Scottydog Reports

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/BBriGY2xYWwUk6zK8

Before the Start:  My 63^rd race of 2024 was the Battle of Leon Creek 5K held on Saturday, November 2, starting and finishing on the grounds of the Greenway Apartments in San Antonio, located at the intersection of Roadrunner Boulevard and Valero Way.  The event was held on the Leon Creek Greenway Trails adjacent to the apartment complex.  This event was the final event in a 4-race series, Battle of The Alamo Beer put on by local race management company, Scallywompus.  Participants could register for all 4 events at once and get a nice discount or register for them individually. I did register for all four initially, but then ended up in physical therapy for a piriformis issue,  so could not do the first three. By the time this one came around, I was running again and able to do this event. This event included a 20-miler, a 21K (13.05 miles) a 10-miler, a 5K run and a 5K competitive walk.  The 5K had a start time of 9 a.m., so I got to sleep in a bit, which I appreciated.  I arrived at race site with about an hour to start time.  The 20-milers, 21K folks, and 10-milers had started early so were already on the course by the time I go there.   I had previously picked up my race packet so after arriving I enjoyed chatting with other participants, supporters, vendors/sponsors and getting a few pre-start photos. This is also a dog-friendly event and I always carry a few dog-treats with me so I was soon very popular, lol, with the dogs there.

On the course:  Mother Nature was kind to us, all things considered, even though it was pretty darn humid with a temp in the upper 60s, low 70s, and there had been some off-and-on light rain as I drove to the course; however, after getting to the course the rain pretty much stopped, but it still was very humid. The start/finish line was in the apartment complex area.  We started right on time. After exiting the start chute, we made a right turn, went uphill on the paved entranceway to the apartment complex and then made a right turn onto a path that took us down to the Greenway trail. We made a left turn here, proceeded to a turn-round point and then to finish came back the way we had come out. The course, for the most part, was pretty flat, but we did have a few mild up-and-down inclines, but nothing I’d really call a hill, and we did cross over a couple of short bridges.  The course was open to nonparticipants doing their own thing – other runners, walkers, cyclists – who, for the most part took it all very patiently; some of those cyclists though: pretty rude, they’d just come whipping up behind us, not calling out, and whip around us, regardless of the runners and walkers on the course; I’m surprised they didn’t run into some of the participants;  several cyclists along the way did call out a “Bike Back!” to us before passing and as these cyclists passed by me I thanked every one of them for calling out. I did my usual run/walk thing – I can’t run nonstop anymore for any great length of time because of my spinal arthritis – and during my walk breaks took some on-course photos.  I was feeling pretty good and just kept at a nice steady pace.  My friend Rick was walking the course at a pretty good pace and was ahead of me for most of the way. I thought he was doing the running 5K event and just walking it, so I made up my mind to try and finish ahead of him a bit.  I did not catch up to him until just before Mile 2 – Rick is one really strong walker – and then passed him by. I found out after I was done that he was doing the Competitive 5K walk, lol, so I guess I could have taken my time. Oh well, all good. I ended up with a chip time of 40:22, averaging 13 minutes per mile and, per my garmin, Mile 2 to Mile 3 was 12:21, zowie; have not seen that pace in a while.  My time was good enough for first place in my 70-74 males age group, especially as there were only two in my age group, lol.

After My Finish:   Got some water, did a cool-down walk and then found a place to just sit for a while and relax, enjoying a post-race banana and getting hydrated again; the humidity for this event was pretty high, with dark clouds still hovering, no wind and no sunshine. After that, I wandered all around chatting with other participants, supporters, vendors, etc., and getting some post-race photos.  Some of the speedier 10-milers had also come in and pretty soon some of the faster folks for the other longer distances started coming in also; wow, how they can finish a 10-miler or 20-miler in that kind of time just amazes a slow old dog like me, lol.  They had the awards ceremony for the 5K and the 5K competitive walk.  Friend Rick placed in the Competitive 5K walk, as did my very speedy walker friend, Daisy  Her walk pace is faster than my running pace, lol. Our MC, Anthony Zamora, did a really nice job with the awards presentations.  All finishers also got a very nice finisher medal.

Epilogue:  The motto of Scallywompus is “Come for the race. Stay for the party.” They are not kidding about that. Post-race there was all kinds of goodies, including Kiolbassa sausages; bloody mary’s – I think they were bloody marys, but not sure since I don’t drink hard liquor; I stick to beer, and they had that too.  There was also a food truck on-site to purchase a variety of various foods from that. The finisher medal is very nicely done and even the ribbon it comes with is an art presentation, lol. Our sound-and-music man, Paul, was rockin’ us with some tunes, and there were all kinds of sponsors there, offering various things, such as post-race massages, various types of treats, fresh fruits, and more. Scallywompus really does throw one heck of a party; their events are very popular and usually fill up pretty fast.  The 5K had 233 finishers; the 20-miler had 116 finishers; 21K had 44; not sure of the competitive 5K walk; but, as you can see, Scallywompus events have a very good turnout.  Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us, including our Race Director Tony; all the many volunteers it takes to make these events happen; all the sponsors, vendors, etc; Push Button photography for all the ‘official’ race photos for these events; and gratitude to the residents in this apartment complex area for their patience and understanding; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here; thank you all!

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/nqrMwtLibQQ8pvp47

Before the Start: My 62^nd race of 2024 was the Ryan Bielke 5K,  October 27^th, put on by Two Rivers Running, an excellent running store in New Braunfels.  The event was held at KL Ranch Cliffside in New Braunfels, Texas, with a start time of 0800. The main event was the Two Rivers Half-Marathon, which started at 0730.   Ryan, who passed away in 2019, was a runner and New Braunfels resident who completed multiple half-marathons, half-iron man, and three Texas Water Safaris. In 2019, he was diagnosed with ‘bile cancer’ and sadly passed away that year at age 24 years old.  I’d never been to this location, so started out fairly early to give myself plenty of time to find the place.  As I got closer, I missed a turn, so did a turn-round in a parking lot, but did not see the sign I was going into the exit and ended up flattening one of my tires on a spike.  It still had some air in it, so I ‘limped’ my vehicle along very slowly and managed to get to the race site. Well, it’s early Sunday morning, so nothing I could do about the tire then, so I just went to the start/finish area to being this 5K experience, getting a few pre-start photos. Both events started right on time. It was a very nice turn-out too and a popular event.  Per Athlete Guild, a very good race management company, there were 333 finishers for the half-marathon and 256 finishers for the 5K.

On the course:   The National Anthem was played and then we got a few instructions about the course, and then we were off.  I did my usual 8-minutes-run/2-minutes-walk and took photos during my walk breaks. I also took a few other short stops to get some photos.  We started on the camp grounds, going down a VERY ‘gravelly” road for the first part of the event and then turned onto the paved River Road. We went up the road, passing the camp on our right and the Guadalupe River on our left. We did a turn-round and went back the way we had come out, with the river now on our right. We then continued on River Road, leaving the camp behind us and crossed a bridge over the river and made our way down to a recreational vehicle camp area. We went through this area, and then went back over the bridge, heading for the finish. We went down River Road, and then went up a short, rocky uphill path that took us back onto the camp grounds, and then ran the flat, last part of the course to the finish.

After My Finish:  I ended up with a chip time of 43:01, averaging 13:51 per mile, and was 2^nd in my age group primarily because, lol, there were only 2 in my age group. The first guy did a 10:45 pace, zowie. I then went to take care of my flat-tire issue and two guys offered to change it for me and started…but I did not have the tire-lock key, so they could not get the tire off, well, shoot; tried to call my road service and text, but signals at this place are iffy, so couldn’t get hold of them; so heck with it, back to the race, just in time for the awards and got my 2^nd place medal. My friend, Sherri, owner (co-owner?) of Two Rivers, took a nice photo of me and the guy who came in first.  I then stuck around for a while, getting some more photos of happy finishers, etc. Some of the half-marathoners still on the course were continuing to come into the finish as all this was going on, with our MC, Anthony, announcing their successful arrival in completing the half.  After that, went back to my car and decided I probably need to get a tow; and that is when two WONDERFUL angels-people stepped in, Suzanne and Joe.  They found an open O’Reilly’s auto store and talked to them about my key lock.  They took a photo of my tire and then took that to the store and then came back with the tire lock key and so the spare was able to be put on.  I did not have an air pump, but my luck held when another Angel came by in a truck as he was leaving and he did have an air pump, and helped me out too, getting some more air into the spare, so I could make the trip home. 

Epilogue: First off, I owe those three people BIG TIME for helping me get home.  Suzanne even texted me to make sure I had gotten home safely, God bless her. I told them to go out and get some champagne, have a fancy dinner, see a show, or whatever, and it was on me.  Secondly, my wife was so patient through all this, keeping in touch with me via text and morally supporting me; this woman is a gem, I am so lucky she chose me; and finally…this is a really well done event, one I plan to continue to do whenever I can – especially now that I know the way to get there, lol. Aside from the start of the course – tough running on that gravel! – the 5K is a really scenic course with lots of views of the river; I’m not sure what view the half-marathoners had, but I think they had hills; we 5Kers did not. Nice, flat route, probably good course to shoot for a 5K PR if one is so inclined. Race shirt is very nice quality too, and the age group placer medals are very nicely designed. This is definitely an event I would recommend to others.  Much thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants, e.g., Two Rivers Running staff; all the many volunteers; law enforcement and EMT folks there for us; Athlete Guild for the posted results; e-Dragon Productions – another very good race company that also puts on really good events; our MC Anthony doing his usual great job; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here; thank you all so much!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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