Scottydog Reports

Event photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/K3VDQZRWU5unQDqc6

Before The Start:  Held on August 12, 2023, the Dragon’s Den 5K at Pearsall Park in San Antonio was my 44^th race of 2023. Put on by E-Dragon Productions, this event, featured a half-marathon, a 10K, and a 5K. Pearsall Park, located on Old Pearsall Road, is a 505-acre park that features off-road trails, both paved and natural, as well as a large recreation area with a disc golf course, playground, skate park, splash pads & outdoor gym.  It is also one of the VERY HILLIEST city parks around – and not baby hills, either;  this park has some major climbing on its hills – so you definitely get a workout if you walk or run here. The Half had a start time of 6:30 a.m, followed by the 10K, and we 5K folks started last.  I arrived at the park around 6 a.m. – got some good parking too, lol, being that early – and chatted with some folks  that were there – volunteers and some other participants, and sponsor groups setting up their pavilions, etc., – and got a few pre-start photos.  I’d already previously picked up my race packet, so I had plenty of time.

 On the Course:   Very unique race courses in this park, so I will try to be descriptive and entertaining.  All the events started right on time. We 5K folks watched the half-marathoners and 10K folks go out and start climbing those first hills – we could see them against the skyline above us as the crested the hills- and then it was the turn of we 5K participants. Start to Mile 1: We had a bit of flat at the start, as we started off near the park pavilion. The first part of the course was an unpaved trail and after only a few minutes on it we began climbing almost immediately. We went up one fairly short hill, rounded a curve and then there was a loooooooooooong (I kid you not) 2-part hill to go up, e.g. we climbed up one hill, rounded a short bend in the trail and saw ahead of us Part 2 of the hill, shorter than the one behind us, but also steeper. After finally cresting this 2-part hill that mountain goats would probably love to play on, we then went downhill toward the start/finish area. Most people love downhills, but not me; with my spinal arthritis, downhills are actually harder on my back than up-hills, so I took it fairly easy going down. At the bottom of the hill, we rounded a curve in the trail that took us past the start/finish area on our left – and I made a quick stop to give a dog a treat – and then we went onto a fairly-flat  dirt-and-gravel part of the course.  This took us do a looooooong – and steep! – downhill.  This thing really was almost straight down, lol, so you really had to be careful  on the descent. Lots of walking for several of us on this part of the course. Once down this path that would be a Super-Ride Water Slide if they could ever add water to it, lol, we then turned right onto one of the paved concrete trails. The 5K turn-round was a little ways down from the steep downhill we did.  This was different from the first 5K I did out here some years ago, as I recall going down to another trail that went just about straight-up, and having to climb that to do our turn-round.  I was happy we did not have to do that for this one, lol. After the turn-round, we then proceed back to Slip-N-Slide trail, but did not go back up it – yet.  Instead, we turned right onto an off-road dirt trail; a very nice and scenic FLAT trail too that took us on a looping course through the woods.  All the races did this route before going to the finish.  We came off the trail at a lower parking lot area of the park and then proceeded back to the water station at the bottom of the “Darn, now I have to go UP this thing” trail that had brought us down to paved portion of the course. A climb that is jus bout straight up.  I made it about halfway, before I had to start walking it.  After cresting Mount-Made-Me-Want-To-Cry, we were back on the flat dirt-and-gravel trail that took us back toward the finish. We were past Mile 2 now, so I kept looking at my chrono and thinking, “Surely we are not going on those hills again we came out on, because that would make the course long.”  So I was looking forward to heading for the finish.  But no…we turned back onto the trails we had come out on, and went back to the finish the same way we had come out. Boy, Race Director Erick Burciaga sure has a mean-streak in him at times, lol. So I started climbing the hills we came out on; got slightly dizzy and said heck with it, not going to push it, so to be safe, I ended up walking about half of Mile 3, maybe even a bit more than that, on the way to the finish. Once I got over the up-hills again and closer to the end, then I started running again and did run into the finish area.  My time was horrible, lol, probably my worst 5K ever, time-wise, with a finish time of 55:04, averaging 16:20 per mile and I had positive splits the whole way, with Mile 3 being 18-minutes-and-change.  Also, I was right, the 5K course did turn out to be a bit long at 3.3 miles, which is what a few of my other 5K running friends said they had too.  As noted…that Erik has a mean streak in him at times, lol.  Just kidding, Erik!  I was actually happily surprised by my end-time; I really thought I would finish with a time that was over an hour. I finished 4^th out of 4 in my age group. The 3^rd place guy finished a good 5-minutes ahead of me.

After My Finish:  Went to my friend Gilbert’s pavilion area, got a banana and some water and just sat down for a bit, relaxing, and getting re-hydrated, which did not take long, as I did make sure to drink a cup of water at both water stations on the 5K course. Went back to my car to get my Gatorade Zero and sat in that for a few minutes with the A/C on full blast and that made me feel MUCH cooler and better.  After that, went back to the race area and got some after-photos, while I enjoyed chatting with friends as we shared our on-course experiences, with very much humor involved; also handed out treats to the doggies – there were several there – and made new friends too. Good times.    

Epilogue:  It’s been quite a bit of time – probably over a year – since I’ve run in this park; so, even though I do hill training once a week – on roads – my result is about what I expected; the hills in this park make those darn Helotes paved-road-hills courses look like baby hills, lol, especially as most of these park hills are off-road.  Tough gig.  I probably need to just get out to this park once or twice a month and get reconditioned to hills like this. Meanwhile…this event really is well-done by E-Dragon Productions, aka Kristine and Erik Burciaga. Nicely organized; personalized bibs; really nice race shirt – except like a dummy I got the wrong size for me, lol – and really nice after-party with Turkey Legs, cold beer, lots of water, fresh fruits, watermelon (is watermelon a fruit? – thank to Gilbert for those! – and lots of vendors/race sponsors offering various other sundries.  Also, nice iced-down small towels to put on your head, back of the neck, etc. to cool down with after you finish. The park service also had the splash pad area turned on by the time we were done; saw lots of participants over there taking advantage of the cooling water sprays. Park’s restrooms were open for us too, even at that early hour, so very nice, indoor restrooms to use.  Age-group awards are unique E-Dragon coins that can be used to get a discount for a future E-Dragon event you register for.  Would I do this one again?  I probably would and I am sure the majority of the other participants would too; because, as we runners and walkers know…we’re all dang crazy for putting ourselves through all this…but in the end, we do love it, don’t we? There was a total of 371 finishers, all 3 races combined, with the 5K having the most participants. Mucho thanks to those who made this one happen for all we participants: E-Dragon; the many volunteers out there for us, as well as the police officers and medical people on hand for our safety; all the race sponsors/vendors that supported this event; our Music Man, Paul, and our MC Anthony Zamora, doing their usual great jobs; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all!

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/kKc3jPyFZ73zrHSb9

After doing my 43rd 5K of 2023 on August 5th, my wife, Gail and I attended the UTSA “Meet-and-Greet” event at the UTSA campus to meet the UTSA football players, coaches, staff, etc. It was interesting how they did it. We waited in a line until 1 pm – we got there pretty early, so we were quite close to the front of the line – and then we went down a line of tables where the players and coaches were sitting and got to get their autographs on a poster we were given, as well as chat with them for a bit as we went along. A couple of them, lol, even recognized me from me doing the BryceStrong 5K since the late Bryce is the brother of Rashad Wisdom,who sadly passed away at age 14 of a rare form of cancer. His parents started the BryceStrong Foundation to help families who have kids dealing with cancer. The BryceStrong 5K is an annual fund raiser to help with this. I met Diana when I did this 5K for the first time and we became friends. I do a photo race report on this event when I attend it and send it to Diana.

When I got to where Rashad was sitting, he saw me and gave me a “Scottydog!” call out. I jokingly told him his mother had told me to make sure he was behaving, lol. Of course, Rashad always behaves (I think, lol) his parents sure raised him right; a good young man. A couple of other players down the line also recognized me too, from doing the BryceStrong 5K. I got to chat with Coach Traylor for a brief couple of minutes since I am UTSA staff and Coach knows my Department boss. I also got to connect with Rowdy (team mascot) again, which was nice. A pretty fun time, actually.

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/GMvjrufrYb47SP1b7

Before The Start:    Held on Saturday, August 5, 2023 at Ladybird Johnson Park in San Antonio, The Alamo Beer 5K was my 43^rd race of 2023.  This was the first race in a series of 4 races for The Alamo Beer Series of races put on by running company Scallywompus.  There events for this first race in the series:  half marathon; half marathon relay; 10K; 5K; and 5K competitive walk.  The half folks started at 6:30 a.m., followed by the 10K at 7:15 a.m. and then the 5K at 7:55 a.m. I arrived at the park shortly after 6:15 a.m, in time to see the half marathoners start and get a few pre-start photos before all the starts.  Their course took them to McAllister Park, then brought them back to LBJ park to do a turn-round in this park, and then back to the finish. The 10K also went to McAllister Park and did a turn-round there and then came back to LBJ to finish.  After the half and 10K folks left, I chatted with some of the 5K participants, got a few photos, and slowly sipped some water so I’d be hydrated for the event.  Texas in August is pretty darn warm – especially this year.  At the 7:55 start time, we had a temp in the upper 70s and the humidity was way up there too.

 On the Course:  We started right on time, in 2 waves, with the faster participants leading out about 3 – 5 minutes before the other participants. Then the slower-paced runners – that’s me, lol – started after therm.  The course was on paved trails in the park. No real hills to speak of, just a couple of up inclines and down inclines. I did my usual 8-min-run/2-min-walk thing and  took some photos during my walk breaks. The course took us from the park’s main area, down an incline and then onto the trails. Once on the trails, we proceeded to the Los Patios area, where we had a turn-round just before the 410-frontage road. On the way back to the finish, I saw my friend Irene and thought, what the heck, I thought she was doing the half. Well, she was.  She told me their course had them go to McAllister Park and then do a turn-round there, the come back to LBJ Park, and then the went to the same turn-round that we did. So on the way to their turn-round, these half folks had to intermingle with the 5K folks who were still on the course.   One of my very speedy friends doing half – who is usually way out in front of the pack – told me after she just could not run her normal pace because the slower 5K folks impeded her progress at various points on the course, so this cost her some time. I don’t get why the half folks, like the 10K folks, did not have their turn round in McAllister Park too, but I guess the race folks had a reason; heard some complaints though, post-race, about it from some of the half folks. Meanwhile, I just plugged along at my usual pace for the 5K. Toward the end I was still feeling pretty good, so forwent my last couple of walk breaks and just ran non-stop to the finish, accompanied by a very nice other runner I’d been chatting with. I ended up with a chip time of 41:09 chip time, finishing 5^th out of 6 in my age group. I was quite pleased with this, as I usually have a finish time of 43 to 45 minutes, with my photo-taking and walk breaks,

After My Finish:  Got some Gatorade to help rehydrate as I did a short cool-down walk. Overall, I was feeling pretty good.  Ate one of the bananas of my fruity friend Gilbert – he always provides a great selection of various fruits for the races he supports – and also started taking some post-race photos, as well as chatting with friends, other participants, supporters, and sponsors.  There is a very nice finisher medal too, but apparently there were more finishers than finisher medals, so I gave mine to my friend Woody, who had done the half and had really earned that medal with that course.

Epilogue:   Scallywompus races are very popular events, and well-done. They offer a variety of ‘series’ races over the year of various distances, as well as some other individual events that are also very well done. Just from the amount of participants this year – the 5k alone had 469 finishers – you can tell how popular these events are. The 10K had 222 finishers, and the half had 58 finishers. The 5K walk had 10, and there was a wheelchair division with 2 people and the half relay had 2 people, for a whopping 763 finishers with recorded times.  Scallywompus motto is ”Come for the race. Stay for the party.” They are not kidding.  Post-race Kiolbassa sausage, Alamo beer, bloody mary’s, margaritas, massages/stretching pros there, and more.  There were also nonalcoholic drinks like Force Water, Gatorade, and others. Race awards went 5 deep for each category that had at least that many in them – 5-year age groups – and unique placement awards for the recipients. Very nice quality race shirt and, as mentioned, finisher medals to participants.  This is also a dog-friendly event, so I soon ran out of dog treats that I carry to hand out to my canine pals.  All-in-all, a very nicely done event, with the good folks of Pushbutton Photography taking some great event photos – much better, lol, than my unskilled ones.  If you’ve never done a Scallywompus event, give it a try;  I am pretty sure you will enjoy it. Mucho thanks to Scallywompus, Alamo Beer, our Race Director Tony Garcia, our MC, Anthony Zamora, our music man Paul, the photographers out there, all the race volunteers, and, of course, all the various organizations and people who sponsored/helped make this one happen for we participants. Thank you all!

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/3rB9xXagyVEkxubu8

Before The Start:   Held on Saturday, July 29^th, my 42^nd 5K of 2023 was the “Walk Run Have Fun BryceStrong 5K” was held on the campus of Judson High School.  Put on by the Bryce Strong Foundation, the event is in honor of Bryce Wisdom, who sadly passed away at the age of 14 from a rare form of kidney cancer. His family started the Bryce Strong Foundation in his honor and memory – Strong, because Bryce fought courageously all the way to the end, inspiring people in the whole San Antonio region with his personal battle. The foundation is dedicated to improving the lives of children and families affected by adolescent cancer.  Bryce was a member of the Judson football team – and a school road was named Bryce Wisdom Way in his honor – so it is very appropriate to have this even held here. This event raises funds for the foundation. This year the event was changed from morning to the evening, with a start time of 7:30 pm, followed by a Christian Music concert held in D.W. Rutledge Stadium, the school’s athletics stadium for football, track, etc.  I arrived with about 40 minutes to the start. I’d picked up my packet the day before, so walked around chatting with friends and other runners and getting a few pre-start photos.

 On the Course: Given that this is Texas summer, it was pretty warm with a 95-degrees temp at start time. Because I have a heart pacemaker I’d called my cardiologist to see if it was okay to do this one.  I got the okay, with instructions to just take it very easy for this one, walk more if I had to.  During the day I had just taken it easy and kept myself very-well hydrated through the day, and ate lightly.  In spite of the heat, I was actually feeing pretty good. God-and-Mother Nature had also blessed us at race time with a pretty good cooling breeze too. I did my usual thing of 8-minutes running/2 minutes walking, but mindfully slowed down my pace from 12-minute miles to about 13- to-14-minute miles, not wanting to push it in this heat, since I mostly am early morning runner. We started on Bryce Wisdom Way, then made our way across part of the stadium parking lot. We exited the parking lot onto a sidewalk adjacent to the stadium and the proceed up a long incline; it was not that steep, just long, lol. As I went up this, some of the front-of-the pack speedier runners were already coming back towards me.   Once up this incline we made a left turn and then went onto a loop road that eventually brought us back to the sidewalk which we then went down. This took us down to a right turn that put us back on a campus road that brought us to the halfway point and the course water station. Further down, we passed the school bus parking area. A left turn took us down a road where we could see the school soccer field on our left. At the end of this road, we turned left to go onto a grassy area bordering the soccer field; not the most even terrain, lol, so I was glad I had worn my ‘hybrid’ running shoes, good for both pavement and turf.  We hit the mile 2 marker on this grassy loop. We then went through one of the stadium gateways and did a short jaunt around the stadium track,  This took us to a gate on the other side, which we exited and then made a right turn to go back up to Bryce Wisdom Way that took us to the finish line. I ended up  with a chip time of 46:44, averaging 15:08 per mile, and Mile 2- 3 was even a negative split for me at 13 minutes and change.  I was really surprised at how good I felt the whole way in this heat, so I guess I prepared myself correctly, lol. .

After My Finish: I did a short cool-down walk and as I was doing that one of the volunteer young ladies actually brought out to me a couple of cups of water; that was very nice of her, and that pretty much describes how this event is: very well done with some of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet, both volunteers and participants.  There were 99 total finishers, but one of the ladies had told me at that point they had about 133 registered, so I think there were some no-shows on race day. Too bad, because this really is a nice course to do.

Epilogue:  I am so glad I found this event last year – the first time I did it, when it was a morning event – and a nice bonus is that I became friends with Bryce’s parents, Diana and Rich, two of the nicest, most-gracious, and helpful people one could ever hope to meet.  The whole family is like that and their son, Rashad, is well-known in our community from his being one of the most talented football players for The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA – Go Runners!).  Our MC for this event, if I remember correctly, was son Miles, another great guy.  Really nice post-race goodies available too, with a free smoothie for those who wanted one, and a food-truck on site too.  Also, as noted, previously, a Christian Music concert was held in the stadium, free to all participants. Diana told me that some of the band members had also signed up to do the 5K, so they had double duty for this one.  I bet they slept well when they finally got home. This has become one of my “Definitely Do!” events, one which will always be on my race calendar. Bryce has become one of my ‘personal inspirations.’  I wear my BryceStrong  wristband 24/7 and it always helps inspire me at the times I need it; to continue to “Never Give Up!’ like my race shirts read.  Mucho thanks to all those who make this event happen for us:  The Wisdom family; all the sponsors; the volunteers out there for us at packet pickup, on the course, those 4-wheeler drivers checking on us on the course, etc; Judson ISD for allowing the use of their property; and anyone else I involved I did not mention here; thank you all so much!

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/LqyyVg83itY6bogb7

Before The Start:   Held on July 23, my 41^st race of 2023 was the E-Dragon Summer Series 5K, Race #5, the last in this series of 5Ks that were each done in various San Antonio city parks. This series supports a scholarship for a young runner. Participants could sign up for each race individually or sign up for the whole series.  If a participant did 4 of the 5 races in the series, then at the last one you received a very nice finisher medals.  As well as the finisher medal, there were also age group awards – 5-year age groups – for each of the races in the series.  Since the registration for each event was a low $15 entry, you could get a race shirt, but had to pay for those separately, at a pretty reasonable price, which still made the total lower than most race entry fees. I signed up and did all 5 of the 5Ks.  Race #5 was held at McAllister Park in San Antonio, with a 7 a.m. start for the Kid’s run, and the 5K following very shortly after, around 7:15 or so.  I got to the site a bit late – but still in time for the start – picked up my packet and then got a few pre-start photos before we got going.  We had a bit of rain and thunder during the early morning hours, but it sure didn’t help.  The temperature at our start time was already in the low 80s and the humidity was in the 90% range, with no wind, good grief; gotta love Texas summer weather, lol.

 On the Course:  I did my usual 8-min run/2-minute walk thing and took photos during my walk breaks. This was my 2^nd race of the weekend after doing on Saturday, the 22^nd, the pretty hilly Stars and Stripes 5K, held at the Star and Stripes Drive-In Theater in New Braunfels (there was also a half marathon and a 10K).  That was a pretty hilly course, and my legs for this Sunday 5K were feeling that Saturday 5K, so I took it fairly easy for this one, taking a few more walk breaks than I usually do.  That killed my finish time, of course, but it’s all good.  We started on the road near the lower soccer fields, and just down from the Youth Baseball stadium in the park. The course consisted of paved park roads and off-road paved trails….with no hills, thank goodness, lol. For the first leg of our course, we traveled up a paved park road that took us to an off-road trail entrance just down the road from Becken Pavilion.  We turned onto this trail that wound us through a nicely shaded wooded area and past a police sub-station that is near the park. We then crossed the road that used to be, many years ago, the original road entrance to the park off of Jones Maltsberger Road.  This is now a closed road used by runners, walkers, and cyclists. After crossing this road, we wound around on another paved trail that took us onto a trail which was a short ways down from the Turkey Roost Pavilion parking area. Turning right onto this trail, we then proceeded down to another park road, that led to the Becken Pavilion. We crossed over this road, continuing on a paved trail on the other side.  This took us to a paved trail that was behind the soccer fields and baseball field on our left.  After going down this trail, we mad a left turn and this trail took us back to the park road on which we had started, with the baseball field on our immediate left.  We turned left off of the trail and then proceeded  about 3/10 of a mile back to the start/finish line. Out of the 6 people in my 65-69 age group, I was just about dead last, at #5 with a chip time of 44:30.

After My Finish:  Got my finisher medal after I crossed the finish line and then – nice touch, always done by E-Dragon and iaap folks – got an iced-water downed small towel to put on the back of my neck to help cool down, man that felt good.  I did a short cool-down walk and then went and sat for about 10 minutes in my vehicle with the a/c on full blast, as I drank some water; felt much better after that, so it was off to get some post-race photos and post-race goodies. I always enjoy chatting with the other participants post-race and some of them have some really interesting stories, running history, etc.  I love the San Antonio running community and am so lucky to have made some lasting friendships with some of the people in it.

Epilogue:  This is a really nice series, VERY reasonably priced, put on by E-Dragon Productions.  You get a nice ‘tour’ of all the parks in the series and can get a reasonably prices race shirt for each event – the shirt color is different for each race. Award winners also get a very nicely designed Award Coin which can be used to get a discount for registration of other E-Dragon races.  Erik and Kristine Burciaga do such a great job with their company and with supporting the local running community. Top-Notch local race management company iaap works hand-in-hand with E-Dragon to provide the course setup, timing, and results. I heartily recommend this series to the running community and will certainly be doing it again myself.  Much thanks to all who make this event series happen for we participants: E-Dragon, iaap, our music man Paul, all the many sponsors/vendors, police officers out there for our safety, our MC Anthony Zamora – always does a superb job – and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all! Oh, and thanks to the patience of the other park patrons we encounter along the various courses, as the parks are still open to the public during these events.

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/UyxtogXWUnSp98xB7

Before The Start:  My 40^th 5K of 2023 was the Stars and Stripes 5K held on July 22 at the Stars and Stripes Drive-In Movie Theater in New Braunfels, Texas, with timing, course set-up, and results done by Athlete Guild, a top-notch area race management company that puts on quite a few races over the year. There was also a half-marathon and a 10K. The Half started at 6:30 a.m., the 10K at 7 a.m. and the 5K at 7:15 a.m.  This is a fairly popular event in the San Antonio-New Braunfels Corridor and had a nice turn-out, with 138 finishers for the half, 102 finishers for the 10K, and 182 finishers for the 5K.  There was also a competitive walk, so the walkers did not have to compete for awards with the runners. The competitive walk had 13 finishers. I arrived on-site around 6:15, got my packet, and then got a few pre-start photos, of the 10K and 5K folks, as the half started right on time, so by the time I got through the line to get my packet, they had already started.

 On the Course:  I did my usual 8-min run/2-minute walk thing and took photos during my walk breaks.  The course started from one of the movie theater parking areas, proceeded on the theater’s entrance/exit road and then made a right turn onto Kroesche Lane, the road used to get to the theater entrance. Going out on the move theater access road was quite flat, but once we got onto Kroesche Lane, we then began to climb.  At the top of Kroesche, we then turned right onto Westmeyer Road and this took us on a long downhill. We passed the Mile 1 marker on this part of the course, and I could see the super-fast 5K runners were already coming toward me, heading back to the finish. The overall first guy winner had a time of 16 minutes and change. After finally arriving at the bottom of the hill, we turned on Airport Road – a nice, flat tree-lined road with lots of shade – and went to our 5K turn-round.  Faster runners than me – much faster, lol – were coming toward me, heading toward the finish, including some of the speedier 10K folks too.  After making the turn-round, we then proceeded back to the finish the way we had come out.  Of course, on the way back, that long downhill on Westmeyer was now a long uphill and there was virtually no shade at all on this road.  Even so, I ran pretty steadily – so thankful I do regular hill training at least once a week, lol – and felt pretty good overall.  I did stop at the Mile 1 marker water stop and get a cup of water, and had a nice short chat with my friend, Scott – co-owner/co-founder of Athlete Guild – who was at the water stop for us.  Got to the Mile 2 maker just before we finally crested the hill, and then it was downhill on Kroesche Lane as we headed back to the theater entrance road. Downhills are harder for me than uphills – darn spinal arthritis – so I am usually slower going downhill than uphill, lo.  I also thought it was funny that a young lady – maybe about 7 years old or so – and her mother both passed me on the downhill, and left me eating their dust, lol.  That young lady was running quite a good pace, good for her!  I did take an extra walk break also, to get a photo of the downhill. Finally got back to the theater entrance road and ran nonstop to the finish.  I finished with a chip time of 43:38, averaging 14:08 per mile, but still ended up being first in my 65-69 males age group, as there were only 2 in my age group, lol.  What the heck, I’ll take it.

After My Finish:   The temperature when we started was around 78 degrees, and very humid.  By the time I finished, it was at 82 degrees.  First thing I did was get some water, then went and sat in my vehicle for about 10 minutes with the a/c on full blast while I got rehydrated. Felt much cooler after that, lol.  Then I went back to the race area and enjoyed chatting with friends and other finishers and getting several ‘after’ photos. This is also a dog friendly event.  I did not see dogs on the course, but there were several at the event, so they got treats from me, of course with the permission of their humans. Very nice after-party – there was even cold beer, nice – and Drive-In staff members served up burgers, fries, etc. to all who wanted that.

Epilogue:  This is really a nice event put on by Athlete Guild and has been going on for several years. I remember doing the first one and, at that time, the theater entrance/exit road was not paved yet, so we ran on dirt/gravel at the start and at the finish.  Stars and Stripes Drive-In owners and staff are so very hospitable about opening the lobby area for us, so we had access to a nicely air-conditioned interior and indoor restrooms and could sit in the theater’s lobby restaurant booths before and after, which also helped us cool off post-race. Very nice finisher medals to all finishers and also those who placed got another medal for placing. Participants also got a very nice quality tech-tee race shirt. This event is usually done in July every year, so of course it is warm, but the organizers are very good about having lots of water available and that air conditioned lobby is a real help too.  I will definitely do this one again and would recommend it to others. MUCHO thanks to all those who made this one happen for we participants:  Athlete Guild; Two Rivers Running store who did the pre-race day packet pickup; all the many sponsors, all the Stars And Stripes theater staff, and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/TJVfVw2wwgxrVHFV6

Before The Start:   My 39^th race of 2023 was the Freedom 5K held at Joint Base Fort Sam Houston on July 15^th.  This is a free-entry event for military-associated people – active duty, retired, civil service, family members of military people, and so forth. For a fairly small event it had a pretty nice turn-out with around maybe 40 people or so, maybe a bit more.  5K start time of 7 a.m., with people showing up at the Jimmy Brought Fitness Center beginning at 6 a.m. to sign up.  This is a non-competitive fun-run, so no awards, medals, etc. I got to the gym around 6:45 a.m., got signed up, and then just relaxed a bit in the gym before the start. With about 15 minutes to go before start time, headed to the start/finish area, which was in a parking lot that was between the fitness center and the base post office.  The National Anthem was played and then I had enough time to get a few photos before we all started, and even gave out a couple of treats to dogs that where there – this is a dog-friendly event.

 On the Course:  We got our instructions from the Fitness Center staff members that had volunteers to help with this event and then, right on time we were on our way. I did my usual thing of 8-minutes running/2 minutes walking and during my walk breaks, took a few on-course photos.  Actually, I took a few extra photo-stops along the way, which did not help my pace time any, lol.  From the parking lot, we made a left turn, went down a short incline and crossed over Wilson Street. We did a sort of winding route through this area, finally taking a route that had a few uphill and downhill inclines that took us to Hood Street, with family housing on our left, and fairly decent, but short hill to go up.  Hood Street took us out to New Braunfels Avenue, where we turned right, and had views on our left of the Fort Sam Houston museum  – with the original walls of the old-time Fort Sam Houston still there. New Braunfels took us back to Wilson Street, farther down from where we started – right across from the Military Police office, so glad I was not speeding, lol.   After a left turn on Wilson, we then went down to a road that started around the Fort Sam Houston Quadrangle, the museum on our left and a display of helicopters and tanks on our right.  We went nearly all the way around the Quadrangle, passing by some old historic homes of Fort Sam, really nice homes too, most of them with the American flag displayed in front. Upon reaching Stanley Road, we turned left, going down a fairly long, but not too steep, downhill.  This took us across Wilson Street a 3^rd time, and then we had a bit of a climb on Stanley as we passed by administrative offices on our right and a large parking lot on our left. When we got to New Braunfels again, we continued straight on Stanley – with yet another hill to climb, lol – glad I do hill training once a week, it sure helped! – and then we went past the front entrance of the Post Office and turned into the parking lot between the gym and the back of the post office. After a short route through this parking lot area, could finally see the finish line, yay!  I ended up doing my usual two running paces – Slow and Slower, lol – and finished with a time of 43:04, averaging 13:35 per mile.  It’s all good.  After finishing 15 months of prostate cancer treatment in December 2021 and then a year of hormone therapy  – one injection every 3 months – to keep my testosterone low to kill off the cancer cells, I am just happy I can stlll do any running at all – even though it’s tough sometimes with no testosterone to keep up an energy level – my testosterone level is ‘undetectable’ which is good, means I am now prostate cancer free – but I manage – very slowly, lol – but I get to where I want to go and, in all my 40 years of running – 2023 is my 40^th anniversary of being a runner – I have never once been DNF in any race I’ve ever done, even when I had my first bout of cancer (colon) when I was 29 years old. I am pretty proud of that.  Does that make me not ‘humble’, lol? 

After My Finish:  First, got some water and then did a short cool-down walk. Then I enjoyed some post-race ‘special’ water that the fitness center staff had available for us – there was choices of this cucumber water – the one I enjoyed – and some with some cinnamon and other things in it and this other kind of ‘mint’ water. Very nice and all designed to help rehydrate after an outing on a humid day. I then enjoyed some post-race chatting with some of the fitness staff and the other participants, and got a few post-run photos.

Epilogue:   The Fitness Centers staff did a really nice job with this one. It is a very well-organized event on a very nice course – challenging in a few places, lol, but nice – and on-course volunteers acting as Course Marshals, so we really good not get lost at all; not even the ‘directionally challenged” me, lol. Some very nice post-run refreshments – they even had treats for the dogs – and because it is a Fitness Center event, nice to be able to go back to the gym and take a shower and change clothes, so one does not have to drive home all wet and sweaty.  I would definitely do this one again – as a matter of fact there is another one of these events coming up in August, and one in October.  If you have not done these before, give it a try, it really is a very nice outing with a really good course.  Mucho thanks to the Fitness Center staff that were out there for us, as well as the course marshals on the roads, and anyone else involved. These events could not happen without all of you, so big thanks for that! Also, thanks to all the participants I interacted with, both on-and-off-course; the camaraderie out there between the participants is one thing that certainly helps keep me going, so thank you!  Hope to see you sometime at a future event!

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/EUtiCpR3c1Nn2DZj7

Before The Start:  My 38^th race of 2023 was the Texas Too Hot 5K, held on July 9, at Boerne Lake Park. This event benefits Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. There was also a 15K and a Kid’s 1K before the two main events started. The race packet included a very nice quality race singlet and an insulated tote bag for the first 400 registrants.  I signed up early for this one as I have done every one of the Texas Too Hot 5Ks since it first started – one of my few ‘streak events’ – so I did get the tote bag, a very nice one too, that I passed on to my wife as a gift. She earned it, lol; that woman has the patience of a saint, having to live with me every day.   This is a very popular iRun event that had 213 finishers for the 5K and 156 really crazy people that finished the 15K. I arrived around 7 a.m., got myself parked and then got a few pre-start photos before we all got underway.

 On the Course:  The 15K and 5K started right on time at 7:30 a.m.  Both groups started together.  Both courses were out-and-back. We began in one a parking lot of the park and after a very short jaunt, climbed our first hill that took us up to a somewhat rocky off-road trail that gave us some really nice views of the lake as we went along. I did my usual run/walk thing and often stopped to take a few photos. After a longer training run the day before this event, I planned on just having fun with this one, thinking I would probably finish in about an hour, maybe a little longer. It was a little warm with a temp of about 80 or so, and the humidity was crazy-high, but while we were on top of this trail there was a really nice breeze coming off the lake, so it didn’t feel too bad to me. After getting to the end of this flat trail, we then proceeded down a hill, than along the trail some more, going to a short uphill that took us onto pavement for a while. This part of the course was fairly flat, with a mix of asphalt, dirt, stones, small rocks. By this time, some of the speedier 5K runners were already coming toward me as they headed for their finish.  Past the water stop we turned right to go onto a paved road that was, for the 5K folks, our longest hill of the course. This road was open to traffic, so we assisted each other with cries of “Car Back!” when a vehicle came along.  The drivers where I was at any given moment were all pretty polite about it and safety-conscious with us.  The 5K turn-round point was on this hill, while the 15K folks continued on forward to what some friends who did the 15K told me after were some really long and brutal hills, especially the one to their turn-round.  For we 5K folks, after making the turn-round, we then went to the finish the way we had come out. I was feeling pretty good and surprised myself by ending up with a negative split for my last mile. I had thought I’d finish in about an hour, but ended up with a finish time of 46:39, averaging a 14:58 per mile pace and my last mile was a negative split. By no means a fast mile at 13:35, but quicker than my 14:26 for Mile 1 and 15:39 for mile 2 – those miles I made the most stops to take some extra photo shots – so I was pretty pleased with my results, which was a confidence booster that, after dealing for 2 years so far with these darn cancer side-effects, I am starting to slowly but surely get stronger and feel more like my previous running self; I was one happy doggie, lol.  I was 5^th out of 6 in my 66-69 males age group.

After My Finish: Got a few photos of some others coming in, handed out some treats to some dogs in the parks and then went to just relax for a bit. Love those iced-down towels at the finish line, they are so helpful in cooling you off after a warm outing.  Put one of those on the back of my neck, got some water, and then went to find a place to sit and relax for while. I went toward the lake-front and found a guy sitting with his two dogs, very nice and friendly. With his permission, I gave them treats and he kindly invited me to sit on the slab while I rehydrated and enjoyed that cooling lake breeze coming right into my face. It turned out this guy was retired military too, like me – Navy for him, so we had a nice chat.  He told me his wife was doing the 15K and was wondering how long it would take her.  I pointed across the lake to a house we could see at the top of the land above the lake and told him “I believe that is their turn-round.”  He was like, okay, then I might be here a while.  Lol.  We had a nice conversation about our  various military experiences, and other things, and it was just so nice to sit and relax for a bit with all that lake scenery in front of me.  Then I was off again, wandering around the race area chatting with friends and other participants and getting some more photos.  There was also a raffle drawing of bib numbers, with some nice iRun gift certificates given out – I won nada, darn the luck and Mitch did the 5K awards ceremony for the 5K placers, while the 15K was still going on.

Epilogue:   This is a really well-done event, as all iRun events are, with nice quality race shirts – singlets this time – very nice finisher medals and lots of post-race “goodies” including not only Shiner Bock Beer and some food, but also post-race massages and stretching tables available, a photo area, and even pets had a sponsor in PAWBASICS pet and nutrition center. This is a dog friendly event too, although it was pretty warm out there, but I did see a couple of dogs being walked on the course.  Great MC-ing by our announcer Mark Purnell.  Mucho thanks to all who had a part in making this one happen for we participants, iRun Texas, our timers, Split Second Productions, all the many sponsors, and all the volunteers, the park police officer(s) out there for our safety, the on-course professional photographers -PhotoWolfe, if I remember correctly, and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/8jf3nqxcEpY8nWDK7

Before The Start: My 37^th race of 2023 was the San Antonio Road Runners 4^th of July 4-miler held on July 4^th at Mission County Park in San Antono. This event was hosted by the oldest running club in San Antonio, the San Antonio Road Runners, celebrating in 2023 their 50^th anniversary.  Along with the main event, there was also an untimed 2-miler and a Kid’s Run. The main event and 2-miler had a nice early start of 7:30 a.m, with the Kid’s Run done about 15 minutes before the start of the other events.  My wife, Gail, signed up for the 2-miler. We arrived at race venue around 6:20 a.m.  We’d already gotten our packets earlier in the week, so Gail went to find a seat and relax a bit before the start while I wandered around doing my usual pre-start photo thing.  After getting back with Gail, I saw she was talking to one of my friends, Albert who, it turned out, was one of her friends too; she knew him from way back when, from the time they had both previously worked for Wells Fargo, what are the odds, lol. I wandered around and got a few more photos; watched the kids run, and then it was time for we 4-milers and 2-milers to get going.  The temp was around 77 degrees, and the humidity was way the heck up there, something like 80 percent to 90 percent but we did have lots of cloud-cover.

 On the Course: I am not sure how many did the 2-miler as it was an untimed fun run, so no results posted for that one. For the 5K, there was a total of 366 finishers; I heard this race had sold out, so I was glad I had registered early.  We started from Mission Park, went through the park gate and then did a short stint on the road that leads to the parking lot, before taking a left turn onto a sidewalk.  We went up this sidewalk between a row of flags on either side of us and then exited the sidewalk onto Padre Drive, if I remember correctly.  We followed the road down to Mission Parkway making a left onto this street. This was a hilly little street, with some mild uphill and downhill inclines. We went down a short hill first, then up another one, then had a bit of flat for a while, with a couple of views, on our way out, of the river to the left of us.  We went under bridge, then another short uphill, and then followed the road to the 2-mile marker. To get to the 2-mile marker, we had to go down another short incline and then back up the incline, which was fairly steep, but short, and then we proceeded back to the finish line exactly the way we had come out, this time with the river to our right.  Since I had not done a 4-miler in quite a while – I normally just do 5K events – dang, by the time I was heading to Mile 3, I was really starting to feel it, so I just took it easy, took a few more walk-and-photo breaks than I normally do, and just kept on plugging along. With just over ½ mile left, I told myself heck with this, let’s just get it done and ran non-stop to the finish.  Surprisingly, I actually ended up with a negative split for Mile 3 to the finish. I was 10^th out of 11 in my 65-69 males age group, so not quite last, lol. My chip time was 58:35 and gun time 59:24, so I did finish under an hour, just barely, lol. 

After My Finish:  The finish line volunteers handed out iced-down small towels as you came in, and man, that felt great.  I think I may have gotten a tad dehydrated, even though I did have a full bottle of water about 30 minutes before the start; however, this was a cupless race, so you had to bring your own cup for the water stop and I had forgotten mine, duhh, so didn’t get any water on the course and just kept plugging along. I got my iced towel, found some water, went and found my wife, and then just sat for a while, letting that towel ice me down and sipping my water; felt a bit nauseous for about 2 minutes but that passed after I got some hydration in me, and also ate a banana, which helped – did you know, one simple banana will give you about 20% of your electrolytes requirement for the day? It’s an amazing little fruit and very convenient.  After relaxing for a bit, it was then time to wander around and get some photos of the happy finishers, supporters, etc., which is always enjoyable, interacting with my running friends and other runners, their supporters, and the many vendors.  One of them, my friend Gilbert, is an expertise fruit guy and always brings really good fresh fruits for before and after. He knows I like a post-race banana so always has one for me. For this event, he told me he was thinking about me and tried to bring some other fruits I might like, and our conversation went like this, lol:  Scotty, brought some other fruits I thought you might like; so, do you like cantaloupe?  Nope.  Watermelon? Nope. Melons? Nope. Poor Gilbert, I am the “problem child” of the fruit world, lol. About the only fruits I eat are apples, oranges, bananas, blueberries, raspberries – no strawberries, yuk, even though my favorite ice cream is strawberry, so go figure, lol – sometimes an avocado.  My wife has easy fruit shopping with me, lol.

Epilogue:  This is a really nicely done event by the San Antonio Road Runners with a good course, really nice race shirts, very nice finisher medal, and lots of post-race goodies, including Kiolbassa sausage wraps, multiple types of drinks, including cold beer, force electrolyte water, and more; various fruits, some nutrition bars, and more.  I’d do this one again and would recommend it to others. Sure would be nice if it were cooler though; too bad our forefathers didn’t declare independence in November, lol.  Even so, a very well-done event, and the park has great facilities, including indoor restrooms and water fountains. Mucho thanks to all the people that made this one happen for we participants: SARR leadership and volunteer members – saw board member Scott Peacock out there for us; all the many volunteers, sponsors, and vendors who helped fund things; Anthony Zamora for once again doing his usual great job as event MC, and our music and sound man, Paul Garcia; also many thanks to the police officers out there on the course for our safety; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all! Next up for me is Texas Too Hot 5K on July 9^th at Boerne Lake; yes I am a glutton for punishment, lol.

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/Yuk4bFdsy35PzJsD8

Before The Start: My 36^th  5K of 2023 was Race #4 of 5 total 5Ks being done for the E-Dragon Productions Summer Series 5Ks, with each event done in a local San Antonio Community Park.  This series of events raises funds for a scholarship given to a young San Antonio runner after the series ends.  Held on Sunday, July 2^nd,  Race 4 location was Martin Luther King Park in San Antonio.  This is a very nice park with off-road paved trails that is part of San Antonio’s Greenway system of trails.  The trails in this park connect with trails in other parks, so one can go a long way, if so desired, on a run, walk, or cycling ride.  Start time for this one was 7:15 a.m., which was much appreciated, given the crazy heat days we’ve been having this summer, with temps often over 100 degrees on several days. Mother Nature was kind to us for this event; we had lots of cloud cover, a fairly nice breeze blowing, and lots of shade along the way and a temp at start time of around 77 – 78 degrees. After a lot of mornings where the low temp was in the 80s right off the bat at 6 a.m., that 78 temp felt pretty good.  Also, the trails of MLK Park are fairly flat; nothing you can really call a hill, just a few inclines along the way and those were pretty short. I arrived pretty early, around 6:10 a.m.  The iaap crew – in my opinion, the top race management company in San Antonio – were still putting up the start/finish line and getting things ready.  I got my race packet and then got a few pre-start photos.

On The Course:   Before the main event got started there was a Kid’s run, with all present cheering them on. The main event started right on time. Considering that the 4^th of July weekend is coming up and lots of people are traveling, this one had a pretty nice turn-out with 116 finishers. The course was out-and-back on the park’s paved off-road trails.  I did my usual run/walk thing, talking photos during my walk breaks.  After I got to the turn-round I got ambitious and ended up running just about non-stop to the finish line.  I encountered a very nice young lady along the way who ran with me for quite a ways before she took a walk break.  With about 4-tenths of a mile to go, my friend Jackie – very speedy runner- had come out on the course and began to run in with me; as fast as she runs, I’m surprised, lol, she didn’t hurt herself trying to run my slow pace, lol.  When I got to 3-tenths of a mile to go, another speedy friend, Jada, joined us.  Then, as the 3 of us rounded a curve, 3 more runners joined us. By the time I went around the last curve on the course, and could finally see the finish line, I had quite the entourage, lol, of about 5 of the speedier runners with me, all cheering me on.  I almost about started crying, lol, to have such good comrades/friends as these who would show so much support and encouragement for me.  One more curve to go around before the finish line and at this point, my ‘crew” dropped off  with a ‘You got this, Scotty” and I took off for the finish line on my own.  Ended up with a gun time of 41:32, chip time of 41:13, and a negative split for Mile 3 at 13:07, and averaging 13:16 per mile.  I was really happy with this as my last few races before this I’ve been averaging 14+ minute miles. Must be all those hills I’ve been doing my training runs on, lol. Whatever the reason, I was one happy doggie and also this was good enough for this smaller event to place 3^rd in my 65-69 males age group.

After My Finish:   Well, we may have had a tad cooler weather for this one, but it was still humid as all get out. I got some water and then went to the ‘cooling area’ – this was a nice touch done by E-Dragon and iaap – where you could sit in a chair and just relax under these ‘misters’ that gently put a light spray of cold water onto you; wow, that felt great after my run. I relaxed there with friends for several minutes and then it was off to get some post-race photos of the happy finishers, volunteers, supporters, etc.  Award ceremony was nicely done – with we older folks getting our awards first a nice touch, so we could go home and get our naps 😉- working down to the younger winners. Epilogue: This is a really nice series of events put on by E-Dragon Productions.  One can register for each race individually or you can sign up for all of them for a pretty nice discount. The price is very reasonable too, only a $15 entry fee per race and then you can buy a race shirt, also reasonably priced, for each of the races or just which ever race in the series you want a shirt for. The shirt for each race of the series is a different color for each race and all are really nicely designed tech tees, also done by E-Dragon, as printing is another part of their business.  They have it all covered and do it excellently.  I love the folks at E-Dragon – the Burciaga family, proud to be able to call them friends – and they always give you true quality for every part of their businesses, races, shirts, printing, etc., as well as doing so much for the running community, just as there race partners, iaap do too.  Alone, both of these companies are great, so when they partner up you know you are going to get a superb event, quality merchandise, etc.  If you’ve never done and E-Dragon or iaap event, I encourage you to do so; they do a great job and if something does go wrong – we’re all human so sometimes things happen – they will really ‘go to town’ to try and make it right for you.  I will definitely keep on doing their events and would recommend them to all.  Mucho thanks to all the people who made this one happen for we participants; E-Dragon; iaap; the many volunteers, all the sponsors/vendors involved, any law enforcement folks at some of these events for our safety; our sound-and-music folks; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all!