Scottydog Reports

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/PSZ4vja7zvwMVZ5C8

Before the start.  My 6^th race of 2024 was the San Antonio Rodeo & Stock Show Stampede 5K held on Saturday, February 3^rd in downtown San Antonio.  This event is the precursor event for the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, held this year from February 8 to February 25^th.  This is a very popular annual event, marked by a total of 449 finishers, both walkers and runners, which raises funds for student scholarships.  The course start and finish was at Milam Park at the intersection of Houston Street and Santa Rosa.  With a 5K start time of 9:30 a.m., it was nice to sleep in a bit. After some very stormy weather on Friday night and into the early Saturday morning hours, Mother Nature kindly cleared all that out and we had a nice sunny day for the event, with a temp of around 54 degrees at start time and hardly any wind at all.  I arrived with about 45 minutes until start time and wandered around chatting with friends, other participants, supporters, volunteers, etc., and got a few pre-start photos.  This is also a dog-friendly event, so I made some new 4-legged friends fast after handing out dog-treats.  The course set up and timing was done by iaapweb, a top-notch San Antonio family-business race management company that stays very busy doing this for many events in several Texas locations.  I am privileged to have several members of the Iniquez family as friends, including Top Guy, Jose, who knows I do these race reports – trying to be accurate but sometimes miss the mark, lol – so he told me before the start that because of the way the “authorities” wanted the race routed, the total distance was 3.2 miles, not 3.14; which was fine with me, not like I usually win anything anyway, lol, but also nice to know for my report.

On the course: No delays with iaap, they start things right on time, so at 9:30 a.m., off we went.  We went straight up Houston Street heading east in the direction of The Alamo. Houston is a street with a mixed surface of cobblestones and pavement with a slight slant on it. My friend Rick had run a bit of the course ahead of time and advised me to stay to the left on Houston, as the rain the night before had pooled some water on the right side of the road, so that is what I did and also tried to keep on the most level parts of it. I did my usual thing of 8-minute run/2-minute walk and took photos during my walk break.  By the time we started, there were several people gathering for a parade that would occur after the 5K, so we had lots of people cheering us on along Houston Street. The course took in a lot of the west/south downtown area, including going across two iron bridges with nice views of the San Antonio Riverwalk and a nice view of the historic Pioneer Flour Mill as we went through a part of the King William District.  In King William we went onto the Riverwalk going South, then crossing a bridge to the other side, and then went on that side back toward Nueva Street. After leaving the Riverwalk, we then made our way back to Houston Street, making a left turn, which took us back to the start/finish area. I was feeling pretty good the whole way and ran just about all of the last mile nonstop, finishing with a chip time of 42:27, , 17^th out of 25 in my 60-69 males age group, averaging 13:16 per mile, and my last mile was a negative split of 12:08, SWEET, the fastest I have run since early 2021.  For those of you who may not know, I dealt with prostate cancer treatment  from Sep 2021 to December 2022, – and still managed to do races even during my treatment time – and am still dealing with some of the side effects, so my normal pre-cancer times of 10-11 minute miles went crashing away, down to 13 to 15 minutes per mile for quite a while; so, seeing that 12:08 split made me feel so good, as I think I have finally turned the corner and am finally on the path to getting back to my old running self; still have a ways to go yet, but I am progressing. Also, my friend Oscar made me laugh out loud as I finished. A very speedy runner, Oscar finished in 27 minutes and change, and then he went out ‘directing traffic’ to all the other participants as he stood there cheering everyone in.  When he saw me coming in, he got all the waiting crowd cheering “Scotty! Scotty! Scotty!” and just cracked me up.  Oscar really is a character, lol, and also a great guy.

After My Finish: Got some water and did a short cool-down walk and then it was off to chat with friends/participants/supporters, hand out some more dog treats, and get some photos of what I call the “Happy Finishers” since more people seem to be smiling after they are finished than before and during, lol.  People ask me sometimes how I remember all these names. Well, actually  I don’t. I am terrible at remembering names – I’d make a lousy school teacher, lol – so when I take my photos, I usually try to get in the person’s bib number, so I can look the name up in the results, if I have to. So, if you are participating in a race I’m doing, and I take your photo, be kind to an old man, lol, and show me your race bib. Thank you, thank you very much.

  
Epilogue:  I love this event and have done it several times in the past years. It is always very well done and a lot of fun, with Rodeo Clowns wandering among the participants and being very entertaining; there is a Longhorn “cattle drive’ post-race as well as a parade of horse riders, that include police horses/riders, Texas A&M Cavaliers group, and more.  Pre-race goodies were some breakfast burritos of various flavors from Los Palapos (I may have spelled that wrong, sorry), and post-race items included sausage wraps, Miller Lite beer, water, and many other kinds of items. The race goody bag was chock-full of stuff including a one-day pass for access to the fair-grounds; a very nice quality long-sleeved shirt; and all kinds of other various little sundries, coupons, etc.  Mucho thanks to all the folks that made this one happen for we participants, e.g., all the many sponsors; volunteers; stock show and rodeo personnel; all the law enforcement and medical folks out there for our safety; iaap for course setup, timing, and results, and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all!  See you next year, the Lord willing and the creek don’t rise.  Next up for me: My birthday race on Feb 10, doing the Cupid’s Chase 5K at O.P. Schnabel Park. It is put on by Community Options, an organization that helps people with disabilities – or as my wife says “differabilities” – including children, which I can relate to; I was a March of Dimes baby, born with dislocated hips and this has given me a couple of ‘differabilities’ as I’ve gotten older, so I always try to do these types of races. See you there if you come out!

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/pHvvJK5TGgusTsic7

Before the start. My 5^th race of 2024 was the Das Dreizen 5K held at Prince Sohms Park in New Braunfels, Texas on Sunday, January 28^th.   There was also a half-marathon.  The event had a fairly nice turn-out with 149 finishers for the 5K and 127 finishers for the half. Athlete Guild did the timing and results for this event, and Mark Purnell was our MC, doing his usual great job. I went to packet pickup the day before at Two Rivers Running and then drove down to the park to make sure I could find the place, as I am directionally challenged, lol. After being given good directions from the packet pickup folks, I actually found it pretty easily.  The half had a 7 a.m. start with the 5K starting at 7:40 a.m, so I was up early, got some breakfast and headed to the race site, arriving just before the start of the half-marathon. I saw my friends Jorgina and Krista in the half-marathon start crowd and got a photo of them just before they started. I then wandered around chatting with the volunteers, 5K participants and their supporters, getting some pre-start photos and also handed out several doggie treats, as this is a dog-friendly event.  I also left some biscuits with some of the Athlete Guild volunteers to hand out to the doggies.

On the course: We started right on time. We rounded a grassy area in the park, went up the paved entrance/exit to the park and then proceeded over to San Antonio Street, where we did a short downhill and then crossed over a bridge. After going down San Antonio Street a bit more, we then turned into a residential neighborhood. We did a an out-and-back on this street, which took us to the halfway point. Just before getting back to San Antonio Street, we made a turn into another residential area, through which we did a loop-around that brought us back to San Antonio Street, just down from the bridge.  After making a right turn, we crossed over the bridge again and returned to the park to finish.  It is a nicely thought-out course.  I took it fairly easy for this one after doing a very hilly 5K in San Antonio the day before.  Even so, I did okay, and ran most of the last mile non-stop.   I ended up 3^rd out of the 4 in my 65-69 males age group, with a chip time of 40:47 and also had negative splits for each mile done, nice. I feel like I am slowly and surely getting stronger and back to my old-self as my cancer side-effects from my 2021 to 2022 treatments are now really starting to subside a lot finally, and thank goodness.   I thought it was funny, as I got closer to the finish line, MC Mark called out to me on the microphone “Hurry up, Scotty, the first half-marathoner finisher is right behind you!”  I did end up crossing the line just a tad ahead of him by less than a minute, lol. Yay me.  That guy is very speedy!

After My Finish:  I wandered around again, getting some more photos, this time of happy finishers and supporters, volunteers, the doggies, etc.  There was also a quite nice array of post-race goodies, both edible and non-edible, lol, which included a finisher medal for all finishers, Shiner Bock beer, various fresh fruits, and sausage wraps.  Also saws my speedy friend, Maria, finishing the half, and got a photo of her too.  I indulged in a beer and a sausage wrap, both of them very satisfying. Enjoyed continuing to chat with friends and treat the doggies, and really was surprised when I was called out for an age group award at my sedate pace, but I’ll take it.

Epilogue:  This is the first time I’ve done this event and it really is a nice race.  Although it was a tad chilly for me at 41 degrees – I prefer the 60s and 70s, lol – it was still pretty nice with lots of sunshine and no wind.  Lots of nice post-race goodies to enjoy; official photographers there to take photos; dog-friendly event; lots of port-a-potties available; so many that there were not even any long lines for the use of them, people were in-and-out pretty quick. There were also several vendors, some of whom had a few give-away items.  Participants got a very nice quality race shirt and all finishers got a finisher medal. Age-group placers got an additional medal for that.  The parking was kind of crazy, since the park is pretty small, so only vendors, volunteers, timers, etc., were allowed to use the park lot.  The rest of us parked at one of the Schlitterbahn lots, that company kindly let us use. It was about a ¼ mile walk or so to the park and then back to the lot after the finish.  Running is not my problem, walking is, with this darn spinal arthritis/degenerative disc disease I have – I do have a disabled parking tag to use when needed. For some darn reason, I have no idea why, doing walks kicks up my arthritis/DDD more than running does, go figure;  so I just took it nice and easy, taking my time walking back and enjoying my surroundings and was just fine, although the walk of what, maybe ¼ of a mile  took me about half the time it took me to do my 5k, lol.  Yes, I am a very slow walker.   Anyway, I would do this event again and would recommend it to others.  Next up for me is the Stock Show and Rodeo Stampede 5K on February 3. See you there if you are doing that one!

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/WYzUrcXRW1tPGmru9 

Before the start.  My 4^th race of 2024 was the Time Travel 5K, put on by Bigfoot Running race management company.  Held on January 27^th at Eisenhower Park in San Antonio, this event included a 15K, a 10K, and a 5K.  There was also a kids run. All the events started together a 9 a.m. Texas time.  If I remember correctly the race sold out; there were 163 finishers in the 5K alone, so a very nice turn-out for this event. The weather was pretty cooperative with lots of sunshine and a temp o 54 degrees; however a really stiff wind, with periodic big gusts made it feel a lot colder than that. I arrived on site with about 45 minutes to go, got my race packet, and then got a few pre-start photos.

On the course:  As noted, all the races started at the same time.  All were out-and-back courses. We did a very brief stint in the parking lot and then went onto a paved asphalt trail.  This wound us around for a bit, and then we went onto a paved trail that I recognized from running here before.  On this trail we began climbing, and this is no baby hill either. If we had gone all the way to the top we would have reached a plateau at the top that has an observation tower which provides some nice views of the surrounding area. We did not go all the way up to the top. Instead, we were diverted off the paved trail onto a short, off-road trail.  The off-road trails in Eisenhower Park are  some serious trails with lots of rocky ground and very few ‘smooth trail’ areas.  It makes for some difficult going so, like many others, I walked quite a bit on this part of the course. After doing a stint on this, we then went onto a concrete paved trail. This concrete trail took each of the participants to their various turn-around points.  This is a fairly new added trail to San Antonio’s system of Greenway Trails. If we had kept on this trail without turning around it would have taken us to the Shoppes at La Cantera and to The Rim, another shopping area.  Thankfully, lol, we did not go that far.  After making the turn-round, it was back to the finish the way we had come out. Back on the asphalt paved trail was the Mile 2 marker and I pretty much ran most of the last mile nonstop – mostly all downhill, since it was uphill – with just a couple of brief stops to hand out treats to a couple of doggies I encountered who were out walking their humans.  I ended up with a 44:21 chip time, and a negative split for Mile 2 to the finish; 2^nd in my 65-69 males age group.

After my finish:  Got my finisher medal, got something to drink, and then wandered around chatting with other participants, supporters, volunteers, etc., and got some post-race photos.  I was trying to hang around to wait for my friend Krista to finish her 15K, but started getting a bit cold so decided I better just go.  After I got in the car I then saw Krista come off the paved trail and onto the parking lot, heading for her finish. I went back to the start/finish area and got a photo of her, and we got a couple photos together.  After that, it was time to go home and warm up.

Epilogue:  This is the second Big Foot Running event I’ve done and it was very well done, with the exception that the darn 5K turn-round sign was placed where it was not easily seen. I only saw it because I had stopped at that point to take a photo. After they finished, a couple of the 5K folks told me they had missed the turn-round sign and ended up doing the 10K.  The Bigfoot people were good about that, though, and updated them in the computer as 10K finishers instead of 5K finishers. Other than this glitch, it really is a well-done event, with a very nice quality finisher medal – which ‘growls” like Bigfoot, lol, if you push the button on the back of the medal – a good course – challenging, but still good – and a very friendly atmosphere, which includes dog-friendly and stroller-friendly course  – although those hills were probably challenging for the people pushing strollers up those things.  Lots of facilities too, including the park’s indoor restroom and there were also several port-a-potties, water fountains, etc.  I can’t remember if there were any post-race treats-to-eat since I bring my own, so didn’t pay attention. I would certainly do this one again and recommend it to others – but I’d like them to take us all the way up to the Observation Tower next time; we should get that view reward for all the hills.  😝  Mucho thanks to all the people that made this one happen for us: Bigfoot people, all the volunteers, the police officers out there for us, our timer and race announcer, and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/ncsxibb7jP7MV7kv9

Before The Start: My 3^rd race of 2023 was the inaugural Big Foot Classic 5K held on January 13 at O.P.  Schnabel Park in San Antonio.  The event included a 10K, a 15K, and a 1 Mile run. Start time of 9 a.m.  I had picked up my packet the day before, so arrived at the race venue around 8:15 a.m. and got a few pre-start photos.  The weather was pretty cooperative, with sunshine, blue skies, and a 41-degree temp at start time.    For an inaugural event, the race had a very nice turn out. In the 5K alone, there were 163 finishers.

 On the Course:   All the courses were out-and-back.  We started by the park’s main pavilion and then proceeded onto the park’s off-road paved running trails.  The course was flat for the most part, but we did start off going uphill, passing a small pavilion at the top of the hill, and then made a right turn and went downhill.  This took us to a left turn on another downhill, crossing over an elevated walkway.  We then proceed to a trail intersection – going onto a short down incline – and turned left at a trail intersection. I was happy to see this, lol, because I’ve run in this park several times and if we had continued straight at that intersection, there is quite a long downhill that way, which we would have had to come back up on the way back.  As it was, the trail we did go onto had mostly flat terrain with a few up-and-down inclines, but nothing you could really call a hill. We went to a turn-round, and then proceeded back the way we had come out. This meant, of course, that when we got back to that elevated walkway, we then had to climb up the hills that we had gone down on the way out. Once we got back to that small pavilion at the top, we then made a left turn and went downhill to the finish.  I had gotten a dermatology procedure on January 9^th to remove some basal carcinoma cells in two places on my back and had waterproof bandages covering the two stitched areas, and am also still dealing with a few side effects from my prostate cancer treatments and follow-up procedures that I had done, 2021 – 2023; so I followed by Doc’s advice by just taking this one really easy, doing my run/walk thing and taking photos during my walk breaks, and making a few additional stops to hand out treats to the doggies I encountered along the way, with the permission of their humans. I started run/walk way back when, after I found I have spinal arthritis, as running non-stop is now too hard on my back.  These days, after all that, I normally do about 12 – 14 minute-miles, running 8-minutes, walking 2 minutes; for this one I made a point of going much slower and taking extra walk break breaks. My first mile was 15 minutes-and-change. Overall, I felt pretty good and just enjoyed myself, now caring about my time.  My last mile I did run nonstop a bit more, as I could ‘smell’ the finish line, lol.  I ended up with a finish time of 44:21 and was first in my male 65-69 age group since, lol, I was the only one in my age group; but I did not really pay attention to the awards ceremony since I thought there was no way I was going to place at my pace, so I missed getting my medal, but that’s okay.  If the Race Director happens to read this report – just give mine to some kid, preferably a disabled one. I was a disabled kid myself, a “March of Dimes” baby, born with dislocated hips.

After My Finish:   Got some water; cool-down walk, and then wandered around chatting with other participants and their supporters and took some post-race photos.  There were several veterans at this one – including some older ones like me – so lots of sharing of our stories and experiences. This is also a dog-friendly event too. I soon ran out of doggie treats, which I carry with me when I do a race or run – hence my name Scottydog, named that way back when, as me and friends headed toward the finish line, I stopped to treat a dog in its yard and one of my friends called out “Darn it, Scotty, we are doing a race here!  Get back here, you darn Scottydog!”  And the rest, as they say, is history, lol. Now pretty much everyone in the running community – and even my wife sometimes, lol – calls me Scottydog – and lots of people know me from my blog, Scottydog Reports and Facebook, where I put my race reports and photos.  I was very popular with the dogs at this event, lol, after they knew I had treats.

Epilogue: This is one of the best inaugural races I have ever done in my 40 years of being a runner; yep, 40 years; I started April 15, 1983, when I was assigned in Turkey during my Air Force days. I always remember the date because it was tax day, lol.    Anyway, as noted, very well-done event, well-organized; nice race location; very nice quality race shirt; and Bigfoot was even at the event, lol.  He was probably the warmest one there in that costume.  I would definitely do this one again and would recommend it to others.  Mucho thanks to all the ones who made this one happen for we participants: Big Foot Running, all the many volunteers, all the race sponsors/vendors, the law enforcement officers out there for us, and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.   See you at a future event sometime, maybe.  I still have 4 more races scheduled for this month. Stay safe and Never Give Up!

Photos are here:      https://photos.app.goo.gl/3WnfEzdJw18roJmE7

Before The Start:   Followed up my first 5K of the year – La Cruda 5K on New Year’s Day in San Antonio – with this “lower-key” 5K.  This event was put on by BestRaces.com on January 6, with the location being Lady Bird Johnson Park.  The event offered a half marathon, 10K, and 5K. Unlike most races, for this one you signed up online and then received an email to fill out a form, selecting the time you wanted to start, with the start time options being 7:30 a.m; 8:30 a.m; and  9:30 a.m.  I live only 3 miles from the park, so selected 8:30 a.m. to sleep in a bit before going.   The race shirt is mailed to you before race day. After you finish your selected distance, you then send another email, verifying your finish, and your finisher medal is then mailed to you. There is no chip timing, but if you request to be timed by them, they go “old school” and will start their timer when you start – basically gun time – and give your results when you finish. I just went ahead and timed myself with my Garmin.  I arrived about 8: 15 a.m, got my bib, and took a few pre-start photos before I started. 

 On the Course:  Unlike most events, for this one you just started at your selected “wave time” and went onto the course. The start was at the top of the trailhead in Lady Bird Johnson Park. The course is all on the park’s paved trail.  There was no big crowd of participants lining up for the start, like most 5Ks. For this one, we did a 2-lap course, going from the trailhead to a turnround point; then back to the trailhead; and repeat. For those of you who know the park, the turnround point was just before the short downhill that takes you across the bridge in the park and then toward the Los Patios shoppes area.  Because of the various times people were starting, I was mostly running alone, but there were other participants out there doing their thing too, so there were times when I was running with a few of them, and I did do my usual run/walk thing and take photos along the way.  I did goof around a bit with this one, lol, just taking it easy and having fun, taking a few extra photo stops, resulting in 15-minutes-and-change miles for miles 1 and 2; and then a 13:20 pace for the last 1.1 miles, ending up with a finish time of  43:46.

After My Finish:  I chatted with the two very nice company ladies that were out there for us; and told them I have done several races at this park, so when they do this next year, instead of out-and-back for the 5K, I advised they might want to just take us all the way to Los Patios and turn around there at the frontage road to come back and that would result in not having to do 2 laps.  I described to them the usual 5K course at this park – going around the traffic circle and then onto the trails and so forth, then after coming off the trail, back around the traffic circle to finish up. They said they would let their managers know that this probably would be a better course; nice; glad to help.

Epilogue:   After my finish I got a few more photos and also chatted with some other participants there, including a very nice lady I had first met at the Head For the Cure 5K; like me she is a cancer survivor, but hers was brain cancer, which is amazing, the survival rate for this one is not all that great. She is one of the nicest people I have ever met.  I am so happy for her that she is doing well; it was great to see her out there.  She was with two friends, one who had a photo of me from a previous race we both did, cool, so they all definitely knew who I was, lol. We chatted for a while post-race and I probably bored them to tears with some of my running and military life stories, but they were patient about it, lol.  So, as you can see, not your typical type of 5K event;  would I do this one again?  I would. It actually turned out to be a really enjoyable, laid-back type of event, more like a group of friends getting together and having a fun little outing.  I am not sure how many total participants they had since the starts were all staggered, but people kept showing up as I was doing my course-selected time.  It’s also dog-friendly too.  That probably didn’t help with my results time, lol, as I kept stopping to hand out treats to all the doggies I met.  What the heck, I enjoyed it.  I was also thinking about local running groups like Wolfpack Running, Speed Burro, Village Idiots, Team RWB and so forth, e.g. that if there was no organized race on the day this is held, it might be a good meetup event for the clubs.  This event was not crowded at all, so there was plenty of parking at the LBJ  park’s parking lot.  Of course, they still only have that one darn park porta-potty – I never understood why the San Antonio Parks service never built an actual restroom building in this park – so that might be an issue for a larger meetup, although there are restrooms up near the skate rink.  Even so, it’s something to think about.  Anyway, mucho thanks to the company ladies out there for us, they handled everything very well; and thanks to all the people I interacted with, both runners and walkers; we are a friendly lot, are we not?   Hope to see you at a future event sometime!

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/dheg3D4c9QhUYnAX6  

Before The Start:   On January 1, 2024, I began my race count for the year with my first 2024 event, La Cruda 5K, held in Helotes, Texas, with a start time of 10 a.m.  La Cruda 5K, begun by Race Director Tony Garcia, is a popular New Year’s Day event, usually drawing quite a large turnout.  This year was no exception, with 597 finishers. This is one of my ‘streak’ races; I’ve done this one every year since it first started.  I arrived at race site around 8:30 a.m, getting some nice parking pretty close to the start/finish and then wandered around chatting with friends/other participants/supporters/vendors/sponsors, and getting a few pre-start photos.  This is also a dog-friendly event, so I handed out a few doggie treats too.  The weather was fairly chilly on this race morning, in the mid-40s when I first arrived, with a pretty good wind blowing. Mother Nature was kind, though, and gave us lots of sunshine. By the 10 a.m. start time, the wind had died down a bit and the temp had risen to hovering between 48 – 51 degrees, so not too bad at all.

 On the Course:  The course is a double-loop course, beginning behind the building that used to be the old Roger Soler Sports in Helotes.  I did my usual 8-minutes run/2 minutes-walk thing, taking photos during my walk breaks. We proceeded from the start line out to the paved road in front of the start/finish area.  We then made a right turn on Old Bandera Road, going past the small Helotes traffic circle and making a right onto Riggs Road.  We did an out-and-back on Riggs Road. When we got back to the traffic circle, we made a right turn and headed down a road adjacent to the highway on our left.  This was another out-and-back for us. Once we got back to the traffic circle, we then proceeded straight ahead. This took us past where the start/finish area was. We went down an incline, passing by the shoppes on this road, and then up an incline – nothing you could really call a hill – and then proceeded back past the start/finish line area, and repeated this loop for a second time. For our second time on Old Bandera Road, after making that last turn-round, we then proceeded back to the finish line.  I was feeling pretty good so went ahead and ran most of the last mile non-stop.  I ended up 19^th out of 26 in my 60-69 males age group with a chip time of 39:12, averaging 12:37 per mile, nice; haven’t seen that time for a while; feeling stronger every day as my cancer side effects are finally starting to lessen more.

After My Finish:   First, changed into a dry bottom-layer shirt that I had brought with me and felt much more comfortable after that; then it was off to mingle in the finish area crowd, get some more photos, and enjoy some of the post-race goodies that included sausage-on-a-stick, menudo (personal yuk for me on that, lol) and post-race beverages which included beer, bloody mary’s, water, fresh fruits, and some other drink concoctions. La Cruda throws a very nice after-party. 

Epilogue:   This is a very popular annual event and sells out pretty quickly.  I already registered for the 2025 event as there was a 1-day only special registration price of $25, so I took advantage of that.  The event has a really nice-quality race shirt, and finisher medals for all finishers.  The course is very nicely done.  The double-loop course is pretty popular since  participants pass by each other quite a bit, coming and going, so it’s a cheer fest of support as people shout out encouragement to each other as we all go along; fun stuff.   The course is well thought-out with nothing really too difficult, like going up-and-down those super-steep hills that are located in various areas in Helotes.  It’s just one big happy event to start out happy for a Happy New Year – and I hope everyone will have a happy new year this year. Mucho thanks to all the people who made this one happen for us, including all the many race volunteers; the sponsors and vendors; the law enforcement and medical folks out there for us, as well as the professional Pushbutton Photography folks; our music-and-sound guy Paul, and our MC, Anthony and Race Director Tony; the crew that had to be there really early to get going with grilling all those tasty sausages; the patience and courtesy of the Helotes residents, as well as that of the few drivers we encountered on the race roads; and to iaap for the course setup, timing, results, etc. and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all and see you at the event next year!  

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/LBM5AYbEMhxnYQ9F6

Before The Start:   On December 25^th, 2023, Christmas Day, I completed my 71^st race of the year.  The actual 5K was held on Dec 24^th, but I passed on that as heavy rain was threatening – poured and there was lightning on my drive to the race site – so I got my packet and went home, planning to do this one virtually, per my doctor’s instructions. I found out later from friends who did this event that it actually cleared up by start time so I probably would have been fine, but it’s okay, it is what it is.  My chosen site to do this event virtually was Joint Base San Antonio – Lackland, which is quite near to Pearsall Park where the live event was held.  I did my usual run/walk thing and took my camera with me to get a few photos.  I got started just after 11 a.m.  There was “abundant sunshine”, as the news weather reporters would say, and bright blue skies.  It was pretty chilly though with a temp of 43 degrees at the start and the wind blowing about 10 – 15 mph, making the “feel like temp” being around 39 degrees. 

 On the Course:   I started and finished at the Chapparal Fitness Center on the training side of the base. Mile 1 took me to one of the pedestrian overpasses used to get over a traffic road on the base.  I did not go over this first overpass, crossing the road via the public crosswalk and then going past the chapel on the training side of the base, which brought me out to a building that is one of the main buildings for trainee processing, if I remember correctly, and also where parents, family members, etc. can meet their basic training graduating family member. There is a huge stadium behind this building which is also used for graduation functions and so forth. From the front of this building, I then crossed over the bridge that goes from the training side to the ”permanent party” side of the base. This bridge was my uphill and downhill #1 for this course, as it is quite a climb, up for the first part, down on the other side.  I was also running straight into the wind. It was blowing pretty darn good too, as I could see from the flags that line each side of the bridge; they were standing almost straight out.  After getting across the bridge, I then made my way to the static display area.  This is where several historical aircraft, previously used by the military, are on display, with a plaque in front, explaining when it was used and for what purpose.  There were also some small pavilions that honored Military Training Instructors, K-9 dogs and their handlers, and so forth.  There is also a nearby parade ground were graduations used to be held  – this parade field is actually where I graduated from Air Force Basic Training many many MANY years ago, lol. I made my way through here, stopping along the way to get some photos of the planes and some of their plaques.  The aircraft display has quite a variety, including the SR-71, the B-52  – both of which were located at bases where I was assigned – the P51 of the Tuskogee Airmen, the Lockheed, and many more. After working my way around this field, I then headed to my next pedestrian overpass – Uphill 2 and Downhill 2 – that took me over Military Highway and back to the training side of the base.  I then proceeded back to the Chapparal Gym, actually ending up with a total of 4 miles instead of 3.1, but I noted my 3.1 time on my watch so I could report that as my 5K time – 42:30.  My total time was 55:22 for 4 miles and I had a negative split for Mile 3 – Mile 4.

After My Finish:  Nice to have access to the gym after my run. I was able to take a nice, hot, hot, HOT shower – felt great after being in that darn wind – and then change into some dry clothes. After that, drove home and relaxed a bit, eating some lunch and watching the idiot Kansas City Chiefs entirely blow their game against the L.A. Raiders.  I wonder if State Farm insures Patrick Mahomes for that.  😉

Epilogue:  A very nice outing at one of my favorite running locations. Lackland is always a great place to run and also a very safe place to run too, as it is a secured base.  Being retired military, I love having this option of being able to run on the local bases and San Antonio has quite a few of them.    The other nice thing is if you ever need a restroom on a run, the bases usually always have at least one building open with a restroom in it somewhere, but if you are not close to any of those, the bases also have a lot of porta-potties all over the place, especially on the training sides of the bases.  No need to carry water either, as there are also several water fountains around too.  5K done, so now I can wear my race shirt, a very nice quality shirt from e-Dragon.  There was also a very nice finisher medal in the race packet too. Mucho thanks to the Burciaga family and all their volunteers for giving us some really good quality events.  I also want to thank the trainees out there that I encountered as they were making their way to places they had to go. The times I did intersect with them, I had my own  personal cheer squads for a while, lol, as they called out encouragement as I passed by and also wished me Happy Holiday, Merry Christmas, and so forth.  Very nice, and good luck to them all with their training. Erik knows of what I speak, I believe he went through Air Force basic training too, if I remember correctly.

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

Before The Start:   On December 17, 2023, I completed my 70^th race of the year.  The Santa Antonio 5K was held a Alamo Beer brewery in San Antonio, Texas, with a start time of 9 a.m.  This event was put on by the San Antono Road Runners (SARR), the oldest established running organization in San Antonio, celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year. Instead of a race shirt, participants get a Santa Suit.  Lots of participants also come costumed as various holiday season characters. Even some of the dogs were costumed, as this is a dog-friendly event. This is a very popular annual event which had 509 finishers.  The event had a start time of 9 a.m.  I arrived fairly early, a little past 7  a.m., to get good parking, and then just napped in my car for a bit before it was time to go mingle and get some pre-start photos.  Prior to the start, there was also a very nice performance done by a music/dance entertainment group.

 On the Course:   There was a Kids Run done first and then we all lined up for our start. The 5K was an out and back, starting and finishing on Burnet Street, a road behind the Alamo Brewery grounds.   Right out of the gate, we immediately began climbing up the Burnet Street Hill, which was no baby hill, that’s for sure.  It was a steady uphill climb.  Burnet Street was a dead-end at the top near Lockwood Park.  We went through the small pillars at the top of Burnet Street and continued downhill on the pavement on the other side. When we got to New Braunfels Avenue, we made a left turn, and then another left turn onto Hays Street. This took us up yet another hill, and then down one, and then we went up and over the historic Hays Street Bridge to a turn-round point.  After doing the turn-round on Hays Street Bridge, we went back to the finish exactly the way we had come out, so we got go have twice the fun with those course hills, lol.  I had done a 5K the day before this one at Morgan’s Wonderland and that one also had hills on the course, so I just took it fairly easy for this one, taking a few more walk breaks than I usually do and getting some on-course photos.  After I made the turn-round on Hays Street Bridge, I  took one more walk break to get some photos and then pretty much ran non-stop  from Mile 2 to the finish. I ended up with a chip-time finish of 41:23, averaging 13:19 per mile, with Mile 2-3 negative split of 12:39.  I was 7^th out of the 12 in my 65-69 males age group.

After My Finish: Got some post-race photos and enjoyed talking to the two medical guys near the finish line, both of whom were fellow veterans.  I then wandered around getting more photos, chatting with friends, other participants, and supporters, and enjoying some post-race goodies that included breakfast tacos, Alamo beer, water and other various drinks some of the vendors had.  There was also a contest for participants with pets; kids costumes; and participants in costume, no pets. This is a very lively after-party with lots going on. Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus were also there, with participants getting photos with them. There were even a couple of Grinch-costumed participants and one dressed up in a costume like the kid in A Christmas Story; and, by the way, he did not shoot his eye out, lol.

Epilogue:  This event goes back several years when friends Darlene and Adrian established it to raise funds for research for kids cancer.  It has always been a very popular annual event for a great cause.  The course has varied over the years, depending on road construction and road closures, location availability and so forth, but it used to be held quite regularly at Alamo Beer, so it was nice to be back at this location this year. Thanks to all the people who made this one happen for we participants and/or were out there for us:  Alamo Beer staff, San Antonio Roadrunners, all the many volunteers; iaapweb for the course setup, timing and results; the official event photographers; law enforcement and medical folks there for our safety; the music folks and dancers that were there for us; all the doggies who gave me face-kisses, lol, after I gave them treats; Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus; all the people in costume who gave us lots of smiles; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here; personal note to Adrian and Darlene, thank so much for founding this event, it’s a winner. I hope you two are doing well and will have a great holiday season.  Next 5K for me:  Frosty Five and 5K at Pearsall Park on Dec 24. See you there, if you are registered.  Happy and safe holidays to everyone!

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/RKcU6o89C1ZhwK4DA

Before The Start:  On December 16, 2023, I completed my 69^th race of the year. The Snowball 5K , starting at 9 a.m., put on at Morgan’s Wonderland, an all-inclusive theme park that caters to all patrons, including those with various disabilities. The park facilities include the original park; Inspiration Island, a water-themed park with accessibility for those with disabilities, and Morgan’s Wonderland Sports, an inclusive area of sports activities for all. As Morgan’s Wondeland Park is currently under renovation, the start and finish for this event was at the sports area, near Heroes Stadium, an athletics facility San Antonio North East Independent School District. This is a popular event that raises funds for Morgan’s Wonderland mission of assisting and giving access to the disabled.  There were 329 finishers for the 5K.  I arrived with about 40 minutes to start time, and chatted with friends, sponsors, vendors, other participants, as I wandered around getting some pre-start photos and handing out treats to dogs that there were there, as this is a dog-friendly event.

 On the Course:  Rain the day before, but on race day we had abundant sunshine, a slight wind, and a 61-degree temperature at start time. We started and finished in the sports area. Our route took us past Inspiration Island and the entrance area of the original Morgan’s Wonderland Park. We then went back toward the sports area, going past that on a road that took alongside of Heroes Stadium. After coming to an intersection, we turned left, going beneath an overpass of the Wurzbach Parkway. This road took us to a hill climb with a turn-round at the top near an exit from the Wurzbach Parkway on the side where the traffic was going south. After going down this hill, we went back under the overpass, and then turned left to go up yet another hill, this one fairly steep.  The turn-round for this one was near the Wurzbach Parkway access road for traffic going north.  After the turn-round we went back alongside the stadium, entering the parking area on the far side of it.  After going a short ways behind the stadium, we went back onto the road we had used to get to the stadium, and then made a right turn for the last ½ mile that took us back to the finish at the Sports area. I ended up being the 123^rd finisher, chip time 40:37, 4^th of 13 in my 60 to 69 age group, averaging 13:05 per mile.  I had a negative split for Mile 3, with 12:08 for that mile.

After My Finish:  First, went back to my car and got on a dry base-layer shirt.  After that I went back to the race area to partake of some post-race eats and get a few more photos of happy finishers, supporters, sponsors, characters, etc.  There were quite a few people in various costumes for this one. Morgan’s Wonderland staff also had the area decked out with various decorations, ballon figures, and so forth.  I also got to meet Gordan Hartman’s daughter, Morgan, for whom the park is named, that was very cool. Awards were given to the overall winners and the males and females who placed first in each age group, but all finishers did get a small snowball medal.  There was also a drawing for a very nice gift basket, won by a young lad.   

Epilogue: I have done this event for quite a few years. The original route was a loop around the park’s man-mad lake area and Hero Stadium and then a return to the park, finishing by doing a second lap around the lake.  The main park, however, is undergoing renovations right now, with a grand opening expected in June 2024, so this is the route currently being used. It is not a bad route at all, gives you a nice scenic tour of the whole area; however, I did notice a couple of the wheelchair entrants did to have a bit of a challenge with the steepness of the hills, especially that second hill we did.  They ones I saw all made it though, God bless them; that is some true determination and fortitude.    This event included post-race tacos and drinks from an on-site food truck, a very nice quality race shirt, a coupon for a discount price for a season ticket to the parks; and medals for the first-place age division winners and overall winners. I would definitely do this one again and recommend it to others.  Mucho thanks to all that made this one happen for us: all the many sponsors/vendors; Morgan’s Wonderland staff and all the many volunteers; the police, EMTs, and other safety/emergency people there for us; our food preparers for the post-race goodies; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all so very very much!  Hope to see you next year out there!

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/r93cPbBCBBztwFTA8

Before The Start:   On Dec 9^th, 2023, I completed by 68^th race of 2023. The SJRC Jingle Bell 5K was held in Gruene, Texas, with start and finish across from the historic Gruene Hall. Built  in 1878, Gruene Hall is the oldest  continually operating dance hall in Texas. The event supports the SJRC, an organization providing services for children and families who have experienced trauma from abuse, violence, neglect, etc. This is a very popular annual event which had 772 finishers this year.  After the 5K, there was also a kids run. I had picked up my packet the day before so, with an 8 a.m. start time, was able to sleep in a tad.  I arrived at race site around 7:20 a.m. and enjoyed my usual pre-race ritual of chatting with friends and getting a few pre-start photos.

 On the Course:   The weather was quite overcast, with a temp in the 60s and it did spit a little bit of rain on us off-and-on.  I guess Gruene got some rain the night before and in the morning, because the streets were quite wet in various areas.  The humidity was crazy. Athlete Guild was the company that set up the course and did the timing and results.  They are very good about starting right on time and today was no exception. There was a prayer given and the National Anthem was sung beautifully by some young lady singers and then we all lined up. We started in a parking lot area across from Gruene Hall, made a short loop on a couple of the roads near the parking lot, which brought us back out to Gruene Road. We passed by the start/finish line access road, passing by Gruene Hall on our right, heading north on Gruene Street, passing by some shoppes and businesses just up from Gruene Hall.  We continued on Gruene Road ending up turning into one of the residential neighborhoods. Once we were in here, the course took us through several of the residential streets, including a short out-and-back on one of the streets which had the course water station and, across from that, a musical ensemble playing for us as we passed by. We ran through the neighborhood past the music players, eventually ending up back on Gruene Road, and went back to the finish line the way we had come out.  I did my usual thing of 8 minutes running/2 minutes walking and taking  on-course photos during my walk breaks.  Just before Mile 2, three dogs in their yard were ‘barking cheers” at me, so I took a quick break and gave them treats.  I stupidly stopped my watch when I did this, so knew my time would not match the race clock, duhh; however, I was feeling pretty good, so made up the time by running the last 1.1 mile nonstop.  My watch showed a 40 minutes and change finish, the race clock showed 41 minutes, so I did make up quite a bit of the time. I ended up with a chip time finish of 41:19 chip time, 10^th in my 65-69 age group and my last mile was a negative split at 12:14, nice. The first guy in my age group finished in 24 minutes and change, so he literally was almost twice as fast as me, lol.

After My Finish:  Took a few photos of others coming in after me, then got some water and a banana and ‘refreshed’ a bit. Also, after we finished, we had sunshine and blue skies from that fickle Mother Nature who would not do that for us during the time we were on the course, lol.
I went back to my car and put on a dry shirt I had brought with me and then wandered around chatting with friends, participants, supporters, volunteers, etc., and got a few post-race photos. This is also a dog-friendly event, so I soon had a lot of new 4-legged friends, since I carry dog-treats with me when I do a race or go for a run – which is how I got the nickname Scottydog; I register for all my races as Scotty Dogg – and they were very happy to see me, lol. Some of them even tried to follow me around.

Epilogue:  This is a very good event, very nicely organized and has a very nice quality long-sleeved race shirt too. The course was also laid out nicely by Athlete Guild, with no hills at all. It is a pretty flat course, so a good course to shoot for a PR if you are one of those speedy people at the front who won’t be challenged by the normal ‘pack’ of runners like me that fill up most of the course along the way.   I have done this event several times in the past, but missed last year and the year before as I was dealing with my ongoing prostate cancer at the time. It was nice to be back this year.  Aside from the goodie bag, which included that nice shirt, a couple of jingle bells – which I did not wear, as I hear enough ringing already in my old-man head, lol – other nice things included post-race beer; sausage wraps; a variety of fresh fruits courtesy of New Braunfels Orange Theory; lots of bottled water; a bouncy castle for the kids; indoor restrooms at Gruene Hall – where race day packet pickup was – as well as an ample number of porta-potties, just in case; Santa Claus on site; a costume contest – there were quite a few people in costume – and Athlete Guild also had this nice computer where you could enter your bib number and get your results printed immediately. Lots of the sponsors also had free give-aways of various items, and there was also a holiday-themed photo backdrop. This really is one fun, enjoyable event which I will continue to do in the future and certainly would recommend to others.  Much thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants: Athlete Guild; the SJRC organizers and all their many volunteers;, all the many sponsors; the law enforcement officers out on the streets for us doing traffic control, etc; our music-and sound-guy; Gruene Hall management and staff for opening the hall up to us; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all so very much!