg2XRSm9

 Before the Start:    My 49^th 5K of 2024 was the Windcrest 9/11 Remembrance Race, held on September 8^th in Windcrest, Texas. There was also a 1-mile walk. This event, held on September 8^th, was my 2^nd 5K of the weekend, after having done the 5K of the Tour de Las Misiones World Heritage Festival the day before.  The Windcrest 5K honored the fallen and the heroes of 9/11. Windcrest is a small incorporated city in the San Antonio area, located just east of the Intersection of Interstate-35 and Loop 410, and about 10 to 12 miles from downtown San Antonio.  Race start time was 8 a.m., with race day registration and packet pickup at 7 a.m.  This race was ‘old school’ with self-timing done and then putting your results onto an index card and dropping the card into the appropriate age-group basket. There were no age-group awards, but all participants got a finisher medal. The course started and finished at the top of Jim Seal Drive, the location of Takas Park, the city park of Windcrest.  Participant-wise, this was a fairly small event; not sure of the exact number of participants, but the turn-out made it feel like it was a get-together of friends to enjoy a nice outing together, which was really nice. Local firefighters and police also turned out for this one and a fire engine near the start/finish line proudly displayed the colors. I arrived with about 45 minutes until start time, got my bib number, and then enjoyed chatting with other participants and volunteers and getting a few photos.  This is also a dog-friendly event, so of course I had treats to hand out to them.

On the course: We started at the top of Jim Seal Drive, made a right turn onto Crescent and headed in the direction of Randolph Boulevard and I-35.  We made a left turn on Midcrown Drive, entering a residential area where this loop course started in earnest. We wound through various streets in this area. The Windcrest Police were out in force (no pun intended), with blocked roads for the course, and also with some of them driving on the course, making sure everyone was okay. For the most part, this course was really flat, with a few small inclines to climb, until we got near Mile 2, and then we had a couple of fairly long  up inline climbs. They were not really steep, they just kept going up and my legs felt those a bit, after the hillier Missions 5K I’d done the day before. This winding course eventually led us back to Crestway Drive, heading toward the finish line in the opposite direction from which we had started. We had a fairly long downhill on this end of Crestway, and then a climb up to get back to the finish, whew!.  Overall, I felt pretty good, doing my usual run/walk thing until just after the halfway point and then I ran most of the rest of the course nonstop, with just a couple of quick photo breaks.  I ended up with a finish time of 40:05, averaging 13:41 per mile and had negative splits too, for each mile, nice.

 After My Finish:   A volunteer handed me a small bottle of water – thank you! – and I did a short cool-down walk and then got some post-race photos.  One of the firefighters also kindly took a few photos of me standing in front of the awesome flag the firefighters displayed.  I ended up being first In my 70-and up males age group, since I was the only one in my age group, lol.  I also enjoyed post-race chatting with several other participants there and getting a couple more photos.

Epilogue:  I have not run in Windcrest for several years – I did a couple of races here way back when, after I first moved to San Antonio – and had forgotten how really nice this small city is. It really is a great place to get in a good run, walk, ride, or whatever your exercise passion is. Takas Park is a very nice park too, with some paved trails, tennis courts, batting cages, a really nice dog-park close by, indoor restroom, water fountains, and more. I will definitely start using this location for some of my future training runs.    Mucho thanks to my friend, Deborah, for telling me about this one when we did our Saturday 5K. I will definitely keep this one on my race calendar and would recommend it to others.  I don’t know if my friend, Race Director Lisa, wants this one to grow or not, lol, since that would involve a whole lot more work for her, but if it does, it surely is for a good cause.  Mucho thanks to all the people that made this one happen for we participants, and were there for us,  e.g.,  Windcrest city officials; the Windcrest Fire and Police departments; all the volunteers out there for us; the city residents along the course for their patience, as we invaded their space for a while, and who had some of their roads blocked off during the event; the military musician folks who were there entertaining us; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all so much. See you again next year if this one happens again; I sure hope so; it really is a very nice quality event.

Photos are here:     https://photos.app.goo.gl/buoix6ixLaJrQeLZ9

 Before the Start:   My 48^th “race” was the World Heritage Festival Tour de la Misiones held on September 7^th at Mission County Park, with a start time of 7:15. There was a 5K, a 10K, and a bike ride also, which had an option for 22 miles and 14 miles. This event was put on by the City of San Antonio World Heritage Office,  and its partners that included San Antonio River Authority and city organizations, celebrating 300 years of the San Antonio Missions and their being named a UNESCO World Heritage site, the only World Heritage site in San Antonio, and also celebrating the history and culture.. There were other events too, taking place from Sep 4 through Sep 8, culminating with this event, if I remember correctly.  I arrived with about an hour or so to go until start time and got a few pre-start photos.

On the course:  The runners and walkers started first, with the cyclists starting after those of us on foot had gone. We started from the parking lot in front of the park’s plaza, making our way to a nearby sidewalk and going up that, then making a left turn onto Padre Drive. After a very short jaunt down this street, we then made a right turn onto a paved trail, winding us around a bit until we came just outside the San Antonio Missions National Historic Park.  The trail took onto the grounds of the park, taking us past an historic building, and then we made our way to an exit on the other side of where we had entered, and were back on the road again.  This road took us back onto a far end of Padre Drive. We went up this for a bit, crossing by Pyron Avenue and then made a right turn that took us onto an off-road paved trail that got us onto the Riverwalk.  We went over a bridge to the side of the Riverwalk that is on the opposite side of where Mission County Park is located. I could see a large hill ahead of us  – good grief! – but when we got up it a bit, there was a sign showing 5K to the left and 10K to the right, so we got the smaller hill, lol, and thank goodness. This trail took us down to another turn, where we went right and that ended up with us doing a loop around the Hot Wells ruins, which is part of the World Heritage group.  One fellow runner I chatted with told me this place had a history of ‘ghosts” sometimes and they have ghost tours there. After looping around Hot Wells, we then went back onto the Riverwalk trail, for a couple more climbs, but nothing really hugely steep, and this took us to VFW Drive.  We crossed a bridge, when down a short incline and then took a paved trail on our left that took us back to the finish. There were no awards for this one, but I ‘raced’ myself, lol, challenging myself to see if I could do negative splits for this one and I did succeed in that. I ended up with a 43:32 finish time, averaging 14- minute miles, with splits, per my Garmin, of  14:21; 14:00; and 13:43. Probably a tad off from the official iaap time, as my Garmin is like me a bit…it’s slowed down as it has aged.

After My Finish:  I got a few photos of some others coming into the finish, that I had interacted with on the course, and then went to get some water and a banana and just relax a bit. After that, enjoyed post-race chatting with some of the volunteers, vendors, other participants, etc., and getting some post-run photos. Lots of the vendors had give-away items and the Public Works department had this roulette wheel thing you spun around, and it would land on a question; if you answered it right you got to select a prize; I ended up getting a nice little battery-operated hand-held fan, lol. It even fits in my running shorts pocket so I could take that with me on some of my runs on warmer days, lol.    

Epilogue:  This is the first time I’ve ever done this event, but it won’t be the last.  This is a really nicely organized event with a very enjoyable course – in spite of those inclines on the Riverwalk they made us do, lol – and lots of post-race giveaways by the vendors; you also get a food ticket (beans and rice I think was the food) and a drink ticket too.  There were a few dogs there too, so of course me being “Scottydog”, you know I had to visit with them and give them treats.  Sad thing, though, that ended up turning out well;  one guy came up and asked me if I had the number to Animal Control because when he was on the course, he found an abandoned dog tied to a pole; good grief, I don’t get people that do that. I told him to check with the Park Police officers that were there, they could get in contact with them.  However, this turned out well, because one of the other participants brought the dog back to the pavilion area; it was a very friendly young dog and well-behaved and one family with a couple of kids decided they would keep it, so a happy ending for this abandoned dog who got a new home in record time. Oh yes, I did give it a couple of treats.  Mucho thanks to all the people involved that made this one happen for we participants, e.g., all the sponsors; iaap for course set up and timing;  the involved San Antonio city offices, all the many volunteers out there for us; the group before we started that performed a cultural ceremony; our MC and our music-and-sound guy; the police officers there for our safety, and our medical guy present for us, if needed; and of course, our Race Director who made sure everything was going smoothly; and anyone else involved I may not mentioned here.  Thank you all!  Now I have to get some rest. I am doing my 49^th 5K of the year on Sunday, Sep 8.  Whatever your exercise passion is, may you always be successful and safe.