Scottydog Reports

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/rGKNntmVTMvAZNkd7

Before The Start:  On Saturday, Nov 18^th, I completed my 64^th race for the year of 2023. The Boerne Family YMCA Turkey Trot was held in Boerne, Texas, about a 30 minutes or so drive from San Antonio.  Events included a 10K, a 5K, and a 1-mile trail walk along part of the city’s Riverwalk.  If I remember correctly, this was the 12^th year for this event and is one of my ‘streak’ races. I’ve done every one of them since this event first started.  I could not make it to the packet pickup the day before so looked to pick up my packet on race day, but one of the volunteers told me there was no race day packet pickup, so I was left without a timing bib.  However, the Race Director and some of her volunteers and Athlete Guild, the company doing the timing, pitched in to get that corrected and got me a race shirt and a bib, and got me into the computer with my ‘new’ race bib number, which I much appreciated. I wandered around pre-race getting a few pre-start photos and also, since this is a very dog-friendly event, got to make new doggie friends when I handed out treats to them. A few of them wanted to follow me after that, lol.

 On the Course:   All events started and finished on a road that was between the Boerne Town Square aka Boerne Plaza, and a local Bank America across from the plaza. The 10K folks started first, since their course was the longest, followed by the 1-mile walkers who were going onto the nearby Riverwalk.  The 5K folks started last.  We had a somewhat different route from the other events and from the previous courses in the past. Instead of going straight on the road in front of us, as in past years, we made a right turn heading toward a hotel near the plaza; went past that, and then made a left turn into a parking area.  This took us onto another street adjacent to the parking lot.  Once on this street, we proceed through some very nice neighborhoods on very nice streets wide enough to give everyone plenty of room.  We also never did any “out-and-backs” – not my favorite type of course, I much prefer a loop course and that’s what we did here.  We did make some turns onto other streets, once doing a “square” through a very nice neighborhood, ending up going around a the streets and coming back onto the one we had used to come into the neighborhood; nicely done and much better than an out-and-back, lol.  After exiting this neighborhood, we then went onto another street, then up a short incline, and then turned onto the street that eventually took us back to the finish.  This final street did have a short uphill – not bad at all – and then on the way to the finish we did another uphill slope, just before hitting the flat, final part right before the finish line. I had anticipated doing around 42 to 44 minutes, what with my photo-stops during my necessary walk breaks – darn spinal arthritis, can’t run non-stop anymore –  but I surprised myself by managing to run the last mile almost non-stop, and ended up with a 40:48 chip time, averaging 13:08 per mile and my last mile was a negative split at 12:26; haven’t seen that time since before my 2021-2022 treatments for my prostate cancer, so gives me hope I am finally and slowly but surely getting back to my pre-cancer runner-self.  Still got a ways to go, but at least I am progressing.

After My Finish:  I stood near the finish line and got a few photos of some of the other finishers, some of whom I had been around during most of the course.  After that, went wandering around to see what else I could find. This event is always chock-full of vendors/sponsors, with lots of goodies. There was even post-race beer, nice, so I congratulated myself with a small cup, thoroughly enjoying it.  There was also grilled sausage wraps, some games for the kids, and lots more dogs who all loved me, lol, since I’m the Good Humor Man for dogs. I also enjoyed chatting with several participants and supporters there, as well as some of the vendors, and also with my good friends from Athlete Guild, the people who did the  course setup, timing and results; I’ve known them for many years; Athlete Guild is a top-notch race management company doing several races over the year in both our local area and other Texas locations at times.  I also watched the awards ceremony – I was far from placing at my pace, lol, but my friend Jim placed in his group; I thought my friend Cindy would too, in the 10K, but I missed seeing her. I had a very enjoyable post-race outing.

Epilogue:   This is a very popular annual event, well done, with a finisher medal for all participants and a very nice quality long-sleeved race shirts.  I heard through the grapevine there were a few issues with packet pickup, but I am sure they will get that all sorted out. In the long run – no pun intended; well, okay, maybe; – this really is a very nicely done event, with a great course, really nice race shirts, and a nicely designed finisher medal.  Add to that all those vendors and sponsors out there with all those goodies, along with our “sound guy” playing some pretty nice music,  and a Color Guard there for us who very nicely presented the colors for The National Anthem, and the Top 3 finishers in each age group getting awards, plus a very nice location and a great course all makes this one of my very favorite events of the year. I will continue to do this one as long as I am able; it is definitely a keeper for me on my race calendar.  Maybe I will see you out there next year, the Lord willing, and the creek don’t rise.  To all, I wish you happy running – or whatever your chosen exercise method is. Stay safe and never give up!

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/ncfEF2PbtQFVtV9J6

Before The Start:    On Saturday, Nov 11, 2023, Veterans Day, I did my 63^rd race of 2023. Steps4Vets 5K, put on by Soler Sports, supports the Endeavor Center/Endeavors Veteran Wellness Center.  The center supports veterans and their families through a wide array of various programs that include family housing, homelessness, veteran suicide awareness and counseling, and much more. The event included a 4-mile run/walk, and a 1-mile untimed walk. The 4-miler had 71 total finishers. Race start time of 8 a.m., with the event being held at HemisFair in downtown San Antonio.  I arrived on site with about 45 minutes until start time and got a few pre-start photos.

 On the Course:  We started in HemisFair Park just down from the Tower of the Americas. After crossing the start line, we wound a short way through the park, and then exited it going onto South Alamo Street for a bit, then South Presa and South St. Mary’s, and then made our way onto the San Antonio Riverwalk heading in the direction of Pioneer Flour Mill. The course was out-and-back with the majority of the course on the Riverwalk.  This is a nice, quiet part of the Riverwalk, as the majority of the tourists, visitors, etc., usually are on the side of the Riverwalk where The Pearl area and other businesses are located.  We did start on one side of the Riverwalk then crossed over a bridge and resumed on the other side of the Riverwalk.  I never felt crowded during this event; we all had plenty of maneuvering room; especially me, lol, at my slow pace. There were non-participant runners and walkers along the way and also a few cyclists, and they were all pretty patient with us. I did my usual 8-min-run/2-min-walk thing and took photos during my walk breaks.  I also made additional stops to hand out doggie treats – with its human’s permission, of course – when I encountered a dog, so this pretty much killed my time too, but what the heck; not like I was going to win anything, lol, and I enjoy this and had a lot of fun with this one.  The course was very well marked with directional arrow signs, a blessing for directionally challenged me, lol. Right before I hit the 2-mile marker, I stopped to treat and dog and was chatting with its human and stupidly stopped my garmin. After I got started again, I was like, oh shoot, why did I do that, now my Garmin time won’t match what my actual chip time is, duhh.  Well, it is what it is, so I pressed on.  About a half-mile after making the turn-round, a cyclist came up beside me and we started chatting. It turned out he was a veteran also and now worked as a medic. He kept me company – and probably killed his calf muscles, lol, cycling at that slow pace to stay beside me.  Very nice guy, though, and enjoyed chatting with him as I went along; before I knew it, I was at Mile 3, yay.  At this point a young lady child runner, with her mom, tripped and fell on the concrete, so we both stopped to check on her.  She seemed okay, just had banged her knee a bit, if I remember correctly My new friend told me to keep going, he’d keep them company, so I did. I pretty much ran nonstop from Mile 3 to Mile 4 – one short photo stop – and ended up with a chip time of 55:04, averaging 13:46 per mile; really surprised that I finished under an hour – and Mile 3 was my slowest mile.    Cycle Guy – he told me his name, but it went right out of my head – soon showed up and told me the little girl was fine. She certainly was; I saw her a little later coming full-blast to the finish line and got a photo of her.

After My Finish:  I got some water and did a short cool-down walk and then did my usual thing of getting some after-photos. There was then a post-race ceremony in which the colors were presented by an Air Force Color Guard from JBSA-Lackland; and an Air Force lady beautifully sang The National Anthem. We then heard from retired Major General Alfred Flowers, the longest-serving airman in Air Force history – 45 year career!  If I remember correctly, he is one of the Endeavor board members. He spoke to us about Endeavor’s mission, encouraging us to all support it.  He kindly allowed me to have a photo with him, post race. After that, the awards ceremony was done, Top 3 in each age group, and then the overall male and female.  Selected winners – I am assuming the overall winners – were also invited to ride on the Endeavor Float for the San Antonio Veterans Day parade today, very cool. 

Epilogue:   This is a smaller event, but a really good one. Lisa and her volunteers definitely did a great job in getting this all organized. There were also vendor booths pre-and-post race, and a few of them had some freebie things. Timing done by one of the guys from iaap.  Very nicely laid out course, with a water station along the way.  Very nice quality race shirt and also a very nice small towel in the goodie bag too. There was also a very nice finisher medal given to all finishers.  Even the race bib was nicely done in  a colorful yellow. I will definitely do this one again and certainly would recommend it to others.  Nice event for a great cause. Mucho thanks to all the people who made this one happen for us, all the sponsors/vendors, Soler Sports, the police officers out there for us on the road parts of the course, our MC, the Air Force Color Guard folks there for us, iaap for the timing and results, and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  See you next year!

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/nXmnuZfpFW29kGv49

Before The Start:   On Sunday, November 5^th, 2023, I completed my 62^nd race of the year and my second of the Nov 4 – Nov 5 weekend. Trails Fur Tails 5K, held in McAllister Park, is an event that supports Alamo Area Partners for Animal Welfare (AAPAW) which provides support and veterinary funding for rescue groups in and around the San Antonio area. Race start time of 9 a.m. Packet pickup was on race day morning.  This was a fairly smaller event with 69 finishers.   I live pretty close to McAllister Park so, along with the time change of moving the clocks back the night before, I got to sleep in a bit. I arrived with about an hour or so until start time, got my packet, and got a few pre-start photos.

 On the Course:   The course started just a bit past the park’s lower soccer fields and a bit down from a nearby youth baseball field. We went straight past the baseball field and continued onto the road straight ahead of.  This was a flat road that took us in the direction of Becken Pavilion and the park entrance at Jones Maltsberger Road. Prior to getting to Becken Pavilion, we made a left turn onto an off-road paved trail that took us past a police sub-station adjacent to the park. We rounded a couple of curves on the trail and then proceeded down a trail that took intersected with another trail just down from Becken Pavilion.  We turned right onto this trail, leaving Becken Pavilion behind us and went onto a trail that took us back to the road we had started on. After crossing over this road, we were then on winding trail that eventually took us to a trail intersection, where we made a right turn and then came out back onto our starting road, just down from the baseball and soccer fields.  After making a left turn, we then proceeded back to the finish.  After having pushed myself a bit during my Saturday 5K, I took it fairly easy for this one, making photo stops and also stopped to hand out treats to any dogs I met along the way.  This pretty much killed my finish time, lol – 45:14 chip time today vs my 41 minutes and change for my Saturday 5K – but it was all good, I enjoyed myself.

After My Finish:  Awards were given to the overall winners and the overall placers in each age group, so I knew I would not be getting anything, especially as my age group was 60 – 99 males –  but during a drawing, I did win a very nice gift basket full of good things, including a pet store gift certificate, some various dog treats and dog toys – which my cats actually enjoy now, lol – and more.  Very nice. I did my usual post-race thing of chatting with other participants and getting a few photos of the happy finishers and their accompanying supporters/friends and, of course, some of the dogs in attendance.

Epilogue:   As noted, this is a fairly small event, but a very well organized one and a fun one. Very nicely thought-out course, with flat roads and trails, lots of shade, and lots of deer along the way too; this park is chock-full of deer who are very used to people.  Mucho thanks to AAPAW for putting on this event, and also thanks to Athlete Guild that did the course setup, timing, and result, and to all the people and organizations who sponsored this event.  There was also a food truck on site as well.  Very nice quality race shirt too.  I would definitely do this one again and would recommend it to others. 

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/YmvGGbXAEc8UkpjFA

Before The Start: On Saturday, November 4, 2023 I completed my 61^st 5K of the year.  Put on by Scallywompus, Battle of Leon Creek was Race #4 and the last race in the Alamo Beer Series of races. Participants can register for all 4 – which I did – and get a nice entry discount, or register individually for the ones they want to do. This race included a 20-miler, 21K, a 10-miler, a 5K competitive walk, and a 5K, with staggered start times.  Since the 5K did not start until 9 a.m., I got to sleep in a bit.  The race location was in an apartment complex just off of Roadrunner Boulevard, and across from Valero Way.  Parking was kindly provided by UTSA in their East upper parking lot just down from Valero headquarters.  I had picked up my packet the day before, so when I arrived, I got a few pre-start photos.  The people doing the longer events, and all walkers, had already started and, as I arrived, the 10K folks were getting ready to go.  I wandered here-and-there chatting with friends and other participants; supporters; sponsors and vendors; and getting a few photos before my start.  Scallywompus events are always popular and someone told me he guessed there were about 800 or so total participants between all the events.  All courses started and finished at the Hill Country Place apartments complex.

 On the Course:  We lined up near the back of the apartment complex, then went up the entrance/exit road to the apartments, heading towards UTSA Boulevard. There was a slight and short incline just before UTSA Boulevard. Before reaching UTSA Boulevard we turned right onto a sidewalk that took us down to the Greenway trails.  All the shorter distances for this event turned left after the apartment sidewalk; the people doing the longer distances turn right, heading in the direction where Babcock Road is located.  All courses were out-and-back. The course was all on the paved concrete greenway trails, with a couple of hills; well, more like long up-and-down inclines rather than hills, but nothing really major. I did my usual  8-min-run/2-min-walk thing and took some on-course photos during my walk-breaks. I was feeling pretty good; after passing Mile 1, I ignored my next walk break and kept on running, going all the way to the turn-round point. After the turn-round, I stopped briefly to get a photo of the water station volunteers – thanks to all of them – and then continued running.  I did stop for my next walk break and got a couple more photos.  After hitting Mile 2, I just kind of ignored my watch, lol, taking just a brief photo stop, and then for Mile 2 to the finish, ran just about non-stop for that whole way, with just 1 brief photo stop. I ended up with a 5K chip time of 41:38, averaging 13:27 per mile and was very happy with that, as I have now progressed from usually averaging 14 to 15 minute miles; gave me a nice strong “boost feeling” that I am finally turning the corner on these darn cancer side-effects I’ve dealt with for over 2 years, so YAY! I was 5^th out of 6 people in my 65-69 males age group.

After My Finish: I got a couple photos of a few more finishers coming in after me, and then wandered around, chatting with friends, other participants, supporters, vendors, sponsors, etc., and enjoyed one a post-race sausage-on-a-stick that was grilled up by some very nice race-day volunteers.  Also available was all kinds of drinks, including C-Force water, Alamo Beer, bloody mary’s and some other ‘drink’ concoctions, if I remember correctly.  There was also a pay-as-you go Food Truck on site, with some really nice food choices. I enjoyed wandering around chatting with friends and other participants and getting post-race photos.  I also got my 5^th  finisher medal.  Scallywompus gives a finisher medal for each race and, if you signed up for all 4 events, you get a 5^th medal for doing all 4; very nice.  I was wearing my finisher medal for this 4^th event. When I got my “all races” 5^th medal, the darn thing went ZAP and clung to my finisher medal and I realized then they were both magnetic, uh-oh for me since I have a pacemaker.  I took a photo of the medals and then I gave one to a little girl who had been pushed on the course in a stroller by her mom – her big smile was reward enough for me – and my “all races” medal, I sneaked onto the neck of my dog-friend Luna, who did the events with her human, my friend, Bill, who I think did not even notice me putting it on her.  So, Bill if you read this, that’s where Luna got the medal, lol.  Luna loves me because she knows I have treats and when I show up for an event where she is, she heads right for me when she sees me, lol.

Epilogue:   As usual, one super-nicely done event by Scallywompus, with special thanks to my friends Bart – co-owner of Scallywompus – and Race Director Tony who is Bart’s Chief-in-Charge for all these Scallywompus events and does a great job of getting everything organized.  Scallywompus motto is “Come for the race. Stay for the party.”  They are not kidding, either. One great after party with all kinds of things going on, including a men’s and women’s pull-ups contest, lots of giveaways from various vendors, all kinds of food-and-drink things, massage table, photo booth thing, and more.  Finisher medals for all and a really nice quality race shirt, and even the race bibs are nicely designed.  If you’ve never done a Scallywompus event, you are missing out; definitely try one; I am sure you will enjoy it.  MUCHO THANKS to all the people involved who made this one happen for we participants, e.g., all the many volunteers for packet pickup and race day, who got everything done for us; the sponsors and vendors who help make all this happen; our music-and-sound guy Paul; my friend Meghan for once again beautifully singing for us The National Anthem; our grill-masters for those delicious sausages; Mr. and Mrs. Bart, who do a great job with this company; UTSA for use of the parking area; and also to all of you there who have so much patience with my taking photos of you, and also talking your ear off at times, lol, with my stories; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all so much! Hope to see you at the races!

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Xq7c54VqRhT76dPz5

Before The Start:   On Sunday, October 29^th, 2023, I completed my 60^th 5K of the year.  Held at Eisenhower Park in San Antonio, Texas, the Monster Dash 5K supports the Now You See Me Foundation, an organization that raises funding for critically injured athletes and spinal cord research.  I am not in that category, but I do have spinal arthritis and degenerative disc disease at 6 levels in my spine, along with some facet joint issues; I was also a March of Dimes baby, born with dislocated hips; so I try to do these events for the disabled as much as possible.  Along with the 5K, there was also a 10K and a 1-mile walk. The race had a late start time of 9:30 a.m., so got to sleep in a bit longer for this one.  There was a nice turn-out for this one of  a total of about 400 participants for the 3 events, maybe a bit more. I arrived at the park with about 45 minutes until start time and got a few pre-start photos. This is also a dog-friendly event and some of the dogs actually recognized me, knowing I had treats, lol; the reason I am called Scotty Dogg, since my first name is Scott. My friend, Sally Rios, named me that way back, when several of us were doing a race and almost finished and I stopped to treat a dog in the neighborhood we were running through and she yelled at me “Darn it, Scotty, we’re doing a race! Get back here you darn Scottydog.”   She says she doesn’t recall that, but I sure do, lol. And the rest is history, lol. I liked it, so I started using that as my race name.  Before the start of this one, Orange Theory also led a pre-race warmup for those who wanted to participate, and a lady also beautifully sang The National Anthem.

 On the Course:  We had a mix of cloud and sun, with virtually no wind, and a temp at start time of 73 degrees.  The terrain: Hilly!  This is Eisenhower Park and I’ve run here before; so I expected this to be a pretty hilly course and I was not wrong. The course never went off road, it was all done on paved pathways. We started at the park’s largest pavilion area, which had a very large, covered pavilion and lots of space and was on the side of the park closest to the Camp Bullis entry gate.  Once we exited the pavilion gate, we made a right turn proceeding up to a flat paved asphalt path.  This took us past the park’s other, smaller pavilion, where we did a short loop-around and then went onto a path adjacent to Military Highway just down from the Camp Bullis gate. We then headed onto the paved concrete greenway, going in the direction of 1604.  This greenway trail, if you stay on it long enough, will eventually take you over to The Rim area, but we did not go that far. Once we were on the concrete, the hills began in earnest; and these wre no baby hills, either; our Halloween present from this event was hills, more hills, and then more hills, both up and down and fairly long too.  I did my usual walk/run thing of 8-minutes run/2 minute walk and took some photos during my walk breaks, and also a few before my walk break on occasion. While climbing some of these hills, a few choice words came to mind, lol about my friend Jose, of iaap, who had laid out this course for us. I finally got to the 5K turn-round and then, of course, we had to do all those hills again, in reverse on the way to the finish.  I actually ended up feeling pretty good the whole way – thank goodness I do regular hill training once a week; not like these hills, but still, it did help me be prepared.  Of the four people in my  60 – 69 males age group for the 5K, I ended up dead last with a chip time of 43:35, averaging 14:02 per mile.

After My Finish:  I stuck around the finish line for a few minutes, getting a few of photos of others coming in, including my “race friend”, Peggy – we often coincidentally do a lot of the same events – who walks as fast as I run, and sometimes faster.  After that, I went to my car and cooled off with the a/c on full blast as I rehydrated with some Gatorade and water. Then it was back to the pavilion area to get some post-race photos, chat with friends, and get some post-race treats.  There was a Dunkin Donuts food truck on site, and there was also breakfast tacos and some other items, including beer, and various other things from some of the vendors and sponsors there.   There was also a post-race costume contest for the kids – one for the boys, one for the girls – and then a men’s and women’s  costume contest. For the kids contest of the girls, it came down to two little girls who got the loudest cheers. When one of them won, the other kid looked so disappointed, that I went and found her and, with her mom’s permission, gave her my race finisher medal – I do so many races in a year anyway, I have a lots of these, so what the heck.  Her BIG smile was medal enough for me. Epilogue:  This is a really nicely done event for a great cause.  The location – although VERY HILLY, Jose Iniguez!!! 😉 – is really a nice one, with a challenging but doable course and the greenway trails are so wide now, since this park was renovated, there was plenty of room for everyone; I never saw anyone getting impeded. Very nice finisher medal, very nice-quality race shirt. Lots of various goodies, both food and a few give-aways from the vendors; our music man Paul playing the tunes for us; and MC Jason entertaining us.  I will certainly do this one again, and definitely would recommend it to others.  Mucho thanks to all the people who made this one happen for we participants: iaap; the many race volunteers; the foundation; all the vendors and sponsors; law enforcement out there us; our MC and music guy; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here, thank you all.  To all: Happy running, walking, biking, or whatever your chosen exercise method is; may you all have success.  See you at the races sometime, I hope!

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/EZ9joX2puUfuVRwB8

Before The Start:  On Saturday, October 21, 2023 I completed my 59^th race of the year, the Paloween Hustle 5K at Palo Alto College (PAC), one of the community college members of the Alamo Colleges District.  There was also a 10K.   I believe this was the inaugural event, done in honor and remembrance of Samantha Tapia, a young lady Palo Alto runner who had, in the words of the event description, “a passion for running.”  During a PAC cross-country meet a few years back, against Trinity University, she collapsed on the course due to a medical situation and, sadly, passed away a few days later at Santa Rosa Hospital. In the words of a PAC press release, “Proceeds from the Paloween Hustle 5k/10k will be used to establish a scholarship endowment dedicated to supporting student-athletes in their pursuit of higher education. In keeping with Tapia’s passion for running and dedication to academic excellence, this scholarship will provide deserving athletes with the financial assistance they need to achieve their dreams.”   Race start time of 8 a.m. for both the 5K and the 10K.  I registered early and picked up my packet the day before the race. Arriving early on race day, I enjoyed chatting with other participants, supporters, running friends that were there, and my friends from iaap who did the course setup, timing, and results.

 On the Course:  The event started right on time, with the 5K and 10K participants all starting together.  The 5K was one loop around the campus, the 10K was two loops. I did my usual 8-min-run/2-minute walk thing and took course photos during my walk breaks. The majority of the course was done on fairly flat paved roads, with a couple of short inclines – nothing you could really call a hill – and also included an off-road stint on a running/walking trail on the campus, an unpaved route consisting of mostly dirt-and-gravel terrain, with a couple of small rocky parts along the way. Me being a Class-A Klutz, lol, with some spinal arthritis, this was the hardest part of the course for me, trying to just maintain a steady pace and not fall on my keister; thankfully, everything went well. Once back on the paved roads again, I picked up the pace, ending up running just about all of Mile 3 nonstop. I was a bit shocked and pleasantly surprised to find out I had finished first in my 60-69 5K males age group with a chip time of 43:24 chip time; everyone else in my age group must have been walkers, lol.  One funny thing…this very young lad was in front of me as we both saw the finish line and went for it.  He kept turning around to see where I was behind him, and I said to him “Don’t look back or I might catch you, just run for the finish.”  He did too, and handily beat me in, lol. Good for him!

After My Finish:  After a bit of a cool-down walk, and got some water, I then enjoyed interacting with other participants and also got some “Happy Finisher” photos – I call them that because more people seem to be smiling after they are done than before and during, lol – and photos with their supporters, and some more of the organizers, volunteers, vendors, etc.  All finishers got a finisher medal, and age group awardees got a second medal.  There were several various vendors/sponsors there – thanks to one of them who kindly gave me a post-race banana, that hit the spot – and post-race water (no beer 😉 ) and other things like nutrition bars and so forth. Epilogue:  For an inaugural race, this was a really well-done event, from my perspective. It’s a very nicely laid out course on roads wide enough to accommodate all participants.  This is also a dog-friendly event, and stroller friendly too. The race shirt is nice quality and finisher medals for all finishers is always a plus; participants love their medals, lol.  Nice turn-out too; per iaap results, there were 176 5K finishers and 24 finishers who decided to do the 2-loop 10K course.  200 finishers is not a bad turn-out for an inaugural event.  I certainly will do this one again in the future and definitely would recommend it to others. Much thanks to all the people who made this one happen for us; all the Palo Alto staff, students, etc., who helped out – including the college President who was also out there for us, nice. Thanks to my friends from iaap who did the course set up, packet pickup, results, took some on-course photos – and even had a drone flying over us at times; and thanks to all the vendors, sponsors, campus police staff members out there for our safety, and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here…thank you all SO much.  This event is a keeper and I hope it grows. See you next year!

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/YfA2D6eMmFvNDi9U6

Before The Start:    On Saturday, October 14^th, 2023, I completed my 58^th 5K of the year, the Paint The Parkway Pink 5K. held at Cornerstone Christian School in San Antonio, which had a start time of 9:15 a.m. Put on by Thrivewell Cancer Foundation, this event raises funds for helping to find a cure for breast cancer. Thrivewell Cancer Foundation is “dedicated to finding a cure for cancer by funding cancer research, providing patient support and offering programs to improve the quality of life for patients and their families.”  I’ve done several events over the years for which ThriveWell was a represented sponsor and they always do a great job. Their people are efficient, caring, and compassionate. The event included a kid’s run, a 1-mile walk, and the 5K.  This is a very popular event for a good cause, ending up with a total of 419 finishers for the 5K.  I arrived about 90 minutes before start time, got my packet and then got a few pre-start photos.  The vendor area was quite busy with a lot of sponsors/vendors booths, tables, etc. There was a very nice opening ceremony recognizing survivors, and then the Kid’s Run. Just prior to our start, a lady beautifully sang The National Anthem, and then we all got lined up.  I did this one in honor of 4 ladies I have the greatest respect for, all breast cancer survivors and friends – my supervisor at UTSA, where I work, Sarah; and my friends Sally R., Amy W., and LaChandra aka “Candy”.  I wrote their names on my bib and carried them with me on the route.

 On the Course:  The last time I did this race, a couple of years back, the course had been on the streets in the Stone Oak Parkway, so this was my first time doing this course that was new to me. This was a very colorful course, naturally, brightened with pink everywhere.  The course is  as definitely “unique”, as my survivor friend Deborah told me it would be.   We started on the school track, then exited the grounds via one of the school gates, turning right onto NW Military Highway, heading in the direction of Camp Bullis.  We climbed up a short hill, then turned right onto Shavano Ranch Road, which took us past a residential area on our left, school grounds on our right. On the first part of this road we were up high enough where we had a nice view below us of the track where we had started and would finish. This road took us up to a turn where we went back onto school grounds, and then did a route behind some of the school buildings.  This took us out another school gate and then we repeated the NW Military Highway to Shavano Ranch Road route.  On this second loop,  as we passed above the track again and had a nice view of it, I could see the speedier runners were already finishing and heard on the loudspeaker that the first woman runner was coming in.  For this loop, when we turned back into the school grounds, this time we went left through a parking area, and then behind some other school buildings on an access road. This course eventually took us to a school building which we entered. Once inside the building, we ran down a school hallway – never got to do that when I was in school before, lol – and this took us to a flight of stairs, and we began climbing; yep, the course had us climbing flights of stairs. We’d got to the top of the stairs, go down parts of more hallways, and then climb more stairs; I think we had four up-flights in all, if I remember correctly. Once at the top we then, of course, had to go back down – which took me longer than the up, lol; down is harder for me with my spinal arthritis, so I took it fairly slowly.  After my slow-dog self finally got to the bottom, we then exited the building and proceeded onto a track that went around the baseball field. This was a very weird track, lol, because it was all “cushioned” in green, so felt like we were running on very cushy carpet. We did  a short loop around this and exited via a gate that took us back onto the track where we had started. We then did about a ¾ lap around this track that took us back to the finish.  As I rounded the track, a very nice young lady I had met before the start  – speedy lady, lol, who had already finished – came out to cheer me on and ran with me into the finish, which I though was very nice.  She picked up the pace a bit too, lol, so I did also, determined to stick right with her. Another participant was running with me too and she edged this old dog out at the finish, lol.  Good for her!  We both had a strong finish.  Whew! I ended up with a chip time of 41:06, averaging, 13:14 per mile, and was the 227^th finisher.  I thought that was not too bad at all for hills, stairs, carpeted track, etc., lol. Fun course.

After My Finish:  After a bit of a cool-down walk, and got some water, I then enjoyed interacting with other participants and also got some “Happy Finisher” photos – I call them that because more people seem to be smiling after they are done than before and during, lol – and photos with their supporters, and some more of the organizers, volunteers, vendors, etc. There were no age group awards – which is fine with me, I get it, keeps the costs down, which means more money for the cause – but there were awards for the overall placers.  Some of those people are pretty speedy.

Epilogue:   The course was just a tad short, but no complaints at all. ThriveWell always puts on a quality event and this one certainly was that. Lots of goings-on before, during, and after the event, very entertaining. Very nice quality race shirt and a really nicely designed large medal to all finishers.  Even the race bib is nicely designed. This is also a dog-friendly event.  I saw several walkers with their dogs and a couple of runners with their dogs; the dogs doing the run both beat me in, lol. This is a really fun event to do, but also an emotional one, as you hear some of the cancer stories of these survivors about their own battles, about lost loved ones, about their victories when they win their fight, and so forth;  and since this event usually has a great turn-out, there are a lot of stories; it really gets to you, especially if you’ve lived through that yourself via either being a cancer survivor or being a support person for someone with cancer. It can be a very bonding experience. It was nice to see old friends here and make new ones. I will definitely be doing this one again and most certainly would recommend it to others.  Mucho thanks to all the ones who made this one happen for us, including all the sponsors and vendors, especially Cornerstone School, and ThriveWell; all the many volunteers; the law enforcement /security officers out there for our safety; the lady who sang The National Anthem for us; and any others involved I may not have mentioned here; also thanks to the patience of the residents of the housing area we passed by; and the courtesy of the drivers on that public road we ran on, which was still open to traffic; and to anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!  See you next year, I hope!

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/DeNtu1M3v4aXoQQY8

Before The Start:   On Sunday, October 8, 2023, I did my 57^th race of the year, Harvest Trot 5K, held on the campus of Northwest Vista College in San Antonio, Texas. This race helps provide food to the college’s food pantry/food bank for students in need. This is a FREE race, with your entry fee being to bring some nonperishable goods to help fill the student pantry.  Packet pickup was on the day of the race, with the event starting at 8 a.m. I’ve lived in San Antonio for almost 30 years now and had never been to this campus, although I am familiar with what they do, as I am UTSA staff and NW Vista is a partner school with UTSA, as are most of the Alamo Community Colleges.  Precinct 1 County Commissioner Rebecca Clay-Flores was sponsoring this event and served as the Race Director, if I remember correctly. I arrived with about an hour to go to start time, found some parking, and got my packet, which includes a nicely designed race bib and a pretty nice quality race shirt.  I then got a few pre-start photos. 

 On the Course:   I was very bright for this one, as I work pink in honor of this being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and dedicated this race to my friend, Amy, who just finished her long treatment; and to my boss, Sarah, another survivor, and my friend Sally R., another survivor, and the person way back when who named me “Scotty Dogg”, although she doesn’t remember that, but I certainly do, lol. The course was 2-loops around the campus. The weather was just about perfect, with a temperature in the low 60s, virtually no wind, and some sunshine. We started in front of the building where packet pickup and race day registration had taken place. We then proceeded across a bridge – a nice concrete bridge, very steady, that does not shake like those wooden bridges when you cross them, lol, that are on the race routes of the Mission County Park area.   We rounded a building and then hit the streets.  I pretty much thought this would be a flat campus, but I was wrong.  We had not even gone a ½ mile before the hills started; and these are no baby hills, either. This course was a lot of up-and-down, some loop arounds, a couple of out-and-back spots, and so forth. For what the planners had to work with, it actually was a pretty nicely laid-out course…but those hills, wow.  They were not steep-steep hills like at Eisenhower Park or Helotes, but even so, we all certainly got a workout. Another nice thing, these campus roads are nice and wide, so plenty of room for everyone. After working our way around the outer roads of the campus, we then did a route that took us back to the start/finish area, and then did the same loop again,  being completely done after we passed under the finish line the second time around.  The age groups were 1 to 99 so, lol, I knew I would not be placing today.  However, even after doing a race the day before this one, I was still feeling pretty good and ended up running my last 1.2 miles non-stop to the finish, sweet. I ended up with a 42:10 chip time, finishing 35^th out of the 72 males running.  My speedy friend, Sam, who also did the same race I did on Saturday, must have still been feeling pretty good too, he finished in under 30 minutes, wow.   I saw a few others too, who had done the Scallywompus race on Saturday and came for this one.

After My Finish:  Got some water and got a banana and did a short cool-down walk as I got those down.  Then I enjoyed interacting with other participants  and friends that were there, and getting some post-race photos.  I also went over and personally thanked all the law enforcement officers that were there. I kind of grew up in law enforcement, in a way, as my Dad had worked as a juvenile probation officer. I swear, every county cop, judge, lawyer, knew his name and if I got into trouble and an officer looked at my student ID, the first thing I was asked, lol, is “Are you Bob’s kid?”  Uh, oh. One nice touch…the Race Director/Commissioner also thanked the officers personally by having them each presented a race medal for them being there; I thought that was so nice, and a real class act. I also chatted with some of the vendors – CPS Energy even had a table, so I asked the guy if he had my bill, lol. Umm, no. 

Epilogue: For a free race, this really was nicely done, with finisher medals for all participants and a very nice quality race shirt. There were also lots of vendors there, not only showing their products, but also  giving away some free items. There were even some food trucks there if you wanted to purchase some post-race eats. The nearest building to us was open for use, so we had very nice indoor restrooms, always better than porta-potties, lol.   The route was a bit challenging, but not so much that you couldn’t do it – gosh, one little girl passed me on hill like I was standing still, lol. The race is also dog friendly and stroller, disabled wheeled vehicles, etc.,  friendly. Very nice facilities available too, e.g., indoor restrooms, water fountains, etc. I most certainly will put this one on my race calendar again and would definitely recommend it to others.  Many, many thanks to all the people who made this one happen for we participants: The Commissioner and her staff, NW Vista management for letting us have campus access, all the many volunteers and vendors/sponsors, all the law enforcement folks out there, iaap for doing the course setup, timing, results; our music-and-sound guy, and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. 

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/yFURN3tZKx8dzR6z9

Before The Start:   On Saturday, October 7^th, 2023, I did my 56^th race of the year, Battle of Hilotes 5K, held at Tuscany Venue in San Antonio.  This was Race 3 of 4 in the Scallywompus “Alamo Beer” series of races.  Participants can register for all 4 at one time – and get a nice registration discount, which is what I did – or each race can be registered for individually.   Scallywompus, a top-notch event organizer company that organizes several  excellent quality events over the year.  This event included a half-marathon, a 10K a 5K, and a  Ruck Walk. The Half-Marathon and Ruck folks went first, if I remember correctly, followed by the 10K folks and then the 5K folks.  There was also a competitive 5K Walk, which started the same time as the 5K.  I arrived just shortly before the half-marathon folks left. I’d already picked up my race packet the day before, so had time to wander around, chatting with friends and handing out treats to the doggies there, as this is a dog-friendly event, and getting some pre-start photos.

 On the Course:  All the courses were out-and-back. We started and finished at Tuscany Venue, an event center for various functions such as weddings, various types of parties, and much more.  It located just off the I-10 highway frontage road near the Shoppes of La Cantera. It’s a pretty nice place with lots of room for lots of people, which is a good thing because the total number of finishers for all these events was 670.   All the courses went from the grounds of Tuscany Venue, out onto the road in front of the place, and then down a small hill – which we had to climb back up to get to the finish on the way back – and then turned onto one of the paved trails of the now-renovated San Antonio Greenways system of trails. We then headed east, in the direction of The Rim, which was across the I-10 highway.  Thankfully, we did not go that far, at least the 5K and 10k folks did not; don’t know about the half  and Ruck folks. The course is fairly flat with a few long inclines to go up and down on the out-and-back, but nothing you can really call a hill, at least on the 5K; the 10K folks had longer to go than us, so they might have had a hill or two.  Once we made our turn-rounds, we headed back to the start/finish the way we had come out.  The weather behaved itself very nicely for us with a temp in the 60s and a pretty mild breeze. I did my usual run/walk thing, running 8 minutes, walking 2 minutes, and taking photos during my walk breaks.  When I got to the 5K turn-round, I headed toward the finish and shortly after the turn-round, my watch beeped for walk break; however, I was feeling pretty good, so decided I was just going to see if I good run nonstop to the finish and kept on going.  I ended up making my goal, nonstop to the finish and feeling pretty good. I have not done that in quite a while; last time was before I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2021 and had to undergo several radiation treatments and then some injection treatments after that to get rid of my testosterone to kill all the cancer cells off.  Makes running kind of tough, you sometimes get a lack of energy – and the post-cancer side effects are not fun either, lol; but I adjusted, learning all the things I needed to do to keep running and even managed to do at least one 5K every weekend after each week of my radiation treatments.  My biggest supporter was my wife, Gail, who was there for me through all of this, with encouragement, words-of-wisdom on my “blah” days, and lots of love.  Her faith in me really kept me going. Today, I was feeling pretty darn good, so just went for it…and made it to the finish nonstop for that last 1.5 miles, that was a great feeling, making me feel like I am really finally seeing real progress to maybe one day getting back to where I was in my pre-cancer days. I was one happy doggie, lol. I ended with a chip time of 40:30, averaging 13:02 per mile – an improvement as these days I usually do 14-something minute miles – was 6^th  out of 10 in my 65 – 69 males age group. 

After My Finish:  Whenever I do a 5K – and I do a lot of them over the year – I always get a lot of encouragement on the course from friends  and other participants doing the race, too. They see me coming, wearing my “I BEAT CANCER! NEVER GIVE UP!” shirt and give me a thumbs-up or a shout-out, or some kind of encouragement and it really does help mentally. So after I finish, I usually hang by the finish line for a bit and get photos of some of these people coming in, so I can cheer them on too, and then wander around chatting with other participants and supporters, volunteers, etc., and get more photos. It’s the least I can do for all of you out there who have done this for me – you know who you are – posting all these photos on my blog, so you can have them if you want them.  I am not the greatest photographer, lol, with my old-fashioned push-button Canon camera, but hey, it’s free photos, lol. Post-race I also enjoyed some of the many many treats and goodies a Scallywompus event always has.  The Scallywompus motto is “Come for the race. Stay for the Party.  They are not kidding either. Post-race Kiolbassa sausages, bloody mary’s, tequila, force water, various fresh fruits – my friend, Gilbert, btw, has the best of those – and much more. I would certainly do this one again and definitely recommend Scallywompus races to others.

Epilogue:   Love the Scallywompus events and love the owner too, lol.  Scallywompus owner Bart is also a fellow-cancer survivor, treated around the same time I was, and we chatted a lot through all that, and he was SO darn helpful in keeping me focused to get through it all. I will never forget him for that, the time he took with me to have our frank chats about it all.  Also, Race Director Tony, who also gave me so much help along my journey.  These are two class-act guys; even if I was not a runner, for that alone, what they did for me, I’d support Scallywompus always.  If you’ve never done a Scallywompus event, give it a try, you just might really enjoy it. Five-year age group awards up to 4 places deep; separate awards for the walker division, so walkers are not competing against runners; really nice – and large too – finisher medals for participants, along with a nice quality race shirt, and even the race bibs often have very unique design.  Also, of course, that after-party done with a LOT of goodies and a whole lot of fun; today, for example there was a post-race dance contest – I dance like Elaine in Seinfeld, lol, so I just avoided that.  Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us: primary sponsor Alamo Beer – and packet pickups for this series of races was at the Alamo Beer Brewery – and all the  other supporting sponsors; all the many many volunteers out there for us; Race Director Tony and our MC Anthony who both did their usual great job;  Tuscany Venue for use of their grounds and facilities; I assume there may have been some kind of fee for that, but even so, nice of them to open up everything for us; Kiolbassa for the tasty sausages; and all the other sponsors and vendors who were there for us, with lots of post-race things. Thank you all!

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/ReJM9gUsJzNHF2ER8

Before The Start:  On Saturday, Sep 30^th, 2022, I did my 55^th  race of the year, the Race For The Rescues 5K in Alamo Heights, which supports SNIPSA (Spay Neuter Inject Project San Antonio) in their mission to spay, neuter, and vaccinate and also help unwanted animals in the San Antonio and surrounding area.  This is SNIPSA’s biggest fund-raiser and a very popular event, as exhibited the total number of finishers:  770 this year. I arrived with a little over an hour to go to start time. It was still fairly dark when I arrived, so  I dropped off with the race day volunteers a jar of dog treats I had brought and then enjoyed a chat with friend Mark Purnell, who was serving as the MC for this event. After it got a bit lighter, I wandered around chatting with other participants, friends, vendors, volunteers, and so forth, and getting a few pre-start photos.

 On the Course:   There were two events, the 5K with no dogs, starting at 8 a.m. and then the 5K participants with dogs started about 5 minutes after the non-dogs participants had left. The course started near the Alamo Heights Swimming Pool, taking us past the pool and out onto the street in front of it. We made left turn, went down a short hill, and then turned right into a section of the Alamo Heights neighborhood.  The first street was flat, winding us around a bit to street that had a fairly short uphill. We then turned right onto a street that gave us a bit more of a climb.  After topping that, we turned right again, went downhill and then made our way onto a road that was almost directly across from the dead-end Alamo Heights Pool Road – I think it was Alamo Heights Blvd, but not sure.  Anway, we went down this road quite a ways, then made a right turn that took us up another hill. At the end of this road a left turn took us on a little stint along Broadway, and then we turned onto College Boulevard, if I remember correctly.  After a short way, we went down a steep hill, crossed over the intersecting road at the bottom of the hill and then then the hills really began, lol.  Up a hill on College Boulevard down another hill, then left turn onto another street with a short, steep hill, and a water station at the top, where we reached the halfway point.  We then went down this street and began a series up up-and-down hills, going down one street, making a turn moving to the next street, going up, then turning onto the next street and going down, and so forth, making our way across this part of the neighborhood. We finally got back to Alamo Heights Boulevard for the last part of the course. At the end, we made a left turn and then went back to the road the pool was on…and since the end of that road was downhill on the way out, we of course has a last uphill, thankfully short, lol, and then after getting up that, flat back to the finish.  WHEW!  I ended up with a chip finish time of 42:39, finishing 10^th out of 18 in my 60-69 males age group and was really surprised to see I had actually done a negative split for mile 3, 13:01.  Have not seen that time in a while, almost back to 12 minute miles, so that was encouraging for me that I really am starting to finally get a bit stronger again, as my side-effects from my recent prostate cancer treatments seem to finally be subsiding a bit, so YAY. Happy dog, happy dog.

After My Finish: I sat in my vehicle for about 10 minutes with the a/c on full blast, sipping my Zero Gatorade and cooling down a bit….ahh, felt great after that.  Then it was back out into the crowd for post-race chat and photos with friends, other participants, volunteers, supporters, vendors, etc.  Overall winners and top 3 from each age group got awards, so none for me, but I never expect to get one anyway. I met my two race goals: finish standing up and no ambulance waiting specifically for me, lol.  Anything after that is a bonus.    

Epilogue:   I love this event and have done it for several years. It is really a very well-organized event done by the SNIPSA staff and volunteers, with a really nicely designed race shirt, and a unique race bib design and, of course, a somewhat challenging course and lots and lots of post-race activities.  There was a multitude of post-race vendors/sponsors giving away all kinds of things – H-E-B was even giving away free dog food and dog supplies – a food truck onsite and also some kind of ice-cream cone type of thing; there was also a whole set of wading pools for the dogs post-race and several of them were having blast post-race lying in the cooling waters, and playing in the water too; shoot, I wanted to get in there myself with them, lol. There were also sausage wraps – those Grill-Masters were already there setting things up when I got there early, so they must have been really early getting there – and all kinds of other things, like face-painting, booths that had all kinds of various things you could purchase and so much more, it is just too many for me to remember.  A very worthwhile cause and a very nice after-party.  I will definitely continue to have this one on my race calendar and would certainly recommend it to others. Both walkers and runners welcome, so bring your dog if you are so inclined and join in. Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants: all the vendors and sponsors; SNIPSA, the Race Director, and all the many-many volunteers; the police and safety people out there on the course for us; iaap, a top-notch San Antonio race management company – and personal friends of mine – who did the timing, results, etc; or MC Mark, for another great job done;  the patience of all the residents in this area for putting up with us during this race; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!  Hope to see you out there next year! Give me a shout-out if you see me, and if I don’t hear you – I’m a little hard of hearing in one ear – just throw something at me, lol.  To all of you, happy and safe running, walking, cycling, or whatever your chosen health method is. Stay safe and stay healthy; and if you have a dog, cat, or whatever pet, give it a treat for me.