Scottydog Reports

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/QDXBcXhonvWWBqm27

 Before the Start: My 45^th race of 2024 was the Summer Meltdown 5K, held on August 18^th at O.P. Schnabel Park in San Antonio, Texas.  Event was put on by Bigfoot Running.  There was also a 10K and a half marathon.  This was the only event I found in San Antonio for this weekend, so there was quite a nice turn-out, with 189 finishers for the 5K; 15 finishers for the half-marathon; and 99 finishers for the 10K; well the 10K was listed in the results as a Quarter Half, so it was actually 6.6 miles instead of 6.2 miles.  All the event started at 7 a.m.  Prior to the main events, there was a kids run about 10 minutes prior to the other events. I arrived at the  park with about 45 minutes to go until the start. I’d picked up my packet the day before, so wandered around chatting with participants, volunteers, and supporters and getting a few pre-start photos.    

On the course: National Anthem was played and we started right on time.  All the events started at the same time. I have done quite a few races over the years in OP Schnabel Park so knew what to expect. The course was on the paved trails of the park.  We started to the side of the park pavilion and went up a long incline; I suppose you could ‘technically” call it a hill, but it really was not steep, just a bit long. Once at the top of this, we then made a right turn and had a down incline. This part of the course took us to a left turn, where we went down a short but steep incline; after getting down that, we then went down a longer incline that was a bridge over the park’s grounds below; the bridge being there mainly because some tough terrain below; and also when it rains pretty good, the ground below this bridge gets flooded from the creek that flows through parts of this park. One we hit bridge bottom, we were on a flat part for just a short bit, and then went down another short incline. At the bottom of this there was an intersection, where one could turn left onto a paved trail, or right onto another paved trail.  I was glad to see we went left because that trail to the right has some pretty darn steep climbs. The one we took has more gradual climbs. I did my usual run/walk thing – 8 minutes running/2 minutes walking – and took some photos during my walk breaks. I was feeling pretty good and kept on steadily going.  Before I got to the 5K turn-round, I saw some of the speedier 5K folks coming toward me heading for the finish. We did have some climbs along the way to the turn-round, but they were pretty gradual uphills and downhills, so not too tough.  Got to the 5K turn-round – thanks to the water station lady there for us – and then it was back the way we had come out.  Since I am currently getting physical therapy for a piriformis issue, I had instructions from my Physical Therapist (PT) to just take it easy, so I did – for most of the way anyway, taking my walk breaks and walking up about half the way on that darn long bridge – which was now an uphill on the way to the finish – and the following uphill right after it. … I did take all my walk breaks until my last ½ mile.  I was feeling pretty good so I just thought, okay, let’s just get this thing done and ran nonstop for the last ½ mile.  My running pace during my therapy has been 14 to 15 minutes miles and that was so for this event; but the last mile I finished in 13:50, sweet; a confidence builder that I am slowly getting back to my normal running self. There were only 2 in my 70-and-up age group and I ended up being first with a time of 44:04.

After My Finish:  It was pretty warm out there so, as usual after I finish, I got some water, did a short cool-down walk and then went and sat in my car for about 15 minutes with the a/c on full blast….ahhhhh, nicely cooled down now.  Then it was back to the race area to chat with friends, supporters, volunteers, and other participants and get some after-photos. There were several dogs at this event too – most of them not running or walking since it was pretty humid – so, as usual, I handed out doggie treats too. I got in the habit of carrying them with me when I do my run/walks because some of the neighborhoods and parks I run in have several dogs around; so if one gives me ‘chase’ I toss the biscuit in the other direction and the dog usually goes after that, giving me time to get away in my direction. The friendly ones I give a treat to directly with, of course, permission from their humans.

Epilogue:  Very nicely done event by Bigfoot Running.  All finishers got a really nice finisher medal and all age-group placers – top 3 in each age group – got a “Gorrilla” pin: gold for 1^st place, silver for 2^nd place, and bronze color for 3^rd place, so kind of unique. There was not an awards ceremony; you just checked your results and if you placed picked up your pin at one of the volunteer tables, where race day packet pickup was. Force Water was also handed out to the finishers after they crossed the finish line. Pretty nice quality cotton race shirt.  I would do this one again.   Mucho thanks to all the people who made this one happen for we participants, e.g. Bigfoot Running Company; the park police officers out there for us; all the many volunteers, including the volunteer race photographers; all the sponsors who supported this event; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/HTT2CJ1MisHYnUAT8       

 Before the Start:  My 44^th race of 2024 was the Rember The Alamo Beer 5K held on August 3^rd at McAllister Park. The main event was a half marathon and half-marathon relay, and there was also a 10K, a 5K, and a 5K walk for competitive walkers who would get awards in their own category, so would not be competing with the 5K runners.  The half folks were supposed to start at 6:30 a.m., the 10K at 7:15 a.m. and the 5K at 7:55 am; however, there was some kind of delay, so the half folks and 10K folks started late.  I never did find out the reason for the delay. We 5K participants went at our scheduled time, since we were going after everyone else.  Of course, by the time those half folks left, it was already pretty darn warm, with bright sunshine, so I felt for them, having to do that long distance in this heat and humidity. Thankfully, the course did have a lot of shade, but even so…

On the course:  I lined up way in the back of the pack, planning to mostly walk this one as I have been dealing since June 30 with a pulled piriformis issue (the piriformis is a small muscle in the buttocks, connecting with the sciatic nerve) so had to give up 4 races I had registered for to let this thing recover for a bit.  I did see my doc and got referred to physical therapy, which started on August 1^st. In the meantime, I talked to a friend of mine who is a personal trainer and physical therapist and he showed me some stretches I could do and those really did help. I was doing walks around my neighborhood which also seemed to help. On Sunday, July 28, I went out on my own and tried a slow-and-easy 3 miles to see what would happen and managed to get it all done; it took me a while, but that’s okay, I was just happy to be running again; so I was pretty sure I could do this 5K, as the course is pretty flat with just a few mild inclines along the way. I did my usual 8-minutes-running/2-minutes walking and took photos during my walk breaks. When I first started out, I could feel slight pressure in my piriformis area, but no pain. My pace times were much slower than when I am completely healthy, but that was okay too, I was feeling pretty good, all-in-all. I ended up with a 46:02 chip time, averaging a 14:49 pace, not too far off of my normal 12 to 13 minutes per mile pace, and came in 2^nd of the 3 males in my 70-74 age group. My speed friend George, was first, finishing 10 minutes ahead of me.

After My Finish:  First, find some water; it was warm out there!  There was quite a lot of shade along the course, but no wind at all, and the temp was already in the upper 70s when we started. Local weather stations are predicting today (Aug 3) will be San Antonio’s first 100-degree temp day in a month, and it sure was on its way, lol, when all these events started. I got a few photos after the finish but was kind of dragging – my friend Rick Rue told me “you don’t look so good, Scotty.”  Gee, thanks, lol – so  after I finished, went and found some water and then one of the race vendors kindly let me sit on her cooler in the shade of her pavilion as I got some liquid into me, felt much better after that.  I wandered around chatting with participants, vendors, supporters, and also got my 2^nd place Scallywompus souvenir glass for placing in my age group. I have a lot of these from past events, so gave mine to some kid who liked the glass.  I kept the very nice finisher medal that all finishers got.  I spent the rest of my time there chatting with friends, supporters, other participants and, of course, getting several more photos for my race report.  Some of these folks are quite an inspiration.  One lady was visually impaired but did the 5K; and one lady I talked with – a fellow cancer survivor – told me she lost her leg to cancer, but here she was on the course with her prosthetic leg and got it done; her friend too, wow.  I store these people in my ‘memory bank’ and when I start feeling sorry for myself, I bring them to mind to help get my act together and keep on keepin’ on. I have a whole lot of them in my head and they are all awesome.

Epilogue:  All in all, a very good outing.  The only thing I don’t understand is the way they took us on the 5K course. We started in front of these lower soccer fields, went past the youth baseball stadium in the park, and then turned right onto a paved trail.  This took us behind the baseball field. It’s a pretty narrow paved trail, so was fairly crowded. Normally for a 5K here, once we past the baseball field, we continue on straight onto a park road, which is very wide and can accommodate a lot of people, allowing us to spread out a bit, so I don’t know why they had us go the other way; maybe it had something to do with the start delay, some kind of thing on the course, or whatever; anyway, it all worked out and after we passed Becken Pavilion, we did start spreading out a bit, and went onto the paved trail that took us past a police substation near the park.  Our last mile, heading back to the finish, was on that wider road, going past the baseball field and soccer fields again near the finish, and then back to the finish. Post-race goodies include Alamo Beer; Tequila; Kiolbassa sausage on a stick; these frozen popsicle things in a clear bag (cut the top off, squeeze out the popsicle); those things were good and really hit the spot on this warm morning; there was also Force Water and various other things; post-race massage tables; some fresh fruits, and more. Our DJ and sound guy, Paul, was doing the tunes for us, and Pushbutton Photography was all over the place, taking lots of photos.  All in all, in spite of the heat and late start, a pretty nicely done event. Mucho thanks to our MC, Anthony; Pushbutton photography; our sound man Paul; all the many volunteers, vendors and sponsors that helped make this one happen for we participants; Alamo Beer for pre-race day packet pickup location; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!

Photos are here:      https://photos.app.goo.gl/RBxm152mGJY616CV8    

 Before the Start: My 43^rd race of 2024 was the E-Dragon Productions Summer Series 5K, Race 4, held at McAllister Park, San Antonio, on Sunday, July 21^st . This is  series of 5 races held in various San Antonio parks.  Participants can register for each race individually or register for all 5 at once and get a nice race entry discount registering for all of them. The series of races provides funds for a youth scholarship, usually presented to the recipient at the last race in the series.  These events usually have an early start time, which is nice considering how warm it gets pretty early in Texas summer.  I had pre-registered for this one so arrived fairly early, got my race bib, and then got a few photos before the start.

On the course:  I lined up way in the back of the pack, planning to mostly walk this one as I have been dealing since June 30 with a pulled piriformis issue (the piriformis is a small muscle in the buttocks, connecting with the sciatic nerve) so had to give up 4 races I had registered for to let this thing recover for a bit.  It is a lot better than it was when I first pulled it. I normally do an 8-minutes-running/2 minutes walking thing when I do my running. I’d seen my doctor a few days before this event and told I was not fully recovered but feeling a lot better and had been able to do some 3 mile walks around my neighborhood. She gave me permission to try and run just a tad with this one, e.g., totally walk the first mile and after that then walk the first first 4 minutes of my 8-min run segment and then could try and run VERY EASY for the last 4 minutes, but if I felt any pulling to go back to completely walking. After my first mile walking, I followed these instructions, and after my watch counted down my ‘run now’ segment from 8 minutes to 4 minutes, I then did a very easy run-pace for the last 4 minutes. When I did the very first one of these, I did feel a little pull, almost like a quick ‘pressure and then suddenly the piriformis area felt much better, so maybe I knocked something back into place. Never-the-less, I followed her instructions, not pushing myself and that was okay, and it felt so good to be running again, even for these short bits. When my watch beeped for walk break, I behaved myself and took all of those, and just kept following the above pattern she had told me to, going very easy.  I even ended up doing negative splits, Mile 1 (walked that entire mile) 21:15; Mile 2 1945, and Mile 3 18:13, and I ran across the finish line. I ended up with a 1 hour and 34 seconds chip time, good enough for 3^rd in my 70-74 males age group, since there were, lol, only 3 in my age group. This is a far cry from the usual  38 to 40 minutes finishing time for a 5K, but I don’t care; my real reward was being able to run a little again and feeling good, which makes me think I am now on the healing path for this thing; not much running, as noted, but it was something, making me a happy mutt.  I’ve still got some physical therapy to get through in the coming weeks, but this was a nice confidence builder that I will get back to my normal running self in time.  

After my finish:  The awards ceremony had already finished, but I guess I timed it right, lol, because I crossed the line right as they called my name for 3^rd place, so got to get my medal right then. After that, I took a few more after photos, got some post-race treats – my ‘fruity friend’ Gilbert knows I like to eat a post-race banana, so always has one ready for me – and enjoyed chatting with some other participants still there, and did hand out more treats to the doggies still there.    

Epilogue:  Very nice event with 151 total finishers.  The course was also very nice – flat and a kind of loop course that started by the lower soccer fields in the park; then past the youth baseball field, and onto a paved road that took us in the direction of Becken Pavilion. We then turned onto an off-road paved trail that took us near a police-substation by the park, and then onto another paved trail that eventually led us to a trail going behind the youth baseball field.  The last paved trail put us back onto the road we had started on, and then we went back to the finish line in reverse of the way we had come out; no little out-and-backs to do anywhere on the course, which was very nice. The award medals are huge, with a code on it that can be used to get a discount for future E-dragon events one registers for. Nice photo back-drop for photo ops; indoor restrooms, water fountains – also plenty of bottled water – and McAllister Park also has lots of shade.  All-in-all, a very nicely done event by both E-Dragon and iaapweb, who did the timing, results, and probably helped set up the course too. Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants, e.g., iaap; E-Dragon; all the volunteers; the police officers out there for our safety; the official photographers; the bike lead person, our MC, Anthony doing his usual great job, and the guy in the Dragon costume – had to be hot in that thing – post-race for the awards, etc. Thanks also to all the race sponsors, and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Happy and safe running, racing, walking, biking, etc., to all!  Maybe I will see you at a future event sometime.

Photos are here:         

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3oyCsyWV4DVtzsiw5

For 2024, I have completed 42 5K races so far, my last 5K being on June 30^th, when I pulled something in my left piriformis area and my left leg went numb for about 3 minutes or so. I had to walk the majority of that course and then ended up in the Brook Army Medical Center to make sure that numbness was not stroke related, since I have an AFIB and a pacemaker. Thankfully, it was not stroke related and I was able to see my Primary Care doc during the week who verified that I indeed has a sciatica and piriformis issue, which makes sense, since I do have spinal arthritis and degenerative disk disease (DDD) in my spine and she got me scheduled for physical therapy starting on July 25. 

Good news, however, is after a couple of days, it did start feeling better – not good enough to run on – but I was able to do a few 3-mile walks around my neighborhood with no problems. Bad news, however, is I had to give up all my races I had scheduled for July, so June 30^th was my last race/run. They were all paid entries and I hate seeing an entry go to waste, so as much as possible I tried to arrange with the race directors to give my race entries to friends, and most of those race directors cooperated with me for that.

After 2 weeks of no running and missing seeing my running friends like I normally do, I volunteered to help with packet pickup at the Stars and Stripes half-marathon, 10K, and 5K at the Stars and Stripes Drive-In Movie Theater in New Braunfels, put on by Athlete Guild.  Packet pickup started at 5:30 a.m.., so I was up pretty early to make the trip to New Braunfels. I missed a turn on the way, so was a tad late getting there. When I did get there, someone told me between the 3 events, there was a total of 500 or so participants, so packet pickup was pretty darn busy.  I was helping by handing out the race shirts and I must apologize to the poor lady who had me as an assistant. Because I do so many races, and because of my photo race reports, I am fairly well-known in the running community.  People I know and other participants who recognized me kept coming to chat with me during the pickup, so I missed a few things, and the poor lady with me was really busy.  I found out pretty quickly packet pickup is probably not one of my volunteer strengths, lol. I better just stick with being a course marshal or something like that if-and-when I volunteer again.  The lady I was with was very patient about it all, bless her heart, especially when it got crazy-busy and people had questions about the shirts, sizes, etc.  It really got nuts for a while there.  Finally, we were all done, with the half-marathon folks starting at 6:30 ., the 10K folks staring at 7 a.m. and the 5K folks starting at 7:30  a.m., if I remember correctly. 

I did manage to get a couple of pre-start photos and then for a very short time – maybe a couple of minutes with the finisher medals, mainly picking up some boxes –  and then was able to wander around the race area for a bit, chatting with some of the race sponsors and some spectators who were waiting for their participants who were doing the events, and got a few more photos of our MC, the Athlete Guild timing guys, and a few others.  This is a dog-friendly event – although most people did not run with their dogs because it was just too darn hot and humid – so I was popular with the dogs there since at races I usually have a pocketful of dog treats. I also chatted with a couple of people who were fellow veterans and we shared some of our military experiences.   Some of the faster runners began coming into the finish line – gosh, the guy that won the half marathon averaged 6-something minute miles and this was a hilly course too – and the first lady and first male for the 10K both averaged 5-something minute miles, wow!  I stood near the finish line for a while and got photos of some of the people coming in, including a couple of my friends who were doing entrants.  As the finish line got a bit more crowded, I wandered around some more, taking a few more photos of various participants, including some of my friends who had finished. I have several speedy friends – when I do an event they usually leave me pretty quickly, eating their dust, lol – and made new friends too, I hope. Again, I was very popular with the dogs, once they found out I had treats. A couple of them even tried to follow me around, lol.  Several of my friends placed in their age groups. My friend, Eileen, was first in her age group for the half-marathon.  The awards ceremonies for each event was nicely done and the placer medals are pretty nice.  The movie theater folks also kindly opened their lobby area for participants – so no porta-potties, nice indoor bathrooms – and even provided free food post-race for the participant who could enjoy that in the lobby booths in the indoor air conditioning to cool down a bit after a very humid outing on the course.  I met one of the movie theater employees – I think he was one of the managers – who turned out to be a fellow veteran so we shared some of our experiences. The theater also has a very nice play area, so the kids there – and some of the adults too, lol – enjoyed that.  Very nice quality race shirts too. All finishers got a finisher medal and the placer got an additional medal if he/she placed in the age group.

A very nicely done event by Athlete Guild. I sure missed doing it, but for once I made myself behave, lol. Now on to physical therapy and getting recovered so I can hopefully soon be wearing a race bib again and be back out there with all my fellow runners.  Meanwhile, happy and safe running to all!

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/kxqp9Wc4AJbaUoBF7     

Before the start:    My 42^nd race of 2024 was the Dragon Den Texas Summer Series, Race 3, held at Lady Bird Johnson Park in San Antonio on June 30^th, starting at 7 a.m. The Summer Series races helps provide a scholarship for a youth athlete. There were 127 finisher for this event. I had registered early so arrived at the park fairly early, just after 6 a.m., and got my packet, and then got a few pre-race photos.  

On the course:   Out-and- back course, starting and finishing on the park’s traffic circle near the park pavilion, dog park, and trailhead. There was a kid’s race before the main event.  After that, we all got going, doing a loop around the traffic circle and then going down to the park’s paved trail. We headed in the direction of Los Patios Shoppes, near the Loop-410 frontage road in that area. I did my usual 8-minute run/2 minute walk thing, but too a lot more walk breaks than I usually do, as my piriformis muscle was acting up – a literal pain in the butt – and end up doing this kind of shuffling run/walk pace, looking like Tim Conway’s old-man character, lol, in the Carol Burnett Show.  Around Mile 1 my left leg went numb for about a minute or two, which was kind of scary, so I ended up mostly walking the rest of the race, with a bit of running here-and-there. Never been a DNF in any event I started, and my stubborn self was not about to start that now.   I ended up with a chip time of 51:23, which is about 8 minutes longer than it normally takes me to do a 5K, and amazingly finished 3^rd in my 70-99 males age group.

 After my finish:  I got a couple of after photos, but did not stick around for the awards.  Because I have an AFIB, I am at risk for stroke, so my medical folks had told me if I had any numbness, voice slurring (other than drinking 😉), etc., then get to the ER to verify it was not a stroke. Thus, I carefully drove home – I live only 10 minutes from the park – and then had my wife take me to the BAMC ER. BAMC folks have always taken very good care of me and today was no exception. They did a thorough exam and verified no stroke, it’s a piriformis issue. They gave me instructions of no running until it heals up – usually about 2 – 4 weeks – although I can do some walking, so that’s something, and no hills for a while, so I will probably have to give up a couple of races I signed up for already. I also got referred to Physical Therapy for some exercises they would show me that will help heal and help keep it healthy in the future.  

 Epilogue: Well, not good news that I may miss some races, but I was happy to be able to finish this one. As my wife knows, I have little patience when I can’t run – I become a big whiner about it, lol – but I will try and behave myself.  Will just take it one day at a time and see how things go, and I know I will eventually be back out there running and doing races. It could have been a lot worse, so am thankful that it was not; may do some race volunteering while this is going on. Meanwhile, much thanks to all that made this one happen for us: E-Dragon, via Erik and his family; Erik for doing the MC duties as well; iaap doing their usual great job of course setup, timing, and results; all the race day volunteers there for us; our bike lead guy; the official photographers out there; thanks to other park users for their patience with us; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned; thank you all!

Photos are here:    https://photos.app.goo.gl/r7emoWj9SWFkCFzGA    

Before the start:    My 41^st race of 2024 was the Big Red and Barbacoa 5K held on June 29^th at Martin Luther King Park in San Antonio, with a start time of 8 a.m.  There was also a kids’ run about 15 minutes before the start. Course set-up, timing, and results were done by local race management company iaap. There were 288 finishers for the 5K.  I arrived with just over an hour to go, got my packet and then got a few pre-start photos. It as already pretty warm with a temp in upper 70s and the humidity, as usual for San Antonio summer, was right up there.

On the course:  The course was an out-and-back starting from the park’s main area and then heading down a paved trail that went toward Comanche County Park. There were not any ‘serious’ hills, but we did have a few up and down inclines along the way, and we also had to cross – and then recross after the turn-round point – a bridge that swayed a bit as the runners and walkers went over it.  As usual, the park was open to other users not doing the race – other runners, walkers, cyclists – and they were pretty patient and polite about us 5K participants invading the park for a while. I did my usual  run/walk of 8 minutes running/2 minutes walking and got some photos during my walk breaks.  I was feeling pretty good and ended up running just about all of the back half of the race to the finish, doing the last mile completely non-stop. I ended up with a 42:24 chip time, good enough for 2^nd place out of the 4 in my 70-99 males age group. I knew before the start I was not going to be first, because I’d seen Jose was there, and that guy does around a 9-something minute mile. He finished over 12 minutes ahead of me.

 After my finish:  I got some water and did a short cool-down walk, and then had to sit down, as I felt a bit woozy for just a short bit.  I noticed on my Garmin my heart-rate had dropped to 41 beats a minute…what?  Kind of scary; probably may have had an A-Fib episode,  or was  experiencing some side effects from this forehead cream my dermatologist had given me to use; and I think I won’t use it anymore until after I chat with my dermatologist next  week  – I read online later about possible side-effects, and one of them was  the cream could possibly affect the heart a bit. Thankfully, however, my pacemaker kicked in and got it back up to my normal rate in about less than a minute, thankfully.  Usually, post-race, I am just wandering around chatting with other participants and getting photos right away, but when I did not do that my friend, Sally came over to check on me.  Nice to have caring friends who watch out for you. After my pacemaker kicked in and I got a few more minutes relaxing, I felt much better after that, so then wandered around  post-race like I usually do, chatting with friends and other runners, and getting some after photos.  Also got my placer medal pretty quickly during the awards presentation, since iaap usually starts with we old folks first, which is nice, so we can get home and take our afternoon nap, lol.

 Epilogue:   iaap folks do a great job with all the events they manage, and this one was no exception.  The course was very nice; we had use of the park’s indoor restrooms instead of porta-potties, and there is even a splash-pad at the park which several participants, and kids with them, took advantage of to cool off. Every finisher got a finisher medal, and the age-group placer got a second medal for placing. The race shirt is of very nice quality, although they ran a bit large; I got a medium and it was huge, lol.  I gave mine to a friend to give to her niece.  Big Red company was serving up post-race Big Red soda and barbacoa tacos for those that wanted it, and there were ‘official’ race photographers taking lots of photos before, during and after.  My friend Liz – another friend who came over to check on me post-race – was our MC/Race Director – she actually is certified as a Race Director – and did a great job. BTW, she also is the primary person who puts on the Confetti 5K at Our Lady Of The Lake University, which just opened up for registration; a great event, so check that out; iaap does the timing for that one too, if I remember correctly.  Along with Liz and iaap crew members, mucho thanks to all who had a hand in making this one happen for we participants:  all the many volunteers; our sound and DJ guy; the bike lead guy, Eddie Otho who helped out with the event and the awards ceremony; friend Mini, of iaap, who had a really nice booth at the event, with shirts, gear, etc.  She does a great job with race shirts, btw, and has often done the printing for some of my Beat Cancer shirts. Thanks to a couple of police officers I saw there, checking in to make sure everything was going safely; to all the race sponsors, of course, that supported this event; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all!  Hope to see you at an event sometime! My next one is the day after this one, when I do a Sunday 5K at McAllister Park on June 30^th.  To all; Happy running, walking, cycling, or whatever your chosen exercise method is; may you always succeed in your goals.

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/NSRxFLxaFbGYyJhu6    

Before the start:   My 40^th race of 2024 was the Texas Tough 5K, held in Helotes, Texas on June 23^rd.  Put on by E-Dragon Productions aka “Dragon’s Den”, this was my 2^nd race of the weekend, after doing the Beards vs Beans Longest Day 5K the day before this one. Along with the 5K, there was also a 10-miler and a 10K.  Start and finish location was in Olde Towne Helotes by Serenity Manor, an event venue for various functions, parties, etc.  Interestingly, this event venue building used to be Roger Soler Sports long ago, so the building itself has a running-world history. The 10-miler had 78 finishers; the 10K, 89 finishers; and the 5K, 127 finishers.  I arrived with about an hour to go until start-time and got a few pre-start photos.

On the course:  The 10-milers started first, followed shortly after by the 10k participants, and then the 5K participants started last. We left the parking lot by Serenity Manor, proceeding on a slight downhill on Old Bandera Road and going across a pedestrian bridge that went over a creek-bed, which was pretty dry with this Texas summer heat. We then began to climb again on Old Bandera Road until we got to Antonio Drive, where we made a left turn. This took us down a hill, where we had a flat road for just a bit.  Antonio Drive took us to Merin Hollow Drive, where we made a right turn. We had maybe a quarter-mile of flat on this nicely-wide road in a very pretty neighborhood, lots of nice homes. We rounded a curve in the road and then the hills began in earnest and I could see why this event was named Texas Tough, lol. These were no baby hills; these hills were pretty steep, both up-and-down. I just concentrated on getting through these 5K hills, and taking some on-course photos, and did take a fe more walk breaks than I usually do.  As I went along, I thought, dang, if these are the hills for just the 5K, those 10K and 10-miler folks must really be going through hill-hell. I found out later from some of those participants, that they went all the way to the top of this neighborhood, which is QUITE the climb, wow.  The average elevation level for each of these courses must have been crazy, lol. Per my Garmin connect, the average elevation range was listed at 1,020-ft to 1,120 ft, and that was just the 5K, so the 10K and 10-miler folks must have really had some crazy numbers.  Somehow, I managed to finish with a 42:47 chip time, averaging, 13:46 per mile, and I managed a negative split of 12:36 for the last mile; guess I was ready to be done, lol.  I got a laugh at myself when, just as I was getting ready to finish, my friend Max, who did the 10-miler, if I remember correctly, came whipping by me and finished quite a bit in front of me, lol. Max is one speedy guy.   My friend, Roland, and I were the only 2 in the 70-99 males age group for the 5K, so we each got a medal.

 After my finish:  Got some water first thing, and did a cool-down walk as I sipped that; then found some shade and just sat for a bit. After that, per my doc’s orders, since I have a pacemaker implant, I always get my blood pressure checked post-race. Surprisingly I cooled down pretty fast and the on-site med tech told me it was 117 over 70, nice, with my resting heart rate already down to 62. After that I enjoyed getting some post-race treats, of which there were quite a few, including various fresh fruits, breakfast tacos, Force water, coffee (blech!), and lots more.  There was also a ‘mister’ you could stand in front of to help cool you down; that was nice. Although it did feel a tad cooler for this Helotes event than it did for the 5K I did on Saturday, even so, at the start time, the temp was already 79 degrees, with the humidity at something like 82%, so it was a bit sticky. After getting a bit refreshed from the mister and just sitting for a while, I then wandered here-and-there, getting some after-photos and chatting with other participants, supporters, volunteers, etc.   There were also quite a few dogs present so I handed out treats to them, with permission of their humans.  Epilogue:  As usual for E-Dragon and iaap, a well-done quality event, with a challenging course – to say the least, lol – personalized race bibs, very nice finisher medals, and unique placer awards that are big ‘coins” that can be used to get race entry discounts at future E-Dragon races.  Very nice quality race shirts – I got a youth medium and gave mine to a kid – and there was even a costumed Dragon at the race, which the kids there had a lot of fun with.  It was also nice to see my friend Kristine, co-owner of E-Dragon, back at work after recently having a newborn baby girl. The Burciaga clan is a very busy family. Mucho thanks to all who gave we participants this quality event, e.g., E-Dragon; iaap; all the many volunteers; the law enforcement and medical folks there for us; our official  race photographers; all the many vendors and sponsors the help pay for all this; the patience of the Helotes residents as we invaded their space for several hours; our MC, Anthony, and our sound-and-music guy Paul; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all so much!  Next up for me; Big Red and Barbacoa 5K, June 29^th, Martin Luther King Park, San Antonio.

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/B8xowF7gk9zMRQUD9   

Before the start:     My 39^th race of 2024 was the Beards vs Beans: Longest Day 5K/10K held on June 22 at McAllister Park, with a 7:30 a.m. start for the  10K and an 8 a.m. start for the 5K.   Beards vs Beans was started by brothers Matt and Miguel to raise funds to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association of San Antonio and South Texas. Two races are done each year, one hosted by Miguel and the other by Matt. Whichever brother raises the most funds at his hosted event, the other brother than has to meet a challenge put out by the ‘winning’ brother. Either way, both brothers win, as this is a very popular event, so these events raise quite a few funds for Alzheimer’s.  After the main events are done there is also a post-race event a 0.5 beer race, in which participants must do this carrying a full glass of beer; whoever has the fullest glass after the finish is declared the winner. Local race management company E-Dragon Enterprises put on this event, with race company iaap doing the timing and results. Both are top-notch locally-based race management companies that put on several events over the years. Our MC, Anthony Zamora, was our MC for this event. He MCs for quite a few local races and did his usual great job for this one.  Our sound-and-music guy, Paul, was also there, doing his usual great job too.  .  I had picked up my packet the day before, so after arriving at the park with plenty of time before the start, I got a few pre-race photos.  There was quite a nice turn-out for this one, as always.  The 5K ended up with 227 finishers, and the 10K had 57 finishers.

On the course: The start-and-finish was at the upper parking lot of McAllister Park, where the dog park is located. I’ve done events here before so knew what to expect:  hilly!  Both 10K and 5K were out and back. The course went from the parking lot onto a paved trail that wound us downhill to an underpass that took us underneath the Wurzbach Parkway. After we were on the other side of the parkway, we then started to climb…and then climbed some more lol. Some of the speedier 5K folks were already heading back toward the finish by the time I started this climb.  The first male and female who came in first for the 5K – really speedy – had both passed me by on their  way to the finish before I had event gotten into the underpass, wow; they were moving. After we finally crested this hill, then it was a downhill to the 5K turn-round point.  The 10K participants continued on and I think had to go into Lady Bird Johnson Park to get to their turn-round, so they really had some hills. Of course, after I made the turn-round, I that downhill was now an uphill on the way back; a pretty long uphill to.  I finally crested the hill and then it was downhill to the underpass. Once through the underpass then, of course, that downhill we did from the start now become a pretty long uphill back to the finish. There were two people in front of me – a young lady and young man – wearing pretty funny matching outfits, so I just kept my eyes on them, using them as my ‘rabbits’ to get me to the finish.  I was not very close to them, but I did manage to keep them in sight, saw them finish, and then a few minutes after them I finished too, with my last mile being a negative split, nice. I ended up with a chip time of 39:37, averaging 12:45 per mile, which was good enough for 2^nd in my 70-99 males age group.

 After my finish:  I got a few photos of other participants coming in, then got some water and went and relaxed in my vehicle for 10 minutes with the a/c on full blast, cooling down. It was pretty darn humid out there, with no wind, and the temp was around 81 degrees at start time.     We had crazy humidity  – 88% at start time, almost matching the temperature.  Felt much better after getting re-hydrated and doing the a/c cool-down, so after that it was off to get some more photos, and some post-race goodies and watch the beer race, which was pretty funny.

Epilogue:  As usual with e-Dragon, iaap, and the two brothers, everything went along pretty smoothly from my point of view; there may have been some glitches for a few people, but I never heard about them, except for my friend, Carolyn who placed in her age group, but did not get mentioned during the awards ceremony. They got it worked out, though, and she did get her medal.  Lots of post-race goodies, including beer, Kiolbassa grilled sausages – my favorite, but sadly, cannot have them anymore bummer – lots of fresh fruits, courtesy of some of the sponsors/vendors and my friend Gilbert who provides some really good fresh fruits over the year at several races; Shiner beer; Force water; and lots more.  All finishers got a really nice finisher medal, and the race shirt is a very nice quality. Age group and overall placers got a really nice E-Dragon coin that can be used to get a registration discount for future E-Dragon events.  There was also a costume contest, and a Kid’s Run before the start of the main events. This is also a dog-friendly event, so several doggies there, which made me doggie popular since, as usual, I had dog-treats in my pockets. A very nicely done event, one I will continue to do in the future; although….hey, this is Texas summer, it starts getting light at 6:30 a.m., so how about an earlier start right around then? We’re runners and walkers, we’re used to getting up early, lol  Mucho thanks to all that made this one happen for we participants, e.g., the two brothers, Miguel and Matt; our sound/music guy, Paul; our MC, Anthony; Erik of e-Dragon; all the iaap crew; all the many, many volunteers and sponsors;. law enforcement folks out there for us; and the patience of all the other users of the park not doing this event, as the park was still open to all; Burleson Yard in San Antonio, for the pre-race packet pickup location; and to anyone else involved not have mentioned here. Thank you all!

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/TfB37k5Agsz1JcE88

Before the start:    My 38^th race of 2024 was the San Antonio Roadrunners Texas Sun Showdown 5K, held on June 16^th at McAllister Park in San Antonio. This was my 2^nd 5K of the weekend after having done the Y’all Means All 5K on Saturday.  The Texas Sun Showdown event also included an individually run half-marathon and a 4-team-members half-marathon relay and a 2-person team members half marathon relay. The half marathon events started first, with the 5K folks starting about 10 to 15 minutes after them. All the courses were loop courses in the park, with, naturally, longer routes for the half-marathon participants. It was pretty darn warm, too.  Even with a 7:15 start, the temperature was already in the low 80s, and the humidity was a crazy 81%, good grief.  Thankfully, we did have  mix of cloud cover, along with the sunshine, and McAllister Park has a lot of trees, so lots of shaded areas along the way.

On the course:   All events started and finished on Buckhorn Road, near the park’s lower soccer fields and the youth baseball stadium.  We proceeded up Buckhorn Road, with the soccer fields on our right, and then passed the youth baseball field on our right. We then went up a short-paved path not accessible to traffic that took us to a paved road and continued on that road heading in the direction of Becken Pavilion. About ¼ mile or so down from Becken Pavilion, we turned left onto an off-road paved trail that took us past a police sub-station we could see near the park. We wound around this trail a bit more, ending up at trail intersection. A left turn took us past Becken Pavilion and across a paved road onto a trail across the street from Becken Pavilion. We did a very short up incline, and then made a right turn that put us on a trail that took us to another trail intersection. A right turn put us onto a trail from which we could look down at the lower soccer fields and see the start/finish area. This trail took us behind the youth baseball field and then to another trail intersection. We turned left onto this paved trail and that took us past the baseball field, now on our left. We exited this trail with a left turn, went past the baseball field on our left, and then back onto the road we had originally started on and went to the finish. I ended up with a chip time of 41:57, averaging 13:30 per mile with my run/walk and photo stops, finishing 5^th out of 7 in my 70-99 males age group. The first guy in my group finished in 26 minutes and change, and the next two placers were both in the 30’s. There sure are some speedy old guys in my age group, lol.  There was a total of 244 finishers, female and male, for the 5K.  The 2-person half teams had 30 finishers in 5 different categories. The 4-person half relay teams had a total of 172 participants in 12 different categories.  A very nice turn-out for this event, 446 total finishers.

 After my finish:  I got a few photos of other participants coming in, and then went in search hydration and goodies.  Right near the finish area was a tub full of iced-down Force Water, so that was convenient. I got some water and then saw my friend Gilbert, a great supporter of these events, who had a tent with watermelon slices, fresh fruits, and some other goodies. He graciously allowed me to sit in one of his chairs as I just relaxed for a bit, cooling down and drinking my water and eating a banana, as we chatted  with each other and with other people coming by to get some of the excellent goodies Gilbert always shows up with at events. It was very pleasant.  After that, I was up-and-going again, chatting with other participants, and getting some more post-race photos, and handing out more treats to more doggies.  There were a couple of dogs on the course, walking with their humans, but none running, as I recall,  which is probably good, with that crazy humidity we had.    Epilogue:  SARR did a really nice job with this one. The courses were nicely laid out and all of them were loop courses with no little out-and-back sections to do, thank goodness, just before we go to the finish line; that is so annoying; if a race course is advertised as an out-and-back, I get it and expect it…but when it is a loop course, don’t ruin the loop by throwing in an out-and-back portion just before the end; when I hit that last turn before the finish, I just want to go to the finish, not have to do an out-and-back first before going to the finish, lol. I found out post-race, my friend Erik from E-Dragon had laid out the 5K course, and he accommodated us nicely with this very good loop course with no out-and backs anywhere; thank you!  OK, hissy fit over lol.  Anyway…from my viewpoint of what I saw and heard, SARR did a fine job with this one; very nice courses with lots of room for everyone; really nice race shirt, very uniquely don, and very nicely done finisher medals;  lots of vendors with lots of post-race goodies, and there was a brisket meal too – this event  used to be put on and known Carrabba’s, if I remember correctly – and cold drinks, including some Shiner Bock beer.  There is an indoor restroom building at this pavilion area, but it’s pretty small so, with 446 participants, as well as the vendors, sponsors, family members, friends, etc., that were all there,  SARR did a nice job of having a few porta-potties located near the race area. There was also an official photographer for this one – much better photos than mine, I am sure, lol – and the Park Police had a presence there for our safety.   I would definitely do this one again and would recommend it to others. Meanwhile, much thanks to all the people involved that made this one happen for us, e.g.,  law enforcement; SARR leadership; all the many volunteers and all the sponsors; medical staff there for us, if needed; our MC Anthony Zamora doing his usual great job; iaap for the timing, results, etc., doing their usual great job;  the event photographers; the lady before the start – don’t know her name – who beautifully sang The National Anthem; the food service company that provided the brisket and other items for a nice post-race meal for those that wanted it; and also, since the park was, of course, open to other exercise enthusiasts, e.g., cyclists, other walkers, runners, etc., thanks to them too for their patience with us invading the park for quite a while; and to anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!  See you at a future event sometime!  My next one will be Beards And Beans Longest Day 5K on June 22^nd. 

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/KiyM51yHGQxV87X66     

Before the start:    My 37^th race of 2024 was the Y’all Means All Pride 5K held in San Antonio on June 15^th at Lady Bird Johnson Park. There were 315 finishers for this event that supports the Thrive Youth Center, which provides LGBTQ+  homeless young adults a safe and supporting housing environment so they can become productive, skilled, educated, and successful adults.  This event sold out. It was capped at 400 entries and ended up with a a total of 315 finishers, so just about everyone registered showed up.  The 5K start time was 8 a.m.,  with a temp in the upper 70s, low 80s at start time.  I had previously picked up my packet, so arrived with a little over an hour to go and got some pre-start photos.

On the course:  This course was an out-and-back starting from the LBJ Park trailhead.  We did a lap around the park’s traffic circle near a large parking lot and then went down an incline that took us to the paved park trails below.  We made a right turn, heading in the direction of a trail that would have taken us to McAllister Park if we had stayed on it; however, we just did a short turn-round and then headed back the way we had come.  We continued on the park’s paved trail that eventually took us through the Los Patios shoppes area and to a turn-round just short of the frontage road of Loop 410 highway, and then returned to the finish in reverse of the way we had come out.  This course is mostly flat, with a few small up-and-down inclines along the way. The longest ‘hill’ – which was not much of a hill at all – was the incline we had gone down to get to the park’s main trails and then climbed up it, to get back to the traffic circle, where we went around once more, in reverse from the start, to get to the finish line.  A nice thing about this park too, for the route, is there is lots of shade along the trails. I ended up with a 42:58 chip time, averaging 13:50 per mile and was 1^st in my 70-89 males age group, largely because, lol, I was the only one in this age group. The age group award was this funny, yellow plastic ‘banana holder’ lol, which I thought was pretty amusing and inventive.

 After my finish:    After getting rehydrated and doing a short cool-down walk, I then got some post-race photos.  I normally take quite a few post-race photos, but for some reason my usually-ever-faithful old-fashioned Canon push-button camera started whacking out on me and froze up at times.  I still managed to get some post-race photos of happy finishers, etc., , but I think this may be “Old Red’s” final performance for photos.  Thankfully, when I got this one, I also got a few spares, back in the day when they were pretty inexpensive; you can hardly find these anymore and some of the prices being asked for them currently are just crazy, like they are collector’s items or something, good grief. I’d like to get Old Red repaired, but I don’t think any camera repair shop would even keep parts on hand for an old-time Canon camera. Be that as it may, I still got a few photos of some of the happy finishers, supporters, etc.

Epilogue:   This event was put on by In The Loop Running Crew and they did a very good job at it. Nicely thought-out course; lots of pre-and-post-race hydration available; many various vendors with different types of merchandise; shaded pavilion for post-race where you could sit and relax, and there was also a ‘cooling’ tent that had a “mister’ in it, nice. All the volunteers were great. There is only one porta-potty at LBJ Park – which I never understood as this park is quite well-used so you’d think the Park Service leadership would pull their heads out of you-know-where and put a few more here – but the race organizers rented a couple more so that made it better for the event. There was also a water station at the turn-round point, which was nice too.  I enjoyed doing this one – in honor of my daughter who supports this cause – and it has a very nice finisher medal too for all finishers.  I don’t remember if there is a race shirt; I do so many races over a year I bring home a lot of shirts, lol; so I often order a youth shirt and then just ask the organizers to just please donate it to some kid they may know; it’s all good.  Mucho thanks to all the people that made this one happen for we participants, e.g., In The Loop Running Crew; Thrive Youth Center; all the many vendors, sponsors, and volunteers out there for us; our MC, my friend Anthony Zamora; the EMT/Medic that was on site for us, as well as the Park Police Officers there for our safety; my friends at iaap, the race management company that did the course setup, timing and results; the official photographer there for us; and any others involved that I may not have mentioned here, thank you all.  Also, although this event was not recommended for our canine pals due to the heat, there were few dogs there that I enjoyed meeting and giving treats to, with permission of the humans; yes, I am the Good Humor Man for dogs, lol. Thanks to all who supported this event. Hope to see you at a future race sometime!  Now, MY old-dog self needs to go get a nap…I’ve got another 5K the day after this one, lol.