Scottydog Reports

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/MaoSSUe4SjhHoNTa8

Before The Start:     On Saturday, Sep 23, 2023, I did my 53rd 5K of the year. Head For The Cure 5K is an annual event held at Providence Catholic School on St. Mary’s Street in downtown San Antonio.  This was the 10^th anniversary race of this event being held.  I’ve done 9 of them.  I missed the one in 2021 due to ongoing prostate cancer treatment at that time.  Head For The Cure, to quote the race website “raise funds, awareness, and hope for the San Antonio brain tumor community.”  During the week before this event a friend of mine told me that she had a friend who has a young daughter who is currently being treated for brain cancer and had a surgery this past week. I asked her to ask her friend if it would be okay for me to run this one in honor of her daughter, and that permission was kindly given; so I ran this one for Cece and wrote  “For Cece!” on my race bib after I picked up my packet. No child should ever have to go through this, so hopefully one day events like this will have raised enough funds that perhaps a cure will be eventually found.  Race start time of 8 a.m., and there was also Kid’s Race.  I got there fairly early, around  6:45 a.m, so found some nice parking, and then went around pre-start, chatting with friends other participants, race volunteers, and race sponsors and vendors, getting some pre-start photos.  This is a dog-friendly event too, so the doggies got treats from me. KSAT-12 TV news was also there – saw Steve Spreister, who remembered me and gave me a hello, nice of him; he also walked the course – and they did a short interview with me prior to the start.  Not sure if it will be aired, and hopefully my dogface-mug did not make their camera go awry, lol.  Before we started, a short opening prayer, and then the National Anthem was sung, and then we lined up to get going, right on time.

 On the Course: We started on the campus grounds, went down a short inclined driveway and turned left onto St. Mary’s Street in front of the school.  The course took us down to Camden, where we made a left turn.  We went all the way down Camden until coming to Lexington Street, where we made a left turn.  We then proceeded down to St. Mary’s Street and turned left.  This took us back to a point where we passed in front of the school and then made a turn-round near where we had started out from the school. After the turn-round, we then went back the way we had come out, finishing back at the school by going up the short incline to cross the finish line.  My garmin showed 2.9 miles done, so I thought maybe somehow I had inadvertently missed something on the course, but others told me the distance on their garmins, apple watches, etc., also showed 2.9, the course was just a tad short, which did not bother me at all, lol.  I ended up with my Garmin showing a finish time of 2.94 miles in 39:31, averaging 13:27 per mile, and I had a negative split for the last mile, nice. I was 4^th in my age group.

After My Finish: Enjoyed some of the post-race goodies, which included breakfast tacos, a variety of offerings from some of the vendors, all kinds of snacks and various goodies, drinks, etc., and wandered around getting some post-race photos. There was also this “Bubbles machine” thing that blew out a mountain of suds, which a lot of the kids and some adults were enjoying playing in. There were also some professional dancers putting on a show, and a band providing us with some pretty good live music.

Epilogue:  Head For The Cure 5K, held at various dates at several cities around the US, is for a great cause. The survival rate for brain cancer, unfortunately, is pretty low for all ages – higher for people that are younger – but it can be survived and this event’s mission is to try to make that happen for everyone with this illness. I made a point, when I encountered a brain cancer survivor at this event of shaking his/her hand and giving them my utmost admiration, since beating brain cancer is one heck of an accomplishment. Head For The Cure San Antonio is a very well organized event; from my point of view from all the times I’ve done this one it has pretty much gone on without any glitches; very nice quality race shirts – and survivor shirts for those who are brain cancer survivors – nice finisher medals, and a very nice post-race atmosphere. Finisher medals for all, and awards to the age-group placers.  Also, on a personal note, let me tell you how nice these organizers are:  after I was done, when I told them I was doing this race for Cece, they went and got me a medal to give her, and also gave me two kid shirts, to give to her, a survivor shirt and a regular race shirt. I thought this was so nice and kind of them.  These people really do care.  I heartily recommend this race to others and I will certainly continue to do it in the future as long as I am able.    Mucho thanks to all the people that made this one happen for us:  Head For The Cure national and local office staff; all the many volunteers, vendors, and sponsors; Providence School folks for their hospitality in allowing us use of their grounds; all the police officers out there on the course for us, doing traffic control; the dancers and the band; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!  The Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, see you next year!

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/rVECXa5vNvMffGdb6

Before The Start:    On Sunday, September 17, 2023, I did my 52^nd 5K of the year, the Zero Prostate Cancer 5K held at Missions County Park #1 in San Antonio.  Put on by zerocancer.org, this event is held on various dates at several cities.   Per the website “The money raised by each event “helps drive free prostate cancer testing throughout the country as well as in the communities of each Run/Walk location.  We are proud to award grants in select communities where we can have the most impact on new programs, patient support, early detection, and awareness efforts.”  This is an untimed event which started at 9 a.m.  Prior to the 9 a.m. start,  there was a ceremony recognizing survivors who were present, and awards were given to the various largest fundraisers for this specific event, individuals, teams, etc. There was also a kid’s run prior to the main event. I arrived for race-day only packet pickup, got my shirt, and filled out a bib with the names of the survivors I was running in honor of.  I also got a few pre-start photos and enjoyed chatting with my friends, fellow survivor Bill Doc Byrd  and with Keyes  Hudson.  It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, so it was very nice seeing them again in person and, of course, as we are all veterans, sharing some war stories with each other. Bill is, of course, younger than me, and one thing I found out was that when I was active-duty military in the Philippines, Bill was going to high school at Clark Air Base during the time I was assigned there.  Small world!  Before the start, I also saw my friend Ralph and his son, Ryan, and each of their “honorarium” bibs had my name. I was very touched by that.

 On the Course:  We started from the Mission County Park outside plaza and then went onto  part of the Mission Reach San Antonio Riverwalk.  Unlike my El Grito 5K last week, for this one, we made a right turn after exiting the plaza, so did not have the El Grito route with those long-and-steep hills. We went down a long downhill, then had a flat bit for a while.  We did not cross the bridge we came to but kept going straight, which took us up another hill.  Once up that, we then proceeded onto a paved trail parallel with Padre Drive. After going along this trail, we veered left, going down a short but fairly steep downhill, which took us onto a trail parallel with Pyron Drive. On this trail, we crossed over two wooden bridges – which swayed a bit, with all those participants crossing over them – and this trail took us down to our 5K turn-round point.  We then went in reverse back to the finish on the paths we had come out on – crossing those swaying bridges again, lol. It was a nicely thought-out course, able to be accessed without too much difficulty by all participants, that included kids, senior citizens, those with possibly some physical limitations, and so forth. If we’d don that steeper-and-hillier El Grito course I think a few of the participants would have had a really hard time in completing it. So this course was a wise choice.  I did my usual 8-min-run/2 minute walk thing, taking some photos during my walk breaks and also ran just about all of Mile 2 to the finish non-stop – but did stop to get a photo of a our course water station volunteers  and with a ½ mile to go, stopped to get a photo of the nice view we had of the river on the way to the finish – and ended up with a finish time of 43:16, averaging a 13:47 pace per mile. My strong runner friend, Bill, finished about 3 or 4 minutes ahead of me. Friend Keyes walked the course and, being a strong walker, did not finish far behind me.  Ralph and his son, Ryan, both very strong runners, finished way ahead of me. 

After My Finish:  As noted, no timed results and no place awards, leaving the funds raised to go to the cause instead of for age-group awards and that was fine with me. If prostate cancer can someday be eradicated because of these funds raised, that is award enough for me.  Post-race I enjoyed a couple breakfast tacos and chatting with Bill and Keyes for a while and then getting some photos of, and chatting with, some of the happy finishers. 

Epilogue: This is a very nicely done event and also a ‘streak’ race for me; I’ve done this one ever since it was first started, way back by Dr. Rapier and his wife. Prior to having prostate cancer, I always did have prostate problems as an adult – even as a young guy – so this one is very personal for me, and I will continue to do it for as long as I am able. It is a very well-organized event that included a DJ – my friend, Paul, lol; small world, because he was also our music-and-sound guy for the Scallywompus race I did the day before this one. There was also available both pre-and-post race Krispy Kreme donuts, Taco Cabana breakfast tacos – I enjoyed 2 of those post-race – and various non-alcoholic drinks, water, coffee I think, and a couple of the volunteers offered me some post-race Gatorade, which hit the spot.  The park also has 2 pavilions, a very large one with a large stage, which is where the opening ceremonies took place; and two smaller covered ones with lots of picnic-table seating and shade, so  nice places to relax a bit post-race; also a very nice quality race shirt; and no porta-potties needed, ample indoor restroom facilities at this park – Lady Bird Johnson Park should take a lesson from this, lol. Mucho thanks to all the people who made this one happen: all the many sponsors and vendors; the Zero Prostate organization; all the volunteers out there for we participants; the law enforcement folks on site for us; DJ Paul; our MC who did a great job for us; all the people who raised funds for this cause; and any others involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all so much! See you next year!

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/Y9QYTYBnw4nsHUha7

Before The Start:   On Saturday, Sp 16, 2023, I did my 51^st race of 2023, the Battle of Fredericksburg 5K, the 2^nd race in the Scallywompus Alamo Beer Series of 4 races. The race venue got moved from Fredericksburg to Comfort, Texas, kindly hosted by Hill Country Distillery. This event included a half-marathon, a 10-miler, a 5-miler, a 5K, and a Competitive Walkers 5K,   There was a very nice turn-out for this one with about 600 or so total participants for all these events. Since the 5K started after all the other events, I got to sleep in a bit, arriving in Comfort a little after 7 a.m in time to see the half-marathoners start, and wish my friends Jorgina and Krista good luck with their 100^th half marathon.   The 10-miler folks went next, then  the 5-miler participants, and finally the 5K participant arounds 7:15 or so.  Prior to the 5K start, I wandered around chatting with friends and getting some pre-start photos.  

 On the Course:   The weather was actually pretty nice with a temp of around 71 degrees and did not feel too humid at all. We had mix of sunshine and cloud cover. The 5K course was out-and-back, starting from the Distillery grounds and going through a part of the Comfort business area and then a pretty nice residential area with wide flat roads. I heard after the race that the ½ and 10-miler folks had a couple of fair-sized hills – not sure about the 5-milers; the biggest “hill” on the 5K course was a fairly short incline with maybe an elevation of 5 feet, lol, if that.  I did my usual 8-min-run/2 min walk  thing and took some photos during my walk breaks – and once in a while at other times. I was feeling pretty good and ended up 4^th in my age group with a chip time of 42:16, averaging, with the photo stops, 13:36 per mile.  Even if I had gone slower, I still would have placed, as there were on only 4 in my age group, lol.

After My Finish:  Got my finisher medal and some Gatorade and then went to my car and sat for about 10 minutes with the a/c on while getting rehydrated.  Felt very refreshed after that and then it was back out to get some post-race goodies and some “after’ photos and chat with other participants, volunteers, supporters, etc. Several of us stuck around also to ‘welcome in” to the finish of the half our friends Krista and Jorgina, each of whom were completing their 100^th lifetime half-marathon.  I suspect Race Director Tony Garcia’s hand in this nicely done gesture – there was a banner made for the occasion that both Krist and Georgina got to “run through” as they each completed their 100^th half; lots of people cheering them in, lots of photos of them. Well-done, ladies, and big congratulations!

Epilogue: The Scallywompus race motto is “Come for the race. Stay for the party.” They are not kidding, either. Post-race activities included a kind of crazy dance contest, lol; lots of backdrops for photo ops; and all kinds of post-race goodies that included Kiolbassa Sausage, Alamo Beer, bloody mary’s, and some other concoction – I think tequila-based – and lots of other stuff.  All participants got finisher medals, which Scallywompus does not skimp on, the things are very large, with a magnetic back and a bottle opener on the bottom.  The race shirt is nicely designed and of a very nice quality, Some of the vendors around the Distillery were open, so you could get a drink in those places too, as well as use some indoor restrooms, nice. Age group race awards are given 4-places deep for each event, as well as awards to the overall finishers. This is also a dog-friendly and stroller friendly event. The chosen course roads are very wide, so plenty of room for everyone.  I don’t remember why the course was moved from Fredericksburg to Comfort, but I do know that now that I am familiar with both courses, I like the Comfort one a lot better. So maybe next year it will be Battle of Comfort; I hope so and, the Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, I’d certainly do this one again, and recommend it to others.  It was also really nice to see out there my fellow cancer-survivor, Mr. Scallywompus himself, Bart Childers; nice to see him running again. We both went through our treatments about the same time-frame and had ‘supportive chats” with each other in-person, online etc., and that really helped me a lot to stay focused and keep on ‘keepin’ on”. NEVER GIVE UP! All right friends, nap time now.  I have another 5K scheduled the day after this one.

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/CH8Av5vbD4Wiq5wd8

Before The Start:   On Sunday, September 10, 2023, I did my 50^th 5K of 2023, the El Grito 5K put on by Andiamo Races at Mission County Park in San Antonio.  This was my 2^nd 5K of the weekend after having done the Patriot’s Day 5K on Saturday in Pleasanton, Texas.  Race start time of 7:30, with race day packet pickup time beginning on race day about 45 minutes before the start. I arrived very early, got my race packet and then wandered around before start time getting a few pre-race photos. Andiamo has a good selection of races with a usually nice turn out.  Since there had been so many races in the area on Saturday, this one had a fairly smaller turn-out with 185 finishers; not bad, though, for an early Sunday morning 5K.  The race location, Missions County Park #1 is a really nice area with lots of room, a very large meeting hall area, and a smaller pavilion in the courtyard area.  It also nicely has water fountains and indoor restrooms. For those who wanted to participate there was a warm up about 15 minutes before the start, led by a Camp Gladiator trainer.  The National Anthem was then beautifully sung by two young ladies, and then we got lined up for our start.

 On the Course:  The course is out-and-back. We lined up at behind an entrance to the Riverwalk. When we exited the pavilion grounds, I saw people turning left, so, having done this course before, I knew we would be dealing with hills…and more hills…and then a couple more hills, lol. The reward, however, for doing all these hills was some really nice views along the way of the river to our right on the way out, our left on the way back.   I did my usual 8-min-run/2-min-walk and took some photos along the way, during my walk breaks.  Our turn-round point was a small bridge that went across the river.  We did not cross the bridge, we turned around in front of it and then went back to the pavilion the way we had come out.  Going back, we had more uphills than down hills and, since we had come downhill right after leaving the pavilion area, we had to climb that last hill to finish, making a right turn at the top of it to go back into the park area to pass through the timing chutes.  For whatever reason, I was feeling pretty good today and actually ran better for this one than the flat 5K I did on Saturday. For the last mile, I took only a short walk break, and then ran just about all of Mile 3 to the finish.  I ended up with a chip time of 41:42, 5^th in my 60-69 males age group. I was happy with this time, which was 4 minutes faster than my very humid Saturday 5K.

After My Finish: Relaxed in the outer pavilion in the shade, eating a banana and rehydrating with some water and this electrolyte non-carbonated drink I had never heard of – SAP, or something like that – which was actually quite good. I just enjoyed for a while sitting with friend and chatting; then it was off to get some post-race photos of the Happy Finishers, volunteers, supporters, etc.

Epilogue:   Andiamo throws a pretty nice after-party with lots of food and drink.  Not as quite as ‘rambunctious” as the Scallywompus parties, but it’s still a very good one.  Lots of food and drink; this “live” photo both with a thing that went around you taking photos – made me dizzy just watching it, lol – and there was a group of musicians providing some entertaining post-race music.   The finisher medals are really nicely designed and the race shirts are really nicely designed with high quality and comfort in mind.  It’s been a while since I’ve done an Andiamo event and this one did not disappoint.  I’d certainly do this one again and recommend it to others. Please note that Andiamo gives awards to the overall winners and then only the first male and female in each age group. I believe they do this to have more funding to provide those really nicely designed finisher medals and all those post-race goodies, as well as those very nice high-quality shirts.  It doesn’t bother me since I never expect to place anyway, lol, and after 2 years of recent cancer treatments and heading toward 70 years old next year and after 40 years of running – I started my running life in 1983 in Turkey during my Air Force days –  I’ve become more of a ‘fun-runner’ now and am thoroughly enjoying myself.  No pressure to place, lol.  Give an Andiamo race a chance, you just might like it. Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants; all the volunteers, iaap for the timing, results, etc., all the many sponsors supporting this event; Camp Gladiator for the warm-up session, and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned; thank you all!

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/DauJNhH7vGZRbG1EA

Before The Start:   On Saturday, Sep 9^th, I did my 49^th race of 2020, the Patriot’s Day 5K held in Pleasanton, Texas, about a 40-mile drive from San Antonio. This race is done in remembrance of those lost on 9-11 and in honor or our military veterans and first responders. This was a fairly smaller event that had 77 finishers. The 5K start and finish was at Pleasanton City Park, a pretty little park with some nice views of the Atascosa River.  Race start time of 8 a.m.  As I am ‘directionally challenged”, lol, I made an early start, but actually did not get lost this time and arrived at the park a little after 7 a.m.  Got my race packet and then got a few photos before the start.

 On the Course:   The course was an out-and-back in the park.  We started in front of a park pavilion adjacent to a basketball blacktop area.  The course was pretty flat, taking us first along the main park road and then onto an off-road park trail of crushed rock and dirt that gave us some nice views of the Atascosa River along the way. For the first mile we were out in the sun with no shade. It was pretty darn humid too, but expected, as this is still Texas summer, even if it is after Labor Day, with temps in the mid-70s and humidity about 80-something percent. We crossed over a short patch of parking lot pavement and then went back onto the trail on the other side.  This trail took us to our turn-round point.  This part of the course had quite a bit of shade, with lots of trees with overhanging branches, nice.  Once we made the turn-round point, we went back the way we came out, so for the last mile, of course, we were back out in the full sunshine as we went to the finish.  The guy who placed first in this 5K did it in 21 minutes and change, averaging 6:50 per mile; must be nice, lol.  I did it in a lot longer, 44:02 chip time, averaging 14:10 per mile, but I did have a negative split for Mile 3. By the time I got back, that first guy had time to shower and change clothes, if he was so inclined, lol. I ended up 3^rd out of the 3 males in my 65-69 males age group.

After My Finish:   First thing, sat in my darn car, with the A/C on full blast as I did my cool-down and sipped my electrolytes water.  Felt much refreshed after this and went back out to get some post-race photos and enjoy some post-race goodies, which included breakfast tacos, nice. Even slow, since there were only 3 in my age group, I got a nice medal for my 3^rd place finish. All participants also got finisher medals, which were a slightly different design from the awardee medals; so I walked away with two medals from this one.

Epilogue:   Smaller event, but nicely done by Race Director Tony Garcia and his Top-Gun helper, Woody Wilson. Although it was warm, it really is a nice course that gives nice views of the river along the way, and no hills at all. Very nice finisher medals and award medals, which were a bit larger than the finisher medals;  the local Jr. ROTC had a presence at this one and their Color Guard did an excellent job of presenting the colors for The National Anthem.  Nice quality race shirt, and the post-race goodies included breakfast tacos.  I will definitely do this one again in the future – and hope it grows because it really is a nice event – and the park has some nice ‘true’ restrooms too, not porta-potties, lol. Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants, including iaap who did the timing and results; organizers Tony Garcia and Woody Wilson; and all the race day volunteers, which included some of the Jr. ROTC folks; all the many sponsors; our music-and-sound guy; the lady photo-journalist from the Pleasanton Express that was taking photos of the event, and the on-course photographer – not me, lol, there was an actual photographer – and thanks to other park patrons for their patience with our gathering; and thanks to anyone else I may not have mentioned here.  Good event; hope to see you at this one sometime!

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/u5pTTCCgoYXPMsAZ6

Before The Start:   On Labor Day, Sep 4, 2023, I did my 48^th 5K of the year. Put on by the San Antonio RoadRunners (SARR)– the oldest running organization in San Antonio – the SARR Whine 5-Miler and 5K. The event was held at Tuscany Venue in San Antonio, a wedding venue located just off of the I-10 East highway frontage road, and about 2 miles or so from the Shoppes at La Cantera. This is a very popular Labor Day event SARR has been putting on for many years. There was quite a nice turn-out for this one with 215 finishers for the 5-Miler and 275 finishers for the 5K. I had picked my race packet up the day before so after arrival on race day I went around chatting with friends/other participants and getting a few pre-start photos.

 On the Course:  The 5-Milers started at 7:30 a.m., with the 5K participants starting 5 minutes after them.  Both courses were out-and-back. We started from the grounds of Tuscany Venue, went over a short rock-and-gravel area and then turned left onto the paved road in front of Tuscany Venue. A short downhill took us to a trailhead of the Leon Creek Greenway Trail.  After making a left turn onto the trail, both 5-milers and 5K participants went respectively to each of their turn-round points and then came back to Tuscany Venue in reverse of the way out had been. The course had a few uphills on the way out, downhill on the way back, but most were fairly short climbs, with grade of about 5% – 7%, so nothing major like a couple of those really looooong uphills at Eisenhower Park.  I had done a race on the Saturday before this one and pushed myself a bit, so my legs were still feeling that a tad.  I am already a pretty slow runner (darn these cancer side-effects, and since I had prostate cancer, my testosterone was purposely lowered also to help beat the cancer; so no more testosterone), so not going to hurt anyone at my pace if I run into someone, lol; even so, I took it a bit more easy for this one, just kicked back  did my usual 8-min-run/2-min-walk thing, enjoyed myself and even took a couple of extra photo stops. The course was a tad long – 3.24, so not too bad, although my old-man legs felt it, lol.  I ended up with a chip time of 48:06, averaging 14:52 for 3.2 miles; and I had a negative split for Mile 3, nice. I was 13 out of 14 in my 60-69 males age group.

After My Finish:  Pretty humid weather for this one.  SARR had some ice-down small towels at the finish to put on your neck/head to help cool down.  I got one of those and then went to my car and just sat in it for about 10 minutes with the a/c on full blast, drinking a bottle of iced-down water I had brought with me. Felt much better after that and was off to get some post-race photos. Lots going on, with backdrops for photo ops, free wine glass to all participants, and lots of vendors with post-race goodies, including  wine, of course; Shiner Beer and Alamo Beer; various electrolyte drinks and sodas; Kiolbassa Sausage; various fresh fruits from my friend Gilbert, Fruit Vendor Extra-Ordinaire; and lots more.  Very nice after party and age-group awards for the top 3 in each age group and for the over-all winners.

Epilogue: Very nicely done by SARR, with iaap doing the timing and results.  Nice race venue and a pretty nice course too. I did not do this one during the last 2 years, since I was still getting cancer treatments, so it was nice to be back this year.  First time I’ve run the trails in this area but won’t be the last; now that I know where it is, will definitely do some running on these trails on my own; btw, for those who have dogs, there is a very nice dog park just up the road from Tuscany Venue.  If there are dogs around, count on me to find them, lol. I will definitely do this 5K again and would recommend it to others. Mucho thanks to all the people that mad this one happen for us, including SARR; IAAP; all the many sponsors; Tuscany Venue for the use of their grounds – I assume there was some kind of fee to pay, but even so, still nice of them; all the volunteers out there for us; friend Anthony Zamora once again doing a great job as MC; Pushbutton photography for the ‘official’ race photos; and any others involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all! Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, hope to see you all at this one next year.

Photos are here: (only 2, sorry) – https://photos.app.goo.gl/E6jqryqH65vpaqEo6

Before The Start:   On Sep 2, 2023 I completed my 47^th 5K of the year. The 5K for Labor Day, held in Boerne City Park, included a Kids Run, a 5K, and a 2-mile walk.  Also, my apologies for no photos for this race.  Microsoft in its infinite wisdom, updated its “photos program” – making it, in my opinion, a LOT more less user-friendly; while I was processing the photos a computer glitch zapped my program, deleting the photos from my camera and I was unable to recover them, so my apologies to the people I took photos of – and to Bentley the Dog, I had a really good photo of him.  I am not a fan of that darn Microsoft photo program and wish they would bring back the much more user-friendly Microsoft Office Photos program.  Hmmm, can I sue Microsoft for losing my photos?  😉  Just kidding. I still had my race shirt and the race medal, so I did get photos of those. Small consolation, though, I was really looking forward to sharing these photos. The gathering was a fairly small event with maybe about 50 or so people.  The timing was “old school” with clock finish timing for results. About an 8 a.m. start for the 5K and the 2-mile walk, which started after the kids run. 

 On the Course:   Boerne City Park is a really nice park just off of River Road and adjacent to the Cibolo Nature Center.  It includes both paved and off-road trails, lots of tennis courts, indoor restrooms, a pool, and soccer fields that are the home of the Boerne Soccer Club. After the kids run, the 5K and 2-miler folks gathered near the back of the tennis courts for our start. The route took us on a paved concrete trail – with virtually no shade, lol – winding around by the tennis courts and a couple of the soccer fields.  We then proceeded to the dead-end of the concrete path where we made a turn-round and came back the way we had come out, with the exception of finishing by the timing clock, not behind the tennis courts where we had started.  I’d had 2 days of rest after having a medical procedure on the Wednesday before the 5K, so I felt pretty well rested.  I did my usual 8-min-run/2-min walk, stopping to take photos during my walk break.  On one of those photo stops I was chatting with 2 ladies who had 3 lovely dogs, and stupidly put my Garmin on hold, so MY garmin-recorded finish time is about a minute better than what my clock time finish showed. As noted, I was feeling pretty good and managed to run just about the whole last mile non-stop, does not happen very often these days,  since before my recent cancer treatments; so I was pretty pleased.  41:27 on my Garmin; 42:32 clock time, so I did not lose all that much time. Because this was a fairly small event, I managed to place first in my 65-69 males age group – there were only 2 of us.

After My Finish:   Ate a banana, got some hydration – temp was in the upper 70s, so not too bad, but pretty darn humid – and ate a banana and then enjoyed chatting with other participants and their supporters.  This was quite a group of very motivating people, including a Wounded Warrior Program guy, running with his prosthetic leg and dang, he was pretty speedy too.  He told me he helped out at the San Antonio office and invited me to come visit sometime. I may just take him up on that; Disabled Vets of America and WWP are two of my personal-reason causes that I donate to whenever I can.

Epilogue:   This counts as a 5K race but felt more like a get-together of many friends out for morning exercise; very nice, friendly people, lots of camaraderie. I did this one last year and I will certainly do it again and would recommend it to others.  This event was put on by the Boerne Sunrise Rotary Club, which supports many causes in its local community, as well as the many other sponsors.  If I remember correctly, Dave Anderson was our race director and also serves as one of the officers of the Rotary Club. Mucho thanks to them all, and to everyone else involved in making this one happen for  we participants;  iaapweb which provided the timing clock; all the sponsors; all the race volunteers out there for us; the patience of other park patrons as we invaded their space at times, and all others involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all. 

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/urVGwD9iXGuQPLXL6

Before The Start:  On August 26, I completed my 46^th 5K of 2023. Held in Seguin, Texas, at Max Starcke Park, the Seguin First Responders Fit For Duty 5K put on by the Seguin Fire Department at Patricia K. Irvine-King Pavilion the event had a 5K and a 1-mile walk. Start time was originally 7 a.m., but changed to 7:30 a.m., which was lucky for directionally challenged me, lol, as I drove right past the park a couple of times before figuring out where it is.  The drive from where I live in San Antonio to the park is just a bit over 40 miles, so just under an hour, what with ongoing road construction – that I-10 east is crazy –  but it took me longer, lol. I believe this was the inaugural event for this 5K and 1-miler.  It was fairly small, with 62 finishers. I got my packet and then got a few pre-start photos, including one with my friend Jill, who had let me know about this event.  She walked the course, pushing a stroller with her small dog Rooster in it.

 On the Course:   The course was done on the paved trails and roads of the park. I’ve never run in this park so this was a new experience for me. The course was mainly flat with a couple of mild up/down inclines in a few places, but nothing you could really call a hill. The course also gave us some nice views of the Gaudalupe River and of parts of the golf course that is in the park. I did my usual 8-min-run/2-min walk intervals and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks.   I also stopped occasionally to get a few other photos outside of my walk breaks. This did not help my finish time at all – that, plus I only have two running speeds, slow-and-slower; some snail just past the halfway point was yelling at me to move 😉.   Our turn-round point was actually just shy of 2-miles; I thought, what the heck, did they fool us and make this a 4-miler instead, lol.  No, they did not. For the route on the way to the finish, we pretty much went the same way we had come out, but diverted a bit near the finish line, taking a different way to the start/finish area.  We ended up with 3.4 miles instead of 3.1, so just a tad over 5K distance.  Between my run/walk method, my stopping to take a few extra photos, and just being plain darn slow anyway, I ended up with a chip time of 48:37, averaging 15:39 per mile, finishing 5^th out of 7 in my 51-99 males age group.   I also made my two primary goals: finish standing up and no ambulance specifically waiting for me. Anything I get after that is a bonus, lol.  I did get a finisher medal, as all participants did.

After My Finish:  Being Texas summer, this was a pretty humid and warm outing, so after I finished, I sat in my vehicle for a bit with the a/c full-on as I rehydrated.  Felt much better after that.  Jill saw me and said she and Rooster were heading home. Told her I’d be there in a bit, as he had kindly invited me to her place post-race to shower and change clothes so I did not have to drive back to San Antonio all sweaty; very nice of her to do that. Post-race I enjoyed some of the race goodies – fresh fruits, water, Gatorade, etc. – and chatting with the other participants and getting some “happy finisher” photos; I call the after photos that because it seems more people are smiling after they are done than before the start and on the course. Award medals were given to the top male and female runners and to the top young male and female finishers. Also, a guy from an online media site asked me for a short interview, which was pretty cool.  Not sure where that will be, but enjoyed chatting with the guy.

Epilogue:  This inaugural event had a fairly small turn-out but was nicely done.  Finisher medals and really nice race shirts to all participants. The course  and the park are really nice.  I enjoyed this park a lot and may even go to it once in a while  on occasion just to run on my own there. Athlete Guild – co-owned by my good friend Scott Wood – did their usual great job of timing and results.  Co-participants I encountered are all great people, really enjoyed meeting and interacting with them. There were also several veterans, so being retired Air Force myself, that was another nice bonus, having some entertaining chats with fellow veterans. I will certainly do this one again sometime and would recommend it to others. Mucho thanks to all the people that made this one happen for we participants: Athlete Guild, the Seguin Fire Department, all the many volunteers and all the race sponsors, and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all!  Also a big shout-out my friend Jill and her husband, Scott, who hosted me at their house post-race, where I got to meet all her other dogs. Good thing I carry dog treats with me, lol.

Photos are here:    https://photos.app.goo.gl/ua9vUqdLZfZQ6RWd9

Before The Start:   Held on August 19^th, 2023, the Little Comets 5K was held in Castroville, Texas with a start time of 8:15 a.m.  This event helped raise funds for a field trip for the students of St. Louis Catholic School.  The 5K was timed, but no medals or age group awards, and registrants got a pretty nice quality event shirt. There were very few other local area events on this day, resulting in a nice turn-out of around 200 participants. I arrived about an hour before start time, got my shirt, and then got a few pre-start photos.  

 On the Course:  This was a loop course that started and finished at Houston Square, an area across from the school that had a large parking lot, a small park with a water fountain, a church across the street, a nearby thrift shop and other various nearby businesses, and some historical markers, as Castroville is a pretty historic place in Texas history.  Before the main event there was a Kid’s Run.  A local priest – I think he was a priest – of the nearby St. Louis Church gave us a prayer blessing.  I chatted with him a bit and found out he was originally from the Philippines, so we had a nice pre-race chat, as I had lived in the Philippines for almost 7 years during my Air Force career. After the prayer blessing, we were on our way. The course was just about all flat, with a couple of climbing inclines along the way, but nothing you could really call a hill. Temp was around 81 degrees and pretty humid but thankfully this course looped around a really nice residential area that had several shade trees on several of the streets we went on. I did my usual 8-minute-run/2-minute-walk intervals and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. This really is a kid-friendly event, so there were several kids on the course, some running, some walking, some riding bikes or those non-motorized scooters, and so forth.  Some of the kids that were running were also pretty darn speedy too, leaving me eating their dust, lol.  I felt pretty good and was doing pretty well until I got to this one street we went down that had a dog or two in just about every yard along the way.  I ended up really killing my expected finish time by stopping quite a bit along this street to hand out treats to our doggie audience members.  On the next-to-the last street we were on, we passed by a food place which I assumed was quite popular locally, as the whole front eating areas was packed with customers…and, of course, a couple of dogs, so another stop, lol.  One guy saw my cancer survivor shirt and told me “Me too”, so  we had a short chat, adding more time to my finish time, lol. Very nice guy, though; enjoyed the chat. After that, I finally went non-stop to the finish, ending up with positive splits – Mile 1, 13-something, Mile 2, 14-something, Mile 3, 15-something – 13,14, 15! Lol.  My finish time was 44:37, averaging 14:24 per mile.     

After My Finish:  First thing, back to the car, to get some iced down water I had brought.  Sat in the car with my A/C on full blast for a bit and got myself re-hydrated. That felt great.  Then it was back out into the finish area to chat with other participants and get a few after-photos. Several participants had already left since no awards, etc, but a pretty good group was still around, chatting and relaxing post-race. Enjoyed interacting with them.

Epilogue:   This was my first time doing this event. I found it very enjoyable.  The volunteers and organizers are all great people, as are the participants. Very nice quality race shirt.  The school principal also courteously opened the school to us, so we could use indoor restrooms; very nice not to have to get in a porta-potty on a humid day.  The course is a very friendly one – and that includes the occasional drivers that came along, as the roads during this event are open to traffic.  They were very polite and safety-conscious and patient in taking it nice-and-easy as they passed by us very slowly and watching out especially for the kids on the course. The neighborhood we were in is really nice with some beautiful homes along the way and some humongous yards in some of them; must take them hours to get the lawns mowed, lol.  I really liked this event a lot. I most certainly will do it again in the future and would recommend it to others. MUCHO thanks to my running community friend, Allie and husband Jim who, I think, were the Acting Race Directors for this one. Thanks also to all the volunteers who helped make this one happen for we participants, as well as the event sponsors.  Also thanks to the priest from the church for being there to starts us off – I think his name is Rev. Tacay, but I may be mistaken – and also for the nice chat we had about the Philippines, I really enjoyed that.  Thank you all, and to anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.

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!