Scottydog Reports

Photos are here:       https://photos.app.goo.gl/8indHuJ1WaaXHsNe6

Before the Start:    My 82^nd race of 2025 was “A Merry Christmas 5K” put on by thebestraces.com.  Held on December 27^th at Ladybird Johnson (LBJ) Park, this was a fairly laid-back event, with Best Races providing race shirt and race packet shipped directly to your home. Best races also gives you options for the ‘wave’ you want to participate in, with times varying from 7:30 a.m.., the first wave, to 9 a.m., the last wave offered, and you just show up for your wave and participate.  These are self-timed events. You provide your finish time to the Best Races registration folks at the race, and they include your time in the posted results.  The weather for this one was very cloudy, overcast skies, a temp of 64 degrees and pretty humid at 81% humidity. This is also a dog-friendly event, so I handed out some dog treats too.

On the course:   I chose a wave time of 8 a.m. After arriving at the park, I got my race bib from two Best Races race-day registration/packet pickup ladies who knew me from doing some previous Best Races events.  The 7:30 wave participants were already doing their wave, so there was already a lot of coming-and-going as the course was 2 laps. I got a photo of the volunteer ladies and a couple more before my start, and then exactly at 8 a.m. all we participants of that wave got started. We went down steep, but fairly short incline that took us to the main paved Greenway Trails of the park. At the Greenway Trail, we made a left turn, which took us in the direction of the Los Patios Shoppes and a Loop 410 frontage road, but we did not go that far out. Our turn-round point was just after crossing a bridge going across Salado Creek. After making the turn-round, we went back to the start/finish, did a turn-round again and then did the 2^nd lap of the course.  I did my usual thing of running 8 minutes/walking 2 minutes and getting some on-course photos during my walk breaks.  I also took a few really short photo stops – maybe about a minute or so – to get a few extra photos, aside from those taken during my walk breaks.  I saw my talented running friend, Ralph, on the course too, and got a photo of him.  Overall, I was feeling pretty good and pretty much ended up the 2^nd lap almost completely non-stop, with just a couple of photos taken.  I even ran back a couple of times to get a couple of photos, which made the course a tad longer for me, lol, but it was all good. I ended up with 3.19 miles done in a time of 48:01, averaging 15:03 per mile and my last mile was my fastest, and a negative split.

After My Finish:  I got my finisher medal and then stood near the finish line getting some photos of others finishing up.     Sometimes I’d get ready to take a photo, and the participant would turn round and head back on the course, which made me know he/she still had the second lap to do; so I only got finisher photos of those who kept coming right at me, lol, since those folks were finishing up their second lap. After that, I wandered around the race area, chatting with other participants; handed out some more dog treats; and got a few photos of some of the happy finisher and their supporters.  There was water post-race and there was also available a variety of small, individual snack packages.

Epilogue:   I always keep telling myself at times that I am just going to sign up for races that actually have timers doing the timing for us and then posting the results the same day; somehow it never works out that way, lol; I usually end up doing at least one of these Best Races events at least once a month. They are pretty low-key, but the fact of the matter is they are quite fun to do, and I always do enjoy myself on their courses.  They have quite a variety of participants – including some really talented/speedy runners too; and love it that this is a dog-friendly event.  If you can’t find a race you want to do on a specific weekend, check out their race calendar, you just might find a fun race you can do, with no pressure since there are no age group awards, so you’re only testing yourself; and, as noted, they can be quite fun; and they actually do get quite a nice turn-out for these events.

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us participants:  All the people who organized this one for us; all the many volunteers out there for us participants; the Park Police Officer on-site for our safety;  the official photographer that was there; and, as the park was still open to the public, the patience of all the park patrons at the park who were not involved in the event, as we flooded the trails for a while; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!

Whatever your personal exercise passion is, may you always be successful and may you always stay healthy enough to keep on doing it.   Maybe you will see me at a future event sometime; if so, give me a shout-out and we can chat and maybe even get a photo tother, if you are so inclined.  I have one more event to do this year, a 5K at Ladybird Johnson Park on December 27^th. Happy and safe holidays to you all.

Photos are here:      https://photos.app.goo.gl/CcCAkS9vC7iv5g7r5

Before the Start:   My 81^st race of 2025 was the El Santa Run 5K held at Mission County Park #1, with a start time of 7:30 a.m. This was my second race of the weekend, after doing the Jingle Paws Classic 5K on Saturday. This event was put on by Andiamo Race Productions, with timing and results done by race management company iaap.  I left home pretty early and arrived at the race site around 6:30 a.m., one of the first few participants to arrive. The Andiamo crew was still setting up the race area and organizing things for race-day packet pickup. My friends, Johnny, and Keyes and his friend, arrived shortly after me, so we just relaxed a bit and chatted about this-and-that as we waited for race-day packet pickup to get started. The Andiamo crew had everything in order pretty quickly. After getting my packet and getting my race bib on, I wandered around pre-start, chatting with other participants that were now arriving pretty quickly and got some pre-start photos. There were several participants and supporters in some very interesting and imaginative costumes. This is also a dog-friendly event, so I handed out treats to the dog there, with permission of their humans.  After I gave him a treat, one dog, a really beautiful Great Pyrenees that belonged to our MC, kept going for the back pocket of my running shorts, lol, every time I passed by him; he knew exactly where the treats were, lol. There was a stretch session before we got started; The National Anthem was played, and then we were off. There were 246 finishers for this 5K. The weather for this one was at 61 degrees, with no wind, abundant sunshine, and a pretty high humidity of around 86 percent.

On the course:  The course was an out-and-back on the concrete paved trails of the Mission Reach part of the San Antonio Greenway System of trails, and very hilly.  I did my usual run/walk thing and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks.  The start was done in waves, releasing about 15 to 20 participants every  few minutes or so, to allow participants to have some maneuvering room. After crossing the timing matt, we immediately made a left turn that took us down a fairly steep, short hill.  We then had some level running, and then went up a fairly long, but not too steep uphill, with some nice views of the San Antonio River on our right. I was feeling good and went along pretty well. We then had a bit of flat for a short while – a very short while, lol – and then climbed again, topping this hill at the first water station on the course- what, no beer? Lol.  After the water station, we went downhill, then around a bend and uphill again, and then went beneath a bridge, and on a long downhill, with the river still to our right. This downhill got us onto a flat part of the course with a view of a bridge ahead that was the 5K turn-round point, and some nice views of the river on our right. At this point, AI pretty much starting ignoring my garmin notifying me of walk breaks and pretty much ran nonstop from underneath the bridge all the way back to the finish, with just a few short quick stops of maybe a minute or so to get some oncourse photos and then was off-and-running again.  After getting to the bridge, I got a photo of our turn-round course marshal and then proceeded to head back to the finish line. Now, of course, that very steep hill we came down to get to the turn-round was now an uphill for us.  That was the toughest hill on the course, in my opinion. As we passed by the water station again, I jokingly asked the volunteer there for us “What, you didn’t send anyone for the beer?”  By now the speedier participants had most likely already finished, so we middle-and-back of the pack folks had plenty of room for our trip back to the finish.  I  chatted and ran off-and-on with several different participants on the way back and got a couple more quick photos. We finally went onto our last downhill, and could see ahead of us the finish line area – which was now an uphill for us.  I had been running for the last ½ mile or so with a very nice young lady – her name went out of my old-man head, so when I saw the finish I told her “Let’s get it done..” and off we went, making pretty good time. I finished  a bit before her, with a  chip time of 40:35, averaging 13:04 per mile and, per my Garmin had negatives splits for each mile, with my last mile being done in 12:42, nice.  I got a photo of her finishing and then, staying away from the timing matt, went  back out on top of the hill and got a few more photos of others coming into the finish. 

After My Finish:   After getting those finisher photos, I then wandered around the pavilion area again, chatting with participants, volunteers, supporters, vendors, etc.; handing out more treats to the dogs there, and getting some after photos.  Santa Claus was there too by one of the photo backdrops, so lots of folks wanted photos with him. Our MC actually got a whole lot of participants and  supporters do crowd around him, and the official event photographer took some photos of them. This race Santa is actually a friend of mine, so after things got less crowded around him, I got a photo with him.  Our MC announced the awards – the first overall in each age group got an award; I was second in mine; and the overall male and female also got prizes. She is the human of the Pyrenees dog and had the dog beside her, but while she was doing her thing, the dog saw me, and kept trying, lol, to get to my pocket where I had the treats; so I finally went and stood beside the dog, so she could keep doing her thing without having to keep pulling the dog back, lol.  After she finished the awards, I gave her a handful of treats for the dog, so he would not keep wandering after me, lol. He’s a very friendly and beautiful dog.  I also got a photo of some of the family members, my friends, the Iniguez family, who are owners of iaap race management company which, in my opinion, is the top-notch San Antonio-based race management company.  They do events for several things all over the state of Texas.  Finally, it was time to go – as usual, I was one of the last participants to leave – so headed out, making a stop at the very nearby JBSA Fort Sam Houston fitness center where I enjoyed a nice, hot shower that felt great, and got into some dry clothes, so I did not have to drive home all sweaty

Epilogue:  Andiamo Productions has a series of 4 races each year and if you do all four, you get a nice medal for that. I only did this one for this year.  The company always does a great job with their events, and they are very worthwhile to do.  The finisher medal for this one is very nice, and the race shirt is a really nice quality long-sleeved shirt. I do so many races in the year, I often donate my race shirts since I’m running out of drawer space, lol; but this one is a keeper. The course is challenging – lots of climbing up-and-down – but well thought-out with lots of room for all, and very nice views of the river. I will definitely do this one again in the future and would recommend Andiamo events to others.

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us participants:  All the people who organized this one for us; all the many volunteers out there for us participants; the law enforcement officers on-site for our safety; our sound and music guy; and my personal friends of iaap who did the timing and results in their usual great manner.  Also, all the race sponsors and patrons; and, as this course was open to others not doing the 5K, e.g., other runners, walkers, cyclists, etc., thanks to them for their patience with us.  From where I was on the course at any given moment, the cyclists were really good about calling out as they came up behind us, so thanks to them for that.  Also, many thanks to those on the course who were running with me at various course spots, as we chatted and encouraged each other on, which is always very helpful; and to our official photographers whose photos will surely be much better than mine, lol, taken with my old-time pushbutton Canon camera; and to anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!

Whatever your personal exercise passion is, may you always be successful and may you always stay healthy enough to keep on doing it.   Maybe you will see me at a future event sometime; if so, give me a shout-out and we can chat and maybe even get a photo tother, if you are so inclined.  I have one more event to do this year, a 5K at Ladybird Johnson Park on December 27^th. Happy and safe holidays to you all.

Photos are here:      https://photos.app.goo.gl/1bRP13TdJs6xczHP6

Before the Start:   My 80^th race of 2025 was the Jingle Paws Classic 5K held on December 20^th at  O.P. Schnabel Park in San Antonio, Texas.  Put on by the Helotes Humane Society, this event supports its mission of placing unwanted animals in good homes.  There was a total of 197 finisher for this event, both walkers and runners, with 70 males and 117 females.  Start time was 8 a.m.   Our weather for this one was overcast skies; a temperature of 61 degrees at start time, and very humid, around 85%.  I arrived with about 45 minutes to go until start time, got my race packet and then got a few pre-start photos of some of the participants – which included dogs too – volunteers, vendors, etc.

On the course:  We started just a tad past 8 a.m.  The course was done on concrete trails that are part of San Antonio’s Greenway Trails System that connects several San Antonio parks together, so you can go a long way on this trail system, if so inclined. The start/finish area was near the parking area by the main pavilion of the park.  I’ve done events here several times, so I knew what to expect.  We started by going up a long incline – probably a ‘hill’ for those who don’t do hill training regularly – passing a small  picnic table area on our left. Immediately after the picnic area, we then made a right turn and proceeded down a long incline, not too steep, but it went quite a ways.  We then made a left turn near where one of our course marshal volunteers was sitting – thank you for being there – and then went down a steep short hill; mad a left turn and proceeded down a fairly long downhill bridge that took us over a brushy area in the park. After coming off the bridge, we then made a right turn and had a flat course  for maybe just over ¼ of a mile and then it was downhill again; and so it went….a mix of flat, up, and down along the whole route.  I have spinal arthritis so can’t run non-stop anymore for any great distance, so I did my usual thing of run-8-minutes/walk 2-minutes and took on-course photos during my walk breaks.    Overall, I felt pretty good and went along pretty well.   Sometimes when I run in the parks, always see these chairs along the way, and used to wonder what they were out there for…why out there all alone in the middle of nowhere; well after a few runs and races, now I know why…for old guys like me who may get tired on the way and need a couple minutes rest, lol.  Thankfully, I didn’t need one today. I was feeling pretty good the whole way and actually did negative splits for this one; slow negative splits, lol, but I’ll take it.  After getting  to the turn-round point & water stop – and joking with the lady volunteers there –”what, no beer?” – I then pretty much went nonstop on the way back to the finish line, with just a few quick stops of less than a minute to take a few more photos on the way back.  Of course, since we came down that first incline after the start and then down the bridge, this was all now up for us on the way to the finish, until we got to that picnic table pavilion and made the last turn, and that was downhill to the finish line. I ended up with a chip time of 42:11, averaging 13: 35 per mile and I had negative splits for each mile, nice, with my last one being my fastest at 13:43.

After My Finish:  I stood a little back from the finish line and got a few photos of others finishing, cheering them in as I did so. After that, it was back to the park pavilion, wandering around, chatting with friends, other participants, volunteers, etc., handing out more treats to the doggies and getting some more after photos of other participants, volunteers, some folks in costume – including Mr. and Mrs. Claus, who also had a very nice dog with them, sweet.  Awards were given to only the Top 3 overall males and females in each age category: 1 – 17 years old males; 18-99 years old males;  and the same age groups for females.  Some races also give finisher medals, but this one did not, and I have no heartburn with that; rather see the funds go to supporting the good cause of this organization.

Epilogue:  I’ve done this race in previous years and will do it again in upcoming years. It’s a nicely-done, well organized event, with several “snack goodies” pre-start and post-race; plenty of water; and there was also a raffle for some very nice prize baskets donated by some of the various event sponsors and supporters. The race shirt is very nice quality, and the goodie back participants got have a few nice things in them; personally, I got a kick out of a pair of ‘’fun eyeglasses” with the H-E-B logo on them….they cracked me up when saw those; very imaginative.  As noted, I’ve done this one before; I’ll certainly do it again; and I definitely would recommend it to others.

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us participants:  All the people who organized this one for us; all the many volunteers out there for we participants; the law enforcement officers on-site for our safety; our sound and music guy; my personal friends of Athlete Guild who laid out the course and provided us with the race timing and results; and also a thank you to the park patrons not involved with the race – other walkers, runners, and cyclists doing their thing in the park  –  for their patience when they encountered we participants on the trails; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all! Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it and stay healthy while doing it. I tend to do a lot of races, lol, and do my training runs during the week, so give me a shout-out if you see me sometime; a LOUD shout-out, lol, as I am a little hard of hearing in one ear – the ear I turn toward my wife when she wants me to do an errand, lol.;  just kidding, honey.

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/yv6wwtdUAtrJ6xWHA

Before the Start:  My 79^th race of 2025 was the Santa Hustle 5K held at SeaWorld San Antonio on December 14^th. This was my 2^nd race of the weekend after doing the Arthritis Foundation Jingle Bell 5K on Saturday.  In addition to the 5K, there was also a 10K and a Kids Run.   The start time for the 10K was 9 a.m., with the 5K following at 9:30 a.m., so I got to sleep in a bit for this one. The weather also changed for this one from the fairly nice day I had for my Saturday 5K. The temperature dropped into the 50s, with a ‘feels like” temp of 42 because of a pretty stiff wind blowing between 13 to 15 mph. I much prefer temps in the 60s and 70s, so for this event I made sure to wear a warm base layer under my top running shirt and felt quite fine.  I arrived at SeaWorld with just over an hour to go for the 5K start time, gave a couple of plush dolls to one of the volunteers to give to the cause, as proceeds from this event supported Toys For Tots and The Reindeer Brigade. After that, I wandered around chatting with participants, volunteers, supporters, etc., and getting a few pre-start photos.

On the course:  The 10K started first, exactly on time. There was a big timer on the bar of the start/finish line, and we could all see the time on it. All the events started exactly on time, with our Race Direct giving a “count-down” for the last 10 seconds for each event, and then we were off.  The course was a big loop that pretty much gave us a tour of the entire park.  The wind, still blowing pretty good, was  tough in the open areas, but whenever we were going along the inner parts of the park where we passed by several buildings, exhibits, and other structures, those made a pretty nice wind-break.   I think the most difficult part of the course was a very open area where we climbed a fairly long uphill, with part of the roller coaster ride on our left, and the wind blowing right into our faces. That hill was tough, lol, but after that the majority of the course was pretty flat. I did my usual thing of run-8-minutes/walk-2-minutes – can’t run a whole race distance non-stop anymore due to spinal arthritis I have now – and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. My friend, Peggy, also did this one – and also the same one I did on Saturday. She is a very strong walker, and usually passes me during my walk breaks, and then I catch back up to her after my walk break is over. I jokingly tell her, since I am a runner and she is a walker, my goal is to finish before she does; which is tough because she is one very quick and strong walker.  However, I’ve been ‘practicing’ on my training runs of doing my last 1.5 miles with non-stop running, so for the last couple of same events we’ve done I have managed – just barely, lol – to finish ahead of her. My chip time was 42:10, which put me 2^nd in my males 70-99 age group.

After My Finish:  A volunteer handed me my finisher medal and then I  stood a short way behind the finish line so as not to impede others coming in and got a few photos of other finishing, including my friend Peggy who, like yesterday’s 5K was not all that far behind me. After that, I went back out onto the course a short distance from the finish area to get a photo of some flamingoes in their enclosure that we had passed by just before getting to the finish line. As I was doing that, two other friends came walking along on their way to the finish. I did not know they’d signed up for this one, so I got a photo of them, and then they took a photo of me in front of the Flamingo enclosure. Then it was back to the finish area – making sure not to go over the timing mat again, and to stay out of the way of others finishing – and chatted with other participants, supporters, and volunteers and got a few more photos. Peggy and I also went back to where the packet pickup area had been and watched the awards ceremony.  Awards were only given to the Overall Top 3 male and female finishers for the 10K and 5K. I’ve got no heartburn with this…means more funding can be sent for the supported cause.   too.

Epilogue:  This is a really nicely done event that gives you lots of views of the park. I would definitely do this one again and recommend it to others.  I heard from other participants that the previous course was just around the huge parking lot at the park, so I’m glad they changed it.  We did actually go out of the park gates – where the tickets are sold – very briefly to go down a short part of the course that took us down to another entry gate that took us back into the park for more views of the park along our way. This is a really nice course that gives you a close-up look of just about everything at the park, and there were also a few water stations along the way, as well as course marshal volunteers making sure we were going on the correct route.  I jokingly asked one of the water station volunteers “What, no beer?” and then, ironically lol, went past one of the vendor stores in the park that does sell beer.  Of course, it was not open because the park was closed to the public while this event was going on. 

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us participants, e.g., park leadership and staff members that made this one happen for we participants; Brooksee, the event organizer, if I remember correctly – I think our MC was with this company, and Laurel Timing, also if I remember correctly, who did the timing and results.  Also, mucho-thanks to all the many volunteers out there on the course for us, making sure we were on track.  We participants were at least moving; these folks had to stand in that wind until the very last participant passed by. Additional thanks to all the other volunteers there for us who were doing race-day registration, packet pickup, handing out finisher medals, and more. Events like this could not happen for we participants without you.  May all of you reach whatever personal goals you have and stay safe and healthy while doing it. Maybe I will see you – or you will see me, lol – at a future event; if so, give me a shout-out and we’ll get a photo together.

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/DW1zmAqioG56ok2n7         

Before the Start:    My 78^th race of 2025 was the Jingle Bell Run held on December 13^th at Martin Luther King Park in San Antonio. This event is a festive event supporting The Arthritis Foundation. I have spinal arthritis and DDD (degenerative disk disease) and some issues with my facet joint which is why I can’t do distance running anymore, so pretty much stick to 5Ks and use a run/walk method now when I do a race or run; I make this event a regular one on my race calendar to support the cause.  There were several other events on this same date in our local area so, all things considered, we had a nice turn-out for the 5K with 119 timed 5K finishers. There were several other untimed people who walked or ran with their friends/family members in support of them. I arrived pretty early before the start, got some good parking pretty close to the start/finish area; got my race packet; and then got some pre-start photos while enjoying chatting with  other participants, supporters, race day volunteers, etc.  We had some pretty good weather for this one too;  a bit overcast, with a temp of 64 degrees, making it a bit humid, but not too bad, and some occasional spitting rain, but nothing really serious.

On the course:  The 5K started at 8:45 a.m. after the playing of The National Anthem.  The course was done on the off-road paved concrete trails that are part of San Antonio’s Greenway System, which connects a lot of the San Antonio Parks to each other;  if so inclined, you can run, walk, hike, or bike a long way on these trails.  Our course was an out-and-back starting just up from the MLK Park pavilion. taking us on a small loop past the park pavilion and then past the Martin Luther King  Jr. Academy, a Charter school that serves grade levels K-8. After passing by the school, we then proceeded onto a trail that took us to the turn-round point, crossing over a ‘shaky’ bridge along the way; shaky because of multiple people crossing it;  For the most part, the course was pretty flat until we got closer to the turn-round. We had about a half-mile of downhill to get to the turn-round and then, of course, had to go back up the hill on the way to the finish. I did my usual thing of 8-minutes-run/2-minutes-walk and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. My friend, Peggy, who sometimes walks faster than I run, lol, was behind me most of the way, but got ahead of me when we crossed the bridge and I stopped to take a few photos from the bridge. I always joke with her that one of my goals is to at least stay a bit ahead of her, and I often get that challenge as we do a lot of the same events over the year.  After the bridge, I did catch back up to her, and then passed her, but she was never very far behind me for the whole rest of the course. During my training runs, I’ve been practicing running my last mile or a tad longer non-stop, so I “mostly’ did that for this event too. I got to the turn-round, joked with the water station volunteers there about ‘no beer’, went around the turn-round cone – and here came Peggy again, not all that far behind me – and began now going up the hill we’d come down to get to the turn-round, heading for the finish. After I got back to the bridge, I took a couple more on-course photos, and saw behind me, here comes Peggy again; she is one strong walker. Off I went again, passing the Mile 2 marker and headed for the finish.  I did slow down briefly when I saw participants with their dogs on the course, to pull out a dog-treat and as I passed by hand it to the dog’s human to give to the dog. Once I got back to the MLK Academy, I knew it was only about a half-mile now, maybe a tad under, so pushed myself along nonstop to the finish. I ended up with a chip time of 42:30, averaging a 13:41 pace and my last mile was a negative split; Mile 1: 14:16; Mile 2: 13:53, and Mile 3: 13:26; nice. 

After My Finish:  A volunteer handed me my finisher medal and then I  stood a short way behind the finish line so as not to impede others coming in and got a few photos of other finishing, including my friend Peggy who was still not all that far behind me, lol. She did great. After that, I went to get some post-race goodies. Several of the vendors/sponsors had tables set up with various treats, drinks, food items, etc.  I enjoyed a post-race Gatorade and a Cliff Bar as I once more became a ‘wandering dog”,  going around the area chatting with other participants, supporters, vendors/sponsors and getting some post-race photos, including those of my personal friends of iaap who had laid out the course and did the timing and results.  There was an awards ceremony, with the top 3 in each age group getting an award.  They started with the younger age groups first, so at my age I knew I would have quite a wait for them to get to me, lol. I took some photos  of some of the other awardees, including my friends Peggy and Deborah who had also placed, and continued wandering around, chatting with others and handing out the dog treats I still had left.  They finally got to we old guys, lol, and MC Roy announced to everyone this was my 78^th race of the year, so got some cheers for that; thanks to all of you who were there and did that, much appreciated.  I was second in my age group as there were only two in my age group; my goal is to outlive my competition, lol, since my I only have two running paces: slow and slower. I was 11 minutes behind the guy who was first in my age group; very nice guy, enjoyed chatting with him.

Epilogue:    This is a really nicely done event put on by the local chapter of The Arthritis Foundation. The course was laid out very nicely by the iaap folks – in my opinion, the #1 San Antono-based race management company; they are well known not only here but in several places in Texas and get a lot of work, so are always very busy.  The finisher medals are nicely done, and the race shirt is very nice quality. Lots of vendors at this one, too, and several had various free handouts and edible goodies.  This is also a pet-friendly event too; one lady even had her cat in a pouch on her back, keeping her company.  That is the most patient cat I have ever seen, lol.  I will definitely continue to do this event and most certainly would recommend it to others. Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us participants, e.g., The local chapter of The Arthritis Foundation; all the sponsors; our MC, Roy, who did a great job for us; the local law enforcement officers that were out there for our safety; the many volunteers it took to make this one happen for another year for we participants; iaap race management company for doing the course set-up, timing, and results – with a special shout-out to the owners – this is a family-owned business – Jose and Mini Iniguez and their family members all involved in the business Back in the day – before some of you were even born, lol – Jose was a top-notch marathon runner, who won several marathon, including the old-time San Antonio Marathon.  Also, thanks to all who were involved that I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all! Whatever your personal goals are, hope you always obtain them and stay safe, healthy, and injury-free doing it.  Hope to see you around sometime at a future event; if you see me first, give me a should-out.  Relaxing time for me now;  I’ve got another 5K scheduled for the day after this one.

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/mqFZLHoGY4QXVbFm7

Before the Start:   My 77^th race of 2025 was the Holiday Hunger 5K held in Bulverde, Texas on December 6 at Bulverde Community Park, with a start time of 9 a.m. This event supported Provisions Outreach, the Bulverde food pantry. Due to some ongoing local road construction, I left fairly early to get to the race site, arriving at 7:30 a.m, so had plenty of time before the start to chat with others there, including my friends from Athlete Guild who laid out the course and did the timing and results for this event, and get a few pre-start photos. This is also a dog-friendly event; there were several dogs in attendance, all very friendly, and even more friendly to me, lol, after I gave them dog treats.  For a fairly smaller event – and being done on the same weekend as the inaugural San Antonio Marathon Half-Marathon, which the majority of the members of the local area running community had signed up for – it was a fairly good turn-out with 112 finishers, walkers and runners.

On the course:  After the playing of The National Anthem, we got started right n time. The course was a simple out-and-back, starting at the park, going down Bulverde Lane, making a right turn on Obst Road, going to our turn-round point and then coming back exactly the way we had gone out. The course was mostly flat, with a few inclines; nothing you could really call a hill until we got closer to the turn-round, where we did go down a fairly long but not-too-steep hill to get to the turn-round, and then we had to climb back up on the way back.  I did my usual run/walk thing which is normally 8-minutes-run/2-minutes-walk; however since my absent-minded-self forgot to bring my garmin watch, I used my music player for my intervals, running for 4 songs – estimating that each song would be about 2+ minutes – and walking for 1 song and this worked pretty well.  After making the turn-round, I then got ambitious, lol, and ran non-stop to the finish.  I felt pretty good for the whole route, ending up with a chip-time finish of 41:55, which was good enough for first in my 70-99 males age group, and I was the 59^th finisher overall of the 112 participants.

After My Finish:  I got a few photos of some others coming in and then wandered here-and-there in the finish area, getting some after-photos of the happy finishers and their supporters; handed out more dog treats; and enjoyed some post-race treats. The awards ceremony was held at the park’s pavilion, where several of the sponsor organizations had various post-race treats and drinks, and hand-out souvenirs (keychains, small towels, and so forth).  The age group awards was nicely done by our MC, Mark Purnell, and he started with we “senior folks” first, which I appreciated cuz, you know, after a run or workout, we senior citizens need to get home after that to take our nap. 😉   

Epilogue:  This is a very nicely done event that I would certainly recommend to others. It’s for a good cause; has a very nice route; the age-group placer medal is really nicely done, and very nice quality race shirt.  Some of the participants and supporters had on some very decorative holiday wear – including our MC – which was fun to see. The venue is very nice too; I don’t come to Bulverde very much and it always surprises me how large this park is, with athletic fields, indoor restrooms, a very nice pavilion, etc. The local traffic seemed to me to be pretty light, and the drivers we encountered were pretty patient about it all. 

Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us participants, e.g., all the sponsor; the local law enforcement officers that were out there for our safety; Athlete Guild for doing the course set-up, timing, and results – with a special shout-out to my old friend Coach John Purnell – and I mean that literally, he and I are getting to the point where we are both becoming older than dirt, lol – who was one of our Course Marshals making sure we were going in the correct direction; and thank to all other volunteers there for us, doing packet pickup, race day registration, helping with the awards, and so forth. Also, thanks to all the local residents and drivers, who were very patient with us invading their space for a few hours; and to anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all! Whatever your personal goals are, hope you always obtain them and stay safe doing it. 

Photos are here:          https://photos.app.goo.gl/UomosGnRBMYU4Bbv8

Before the Start:  My 76^th race of 2025 was the Gruene Turkey Trot held on Thanksgiving Day in Gruene, Texas, the site of historic Gruene Hall, built in 1878, is a live music venue and Texas’ oldest continually operating dance hall. Gruene is located adjacent to New Braunfels, Texas. This event’s official is Comal Cops for Kids Turkey Trot 5K and Kids Turkey Chase. Prior to the start day, I found out from friends also doing this event, that there were 3,000 registered for this 5K.  Start time was 8:30 a m., so on Race Day, I got a very early start, hoping to maybe get there before the crowd and find some good parking.  Apparently, most of the other participants had the same idea; by the time I got there – with the help of another participant I encountered at a local convenience store, since directionally challenged me initially missed my turn to get to Gruene – the parking areas were already packed, but I got lucky and found an empty parking spot quite close to the start/finish area. I got my race bib and then wandered around the grounds, chatting with running friends I knew and other participants and supporters.  This is also a very dog-friendly event – lots of dogs there – so I handed out dog-treats too; I was very popular with the dogs after that, lol.   Before the start, the Comal County Sheriff’s Color Guard somehow made it through the packed crowd in the start area to present the colors for The National Anthem. I got a photo of them before the start. A young lady beautifully sang The National Anthem, and then we got going.

On the course:  The course was a big loop course that took us up Gruene Road and then through some of the very nice family housing neighborhoods in this area.  We pretty the whole roads for this event. There was a bit of traffic at times, but the drivers were very patient with us. All the participants were pretty patient too, making way for faster participants coming up from behind, and encouraging each other on. From where I was any- given-moment, everyone was pretty polite about it all, helping each other out.   Because of my spinal arthritis, I can’t run nonstop anymore for very long; I was a March of Dimes baby, born with dislocated hips, but had good medical care, so lived a pretty much normal life, but was also told this is a ‘degenerative’ disease so, when I got older it would probably end up “active” and that happened in my 50s; so I did my usual thing of run-8-minutes/walk-2-minutes and got some on-courses photos during my walk breaks,  I was feeling pretty good the whole way, going along pretty well at my two running paces:  slow-and-slower, lol. After passing the Mile 2 marker, I took one more walk break then decided time to get done, and ran nonstop to the finish just over the last ½ mile of the course. I ended up with a time of 42:16, averaging 13:36 per mile and my last mile was a negative split. Overall, I ended up 832^nd male out of 1,240 males; 1,618 finisher of 2,718 total finishers and was 7^th out of 27 in my 70-79 males age group. I was very satisfied with this result and happy about meeting my two primary race goals for every race I do: finish standing up and no ambulance specifically being there for me at the finish. Anything after that is a bonus!

After My Finish:  I got a few photos of some others coming in, staying out of the way of others. I had a very nice finish-line-area chat with Sarah – I think that’s her name, if my old man brain remembers correctly – one of the race volunteers and organizers. She found out I had not requested a shirt – I do so many races over the year, I’m running of drawer space, lol – but I really liked the design of the race shirt of this race – so she told me to go over to the packet pickup area and tell them she had said to give me one of the extra shirts she had; so I did; they only had XL left, but that’s okay; I’ll get it hemmed a bit and it will be find. After that, I once again wandered around the race grounds, chatting with others there and getting some post-race photos, and handing out more treats. There were so many dogs at this event, I finally went back to my vehicle and just took a whole jar of treats with me and – with the permission of their humans – just passed treats out to each dog I encountered. I ended up getting a lot of photos of participants and dogs, lol.  Since I was wandering around here-and-there so much, I missed the awards ceremony – which was okay, I knew I hadn’t placed anyway, but congrats to all my running friends who did place. The Kids Run was done after the main event.  There was a guy in a Turkey costume, and the kids chased him on a short out-and-back for the Kids Run; it was pretty fun to watch.

Epilogue:  This is one of my very favorite events of the year, which I will continue to keep regularly on my race calendar as long as I am able to run/walk. There were all kinds of goodies post-race. No finisher medals – can you imagine the cost of making 3,000 finisher medals; probably would have made the race entry price astronomical, lol – but the race shirts are really nicely designed, and the race bibs are quite well done too.  The course is excellently thought out, with lots of room for everyone, from what I saw where I was at any given time on the course. I don’t know how the course was for the ‘speedsters’ at this event who placed in the overall winners group; I’m assuming at their pace, those folks had plenty of maneuvering room.  Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us participants. As large as this event is, I’m sure they had many challenges to deal with to get everything just right;  the succeeded too, from what I saw at any given time; the course was great; the race shirts are really nice, and even the race bib is pretty colorful. Thanks to the Comal County Sheriff’s Office for being the title sponsor, and to all the other sponsors too who made this one happen for us. Thanks to Athlete Guild and the volunteers who laid out the very nice course for us; and to all the volunteers doing race-day packet pickup; manning on-course water stations; driving in the 4-wheel vehicles along the course, making sure everyone is okay; our volunteers who prepared post-race Kiolbassa sausage wraps for us – they were excellent; I enjoyed one post-race; the Turkey Guy who got ‘chased’ for the Kid’s Run; all our course-marshals; and, of course, all the law enforcement officers out there for traffic control and for our safety; the official race photographers; my friend Sammy, who was one of the organizers too; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all!  Whatever your personal goals may be, may you always be successful and always stay safe and injury-free

Photos are here:        https://photos.app.goo.gl/vsHqJumJzCdLWTkr7

Before the Start:  My 75^th race of 2025 was the 14^th annual Boerne Family YMCA Turkey Trot 5K held on Boerne, Texas on Saturday, November 22^nd.  The 10K start time was 8 a.m. with the 5K following at 8:15 a.m.  Of these 14 annual  5Ks, I’ve completed 13 of them.  I had an ankle stress fracture one year, so had to miss the one held that year, ending my ‘streak’ of this event. There was also a 10K and a kid’s run.  Due to the perpetual ongoing road construction going on in San Antonio for Interstate 10 and Loop 1604, with highway closures starting early for this weekend, I left very early before the road crews closed everything off for the weekend.  Thankfully, this was good planning, as I was able to avoid the closures before they began and had smooth driving to the race site, which was the Boerne Town Center; so smooth that I arrived around 6:30 a.m, so got some nice parking close to the town center. There were already several race organizers, vendors, sponsors, etc. there, setting up their areas. Race day packet pickup, if I remember correctly was scheduled to start at 7 a.m., so I wandered around the Town Center grounds for a while, chatting with some of the sponsors/vendors/organizers and some other participants who had also arrived early and got a few pre-start photos. It was then time for me to get my packet but, just before I headed over there, one of the race volunteers came right up to me with my goodie bag, telling me, “Here’s your packet, Scottydog.”  Now that’s service, lol. I guess regularly doing this event pays off, most of the volunteers and organizers know me.  After getting my race bib on, and getting organized, I then wandered around again, getting some more pre-start photos. This is also a dog-friendly event, so I treated some dogs with soft, chewy dog-biscuits, with the permission of the humans of the dogs. This is a very popular event that always has a huge turn-out. The 5K each year gets the most signup and this year was no exception; There were 1,019 finishers for the 5K, wow, compared to the 10K, which had 69 finishers.

On the course:  The 10K folks started 15 minutes before the 5K. We 5K participants then started around 7:15 a.m.  The weather was just about perfect, with a temperature hovering in the upper 60s, low 70s, and a humidity of only 56%, very nice; it felt very comfortable. The course was done on paved roads and concrete/cement sidewalk.  I pretty much tried to stay on the paved roads as my spinal arthritis can really feel that darn concrete pounding. I did my usual thing of 8-minutes-run/2-minutes-walk and took some on course photos during my walk breaks. From the start line, we did a short half-loop on the paved roads around the square and then made a left turn that took us through a parking area and then onto one of the nearby residential roads, passing some really nice houses along the way.  For the most part the course was fairly flat, with a couple of long inclines along the way, but nothing you could really call a hill. I am going to show some of these photos to my race director friends, Bart (Scallywompus races) and Erik (e-Dragon races) in San Antonio and tell them  “See, you CAN have a race without hills.” I think they cut the word ‘flat” out of their dictionaries, lol.  I felt good for the whole way, with no issues, after have a few “medical incidents” the week before this event, which I did get taken care of and my docs did clear me to run.  I pretty much ran the last mile non-stop and right before the finish the last part of the course was a fairly steep uphill, but thankfully, it was also pretty short. After we crested that, we then had a very flat road that took us the last .2 of the course to the finish line. I ended up with a chip time of 42:18. I was 6^th of 18 in my 70-99 males age group, and overall I was the 571st finisher out of the 1,019 finishers.  Crazy, right?  As noted, very busy and popular event.  

After My Finish:  I got a few photos of some others coming in and then, staying out of the way of others still on the course I went back to the crest of that short hill we had to climb just before finishing and got some photos of others coming up the hill. After that it was back to the Town Square grounds to get some refreshment – they even beer post-race and lots of other goodies too – and began meandering around chatting with other participants and their friends/family members who were there to support them; vendors and sponsors; and also handed out some more treats to the doggies. Our MC and sound man – who both knew me from my doing this race so many years – announced that this was my 75^th race of the year, which I thought was nice of them, and couple of the sponsors gave me some discount tickets for their products, very nice. With this many participants, the awards ceremony went on quite a while – overall winners and first 3 in each age group got awards. I chatted with one participant who is 89 years old and turning 90 pretty soon, wow. He did the 5K. I told him they should have just handed him his award right at the start, lol; that is awesome that he’s out there doing this. I want to be like him when/if I get to that age.

Epilogue:  This is one of my very favorite events of the year, which I will continue to keep regularly on my race calendar as long as I am able to run/walk. All finishers got a finisher medal, and the medal is really nicely designed.  The race shirt is very nice quality; a long-sleeved tech shirt. I do so many races that I’ve pretty much run out of shirt drawer space, but this one I’m keeping.  I will give this one to a friend who does my “self-motivation” printing on my race shirts – I BEAT CANCER! NEVER GIVE UP! – and, the Lord willing, will wear this one to next year’s event.  The other nice thing about this event is that it is a YMCA oriented event and there is a YMCA in Boerne. I am a member of the YMCA so post-race I was able to go to the Boerne YMCA, check in, and take a nice shower and change into dry clothes before going on my drive back to San Antonio, sweet.

Much thanks to all who made this one happen for us participants, e.g., all the many organizers it takes to do this event; my personal friends from race management company Athlete Guild, who did the course setup, timing, and results; the many law enforcement officers along the course for our safety; the bike lead folks for the speedy runners; our MC and Sound Guy; the young ladies right before the start who did a great job of presenting the colors for The National Anthem;  the patience of the residents who lived along the course as we horde of participants passed through their neighborhoods; and the patience of the drivers too, as parts of course roads were still open to traffic; all our course marshals out there for us, as well as the water station volunteers – although they didn’t have any beer there, lol; 😉 – and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you, all! The Lord willing, and the creek don’t rise, I’ll see you next year if you participate, help, volunteer, etc. Oh, and one more tip: there is an actual indoor restroom at one end of the square, and there were a few porta-potties too near the restroom. My advice: use the porta-potties; they were actually much cleaner than that restroom, lol, which was in pretty bad shape, especially the stall.  Whatever your health passion is, whatever your chosen form of working out is, I wish all of you the success and to always stay healthy and injury-free.

Maybe I’ll see you at a future event sometime.

Photos are here:     https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ri9461WcJJmhgmWR8  

Before the Start:   My 74^th race of 2025 was the Stars and Stripes 5K held on Sunday, June 16^th at the Stars and Stripes Drive-In Movie Theater in New Braunfels, Texas.  This was my 2^nd race of the weekend, after doing a 5K on Saturday in San Antonio. I initially thought this was my 75^th 5K of the year but forgot I had to forego one due to a short illness and forgot to remove it from my personal calendar. Even so, 74 races for the year is still pretty good, lol.  Since I live in San Antonio, I got up pretty early Sunday morning to give me extra time and took a bit of a circuitous route to avoid all that ongoing road construction on the San Antonio parts of the I-35.  There were 3 races for this event: a half marathon; a 10K; and a 5K. The starts were staggered, with the half starting first, then the 10K, and then the 5K. I got there about an hour before the 5K start, so I had plenty of time to get my packet and then get a few pre-start photos. This event was put on my e-Dragon Productions, a family business co-owned by my friend, race director Erik.  The timing and results were done by Athlete Guild, a New Braunfels-based race management company owned by my friends Scott and Amy; yes, I get around, lol.    

On the course:  All the courses started and finished on the grounds of the movie theater. As usual, with my spinal arthritis, I did a run/walk of run-8-minutes/walk-2minutes and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. We started near the lobby building and pavilion/playground area of the theater, going down the entrance/exit  driveway, past the ticket booths and then onto the road in front of the theater, making a right turn. This took us up a short incline and then we made a left turn onto a road that gave us a pretty good uphill climb, passing some houses under construction on our right. At the top of this hill we turned right at a stop sign and had a flat part of the course for maybe 5 minutes and then proceeded onto a very long downhill.  There were already some  of the speedier runners heading for the finish; I think a couple of them may have been 10K folks.  Farther along down the hill, I saw other runners heading toward me and knew these were the speedier 5k folks as I recognized a couple of my pretty speedy friends who I knew had signed up for the 5K.  After getting down the hill, we then had a level part for about 30 yards, lol, then another very short climb, and then turned onto a flat road that took us to our turn-round. After the turn-round we then went back to the finish the way we had come out; so of course we now had to go UP that long hill to get to the finish; and then that first hill we’d been on coming out was now a downhill for us. After getting up the long hill, I got a couple more photos and then after being on the now-downhill part of the course, I went nonstop to the finish, ending with a chip time of 45:08, which was good enough for being third out of 4 in my 70-99 males age group.

After My Finish:  I stood near the finish line and got a few photos of others coming in. After that, I wandered around chatting with other participants, supporters, volunteers, etc. and getting some post-race photos, as well as handing out treats to the doggies that were there, since I carry dog treats when I run; hence my running name, Scotty Dogg, bestowed upon me by some of my fellow runners.    I also enjoyed that free post-race cheeseburger and fries from the movie theater staff, and they had Powerade too, which was nice, since I don’t drink soda anymore. I made a point of personally thanking the theater manager and his workers for what they were doing for us and got a photo of all of them together, so they could save that after I posted it.  After that, it was back to wandering here-and-there, taking some more ‘after’ photos and enjoying some post-race chats with lots of interesting people. After that, finally headed home to a nice hot shower and some rest while watching some football – yay, Houston Texans managed to win in a pretty low-scoring came – with 3 of our 6 cats keeping me company, lol.

Epilogue:   This is a really nicely done event by both e-Dragon Productions and Athlete Guild. The course is a bit challenging in places, but nothing like the huge hills some events have on their courses; these two hills are very manageable.  The race shirt is a really nice tech-tee; the finisher medals are very nicely done; and that’s a nice touch with the age-group award coin with the code to get a registration discount for a future race.  Also, who doesn’t like free food post-race? The theater staff took very good care of us; and we were also allowed to use their indoor restrooms; no porta-potty lines. Shiner Beer was also one of the race sponsors, so there was also Shiner beer post-race for those who enjoy that.  The theater parking area is huge, so plenty of parking for all.    I’ve done this one in the past and will definitely do this one again sometime in the future.   Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us participants, e.g. the movie theater staff; all the many volunteers for packet pickup, registration, course marshals, bike leads, etc., Athlete Guild for the timing and results; e-Dragon for putting on another excellent event; our professional photographers there; our sound guy; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!  May you all stay safe and happy and reach whatever goals you may have set for yourself.

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/kBbc7dsvZByKFzvt6 

Before the Start:    My 73^rd race of 2025 was Battle of Leon Creek, held on Saturday, November 15^th on the Leon Creek paved Greenway trails. Put on by Scallywompus, this event had a 21K; 20 miler; 10 miler and a 5K, with staggered starts for each, with the 5K and competitive walkers starting last. The start and finish area was in an apartment complex across from the part of the campus University of Texas at San Antonio and ‘next door’ to a Mormon Church. Per results posted by  top-notch race management company iaap, who did the timing and results, there was a total of 791 participants spread out over these races, with the largest number – 280 – doing the 5K; so this was a very busy and pretty crowded apartment complex on race day with all the participants, vendor booths, volunteers, and so forth. I arrived with about an hour to go to my 5K start time, got my packet and the wandered here-and-there chatting with friends, other participants, vendors, supporters, etc., and handing out some dog-treats to the dogs there – this is a dog-friendly event – and also got a few pre-start photos.

On the course:  The 5K and competitive walkers had a 9 a.m. start; we were the last event to get going. The start and finish line was on the grounds of the apartment complex. After crossing the start line, we we went up asphalt pavement towards UTSA Boulevard, and then went onto a concrete access ramp that took us down to the Leon Creek paved concrete greenway trails, making a left turn onto the trails, heading in the direction of the local 1604 highway. The course for the most part was pretty flat, with only couple of up/down inclines; nothing you could really call a hill. I did my usual run/walk thing and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. Because of a medical procedure I had the day before this 5K, I took a few extra walk breaks than I normally do, per my doctor’s instructions, just taking it nice and easy and getting a few more on-course photos than I usually take.  Overall, I felt pretty good and my running segments went pretty well.  On the way to the 5K turn-round, I saw some of the 10K folks – who pretty much went out and back the same way we  did, except, of course their turn-round was farther out. Some of those lead runners were really moving too, wow.   I also saw the lead 5K guy coming, and got a photo of him, and then the lead lady running came speeding along too. The course took us down a bit of a winding incline that took us to the 5K turn-round, and then we went back to the finish the way we had come out. My talented runner friend Rick, who usually finishes ahead of me waw walking the course  due to an issue he had also, but even so, he still finished quite a bit ahead of me, lol, as he is one speedy walker as well as runner.  I ended up with a finish time of 46:18, which was good enough for 3^rd in my 70-74 males age group as, lol there were only 3 in our age group.

After My Finish:  I stood near the finish line and go a few photos of others coming in.  After that, I got some water and enjoyed a banana and then wandered around chatting with vendors, supporters, volunteers, participants, etc., and got some more photos, as well as continuing to hand out treats to the doggies there. A few of the dogs there, belonging to some of my running friends, are now starting to recognize me, lol, at the races and start heading toward me as soon as they see me, knowing I have treats for them, lol.   This was a very enjoyable event, one I have done in the past and will continue do to in the future. 

Epilogue:  The Scallywompus motto is “Come for the race. Stay for the Party.”  They are not kidding either, they throw one heck of a party. Post-race there was Kiolbassa sausage; Alamo beer, and more; and also lots of give-away items from the sponsors/vendors of this event. All finishers got a huge and very nice finisher medal, which is huge.   The age-group awards where these very nicely designed Scallywompus drinking glasses; I’ve gotten a few of those at past events, but this glass is my all-time favorite from all the events I’ve done; I’ve donated some of my past glasses to children’s homes, and other non-profits, but the one from this event is a keeper. Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us, e.g., all the many volunteers for race day packet pickup, on-course marshals and water station volunteers, etc.; our MC and my friend, Anthony Zamora, doing his usual great job for us, as well as friend Tony Garcia, another of the organizers who, I suspect, was one of the chief organizers; the law enforcement officers out there for our safety – parking was at a UTSA parking lot, so we had to cross over UTSA Boulevard to get to the race site;  the bike lead volunteers for these events; Pushbutton Photography for their professional photos; iaap for the timing and results; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!