Scottydog Reports

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photos are here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/dYHtLwgLZQbTKqT28        

Before the Start:    My 72^nd race of 2025 was the King’s Compassion 5K held on November 9^th at Southside Lions Park in San Antonio.  This was my 2^nd race of the weekend after doing the Ima’s Home 5K in Helotes on Saturday. King’s Compassion, established in 2011, provides for senior citizens wellness through free services and goods. The organization provides items such as non-perishable food; toiletries, paper goods, and soap goods; seasonal items like fans and heaters, and much more. Start time was 8 a.m.  Being ‘directionally challenged’, I drove the race site the day before, so as not to be late on race day.  My good friend, Woody, kindly connected with me via phone and got me to the correct Southside Lion’s Park, as there was another part of the park that I first went to, where there was a pool and a playground, and that one turned out not to be the race area; Woody’s directions got me to the right one.  On race day, I got up early and drove right to the place and got there pretty quickly, arriving about an hour before start time. I got my race packet and then got some pre-start photos. If I remember correctly, this was the inaugural race for this organization and, per the results listing of iaap, the company that did course setup and timing, there was a total of 96 finishers.

On the course:   We had an 8 a.m. start time, with a temp of 61 degrees, plenty of sunshine and blue skies, and a wind blowing pretty good at times. The event was done on the park’s paved trails, part of the San Antonio Greenway System that connects several San Antonio parks, so you can go a very long distance if you wanted to do so. On the open parts of the course, we could feel the wind, but most of our course was done on trails that had woods on either side of us, giving us a nice wind-break, and it was pretty pleasant going, weather-wise.  Once I got started, I remembered this trail and that I had done some previous races on this course.  I did my usual thing of run-8-minutes/walk-2-minutes and took some photos during my walk breaks. Our route started near the park’s pavilion and took us on these paved trails with a view on our right of the lake by the park.  We reached a point where we crossed over one of the park roads, went onto the paved trails across this street, and then crossed over a bridge that put us onto the trail heading in the direction of Comanche Park. This gave us some up-and-down inclines to negotiate along the way, but nothing you could really call a hill, until we got closer to the Comanche Park area; then we had a fairly long downhill part of the course, and then an long uphill to get to our turn-round point, after we crossed a second bridge on the course. After the turn-round, of course, we went downhill, re-crossed the bridge, and then had a climb up the first hill we’d come down on our way to the turn-round point. After the hill, I came up onto a young lady running by herself, so we ran together for a ways, having a nice chat as we went along. She then saw her husband just ahead of her and went to join him. I passed by them and continued onwards.  For most of the rest of the course, with my two running speeds of slow-and-slower, I pretty much had the trail all to myself almost all the way back to the finish, passing maybe two or three other people still on the course too. After crossing the first bridge we had gone over, I recrossed the park road, made a right turn and headed toward the finish. The lake views were on my left now and I did stop a couple of times to take a couple of different views of the lake.  With ½ mile left, I then went non-stop to the finish, with a brief stop after I whacked my head into a low-hanging tree branch, since I wasn’t paying attention, lol, as I saw a couple walking two beautiful dogs on the side of the park road and was reaching into my pocket to get some dog treats out to give them. Thankfully, at my slow pace I ended up being fine – and I recalled that I’d done this before on this same darn limb at a previous event I’d done here; you’d think I’d have learned my lesson, and been watching out for it, but no, I am still an idiot runner at times, lol, and what can you do? You just have to keep your sense of humor about things and laugh it off; something I do with my running life, that I need to carry over into my “regular life” too, which I don’t always do. I finally did give the doggies their treats and then went nonstop to the finish, ending up with a chip time of 43:25, averaging 13:59 per mile, and Mile 3 for me was a negative split, even with my tree-limb adventure, lol. I was 2^nd out of the two in my age group. The first guy in my age group finished in a speedy 28:09.

After My Finish:  I stood near the finish line and go a few photos of others coming in.  After that, I headed to the park grounds, where two nice ladies who were volunteering handed me a tote bag with some goodies in it, nice. I then wandered around here-and-there chatting with other participants, volunteers, race organizers, running friends that I personally know, etc., getting some after photos, and handing out more treats to the dogs there; I was very popular with the dogs, lol. There was an awards ceremony with the overall male and female winner and each first-place person in the age groups getting awards.   There was also a raffle for various prizes, none of which I won, darn the luck.

Epilogue:  As noted, I believe this was the inaugural race for this organization, and it was very well done. iaap – in my opinion, the top-notch San Antonio-based race management company – did their usual great job with the course, timing, and results. Race Day packet pickup was well organized and went quite smoothly from what I personally saw. The race shirt is very nice quality, and the finisher medal is also very nicely done. I thought it was also a nice touch of volunteers handing each finisher a goodie bag full of stuff as he/she came out of the finish line area. We also had a DJ-Sound guy playing some tunes for us before and after the start; and there were several various types of munchies post-race too. The park restrooms were locked for some reason, but there were a few port-a-potties accessible, with no long waiting lines that I saw. Parking was kind of crazy – as it is as just about all of San Antonio’s parks when there are ongoing organized events – but I got there early enough to find a pretty good spot . I certainly will do this event again in the future and recommend it to others.  Much thanks to all the King’s Compassion staff for putting on this event and doing a fine job for us, and to all others involved in making this event happen, e.g., all the sponsors; the many volunteers; the two Park Police officers that were doing ‘Road Guard” duty at the one road we had to cross on the course; our music and sound guy; iaap folks; the ‘official photographer’ at the event; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. May you all stay safe, healthy, and happy; and have success with any goals you set for yourself.  Maybe I will see you at a future race sometime.  Give me a shout-out and we’ll get a photo together. Also, as I was doing this report, my friend Woody, who did the race also, texted me on Monday morning to tell me he’d seen me on TV talking about this event.  I did talk to a couple of the King’s Compassion organizers and some other folks with a camera, but did not realize I’d be on TV, lol. Cool.

Photos are here:      https://photos.app.goo.gl/J6Tn2riFLxYnSAfz7   

Before the Start:   My 71s race of 2025 was Ima’s Run 5K in Old Town, Helotes, Texas, on November 8, 2025.  This event, put on by Soler’s Sports, supports “street children” in the Philippines. It is a fundraiser to provide these children with “love, hope, and a safe future” per one of the event descriptions. I chose to do this one as  lived there during my military days. My late wife and my 4-month old son – both killed by a drunk driver – were Filipinos, so I chose to do this one in remembrance of them and made a donation to the cause in their memory. There was a very nice turn-out for this one with 235 finishers. Local race management company iaap did the timing and results.

On the course:   The start and finish was in an area where some of the local Old Towne shoppes were located.  After we crossed the start line, we made a left turn onto Old Bandera Road and proceeded down an incline.  After we got to the bottom of this incline, we then climbed a fairly long uphill, heading in the direction of Bandera Road at the top.  We did not go all the way to the highway; we made a turn-round before that and then went down the hill in reverse of the way we had come out.  We passed by the start/finish area, and then made a right turn onto a flat road near a traffic circle – giving our legs a break for a bit, lol – that took us to another turn-round. After making that turn-round, we then went back the way we had come out. When we got to the traffic circle, we made a right turn, heading toward Bandera Road that took traffic in the direction of the 1604 freeway. This part was a very short down incline, and then we went back up again.  We passed by where the start/finish line was, back into Olde Towne and then once again climbed that long uphill we had started on. After making the turn-round on this for the second time, we then went down the hill, then up a shorter incline and then turned into the area where the finish line was; Whew!  I did my usual thing of 8-minutes-run/2-minutes-walk and got some photos during my walk breaks. I ended up with a chip time of 42:12, finishing 4^th out of 4 in my 60-99 males age group.

After My Finish:  I stood near the finish line and go a few photos of others coming in. After that, I wandered here and there, chatting with other participants, supporters, volunteers, people with the organizations that helped sponsor the race, and getting some after-photos and enjoying a bacon-and-egg wrap, and some water to get rehydrated.   For those that placed in their age groups – they did awards for the first 3 in each age group – the awards ceremony was nicely done. They started with the young folks first, so we older folks were there quite a while at our age, lol. Race Directors really need to learn after race to do we old people first, so we can get home and get our naps after all that exertion, lol. Oh, well. It was nicely done.

Epilogue:   This is a really nice event for a great cause.  The race shirts are very nice quality, and the finisher medals are really nice too.  This is also a dog friendly event, and there were quite a few dogs there too, so I soon ran out of dog treats that I carry with me when I go running.  Post-race goodies included water, various types of taco wraps, coffee, some juices, and other things. The vendors supporting the event had tables with all kinds of various things, with some for sale.  This was my first time doing this event but will not be my last, and I certainly would recommend it to others.   Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants, e.g.,  Soler’s Sports; iaap for the course setup, timing and results; all the many volunteers; our MC and the folks that did the awards ceremony; the law enforcement officers that were along the course for our safety; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all!  Whatever your passion is, may you always stay healthy doing it, and have much success with it!

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/VXGUHFdRHpUiKnNM8

Before the Start: My 70^th race of 2025 was the Trails Fur Tails 5K, held on November 2, 2025, at McAllister Park. This race supports the Alamo Area Partner for Animal Welfare (AAPAW) is “a coalition of local organizations working together to improve the lives of animals in the region. Its mission includes coordinating rescue efforts, increasing spay and neuter activities to combat overpopulation, and working to ensure homeless animals are adopted.”   This was a fairly smaller event with 50 finishers, 15 males and 36 females. It felt more like a group of friends getting together to have a nice outing in the park.  Race start time was 9 a.m., so I got to sleep in a bit, as I live very close to McAllister Park. I arrived with about an hour to go, got my race packet, and then enjoyed chatting with participants, supporters and volunteers, and getting a few pre-start photos. The weather was sunny and bright, with temp of around 61 degrees at the start, which was considered pretty chilly for we South Texans, as our temps the days before this were in the high 60s in the morning and 80s in the pm. Several of us were wearing a base-layer shirt, lol, including me; I’d rather be too hot than too cold.

On the course:    There was a kids run before the start of the main course, and then we got going after that.   The course was nicely laid out by the Athlete Guild folks and was a mix of a kind of loop and out-and-back. We started near the pavilion by the lower soccer fields at the park that took us down an asphalt road and then onto one of the park’s off-road paved trails. This wound us behind the soccer fields, and then onto a trail that took us past Becken Pavilion in the park. We made a turn after the pavilion and that put us onto a trail that took us up by a police substation that is adjacent to the park. There was a water station at this point, so thanks to those volunteers out there. We continued down the trail, going away from the water station.  The trail looped us around quite a bit until we finally came to one of the park’s main roads. We crossed that, going onto a trail on the other side, and then we had a long, winding loop that finally brought us back to the first trail we had turned on after we started. After exiting this trail, we were back on the park road and a short sidewalk that took us back to the finish line in reverse of the way we had started. I ran most of the last mile non-stop, with another guy in my age group running ahead of me. I was trying to catch up to him, but he heard me, lol, and put it into high gear and finished quite a bit ahead of me.  We had a nice laugh together about that after we finished.

After My Finish:  I stood near the finish line and go a few photos of others coming in. After that, I went in search of water and just relaxed for a few minutes as I drank some water and a Gatorade I had brought with me. I then went wandering around chatting with people there and getting some after-photos of fellow participants, volunteers, supporters, etc., and handed out some more treats to the doggies there.   There was an awards ceremony with prizes given to the overall male and female and to those who placed first in each age group – and the guy I had been chasing was the first in our age group, which was 60-99 males. Congrats to him! 

Epilogue: This is a nicely done event put on by AAPAW and Athlete Guild; very nice course; nicely designed race shirt; nice awards for the overall winners and age-group winners; and lots of post-race snacks and liquids, that included water, some Gatorade, and I think there was orange juice too, and snacks like  single-serving bag of crackers, nuts, and so forth, bananas and other things. All finishers got a really nice finisher medals and the race shirts are nicely designed. I do so many races now that I don’t have any more room in my shirt drawers, lol, so I usually request a kid’s shirt for my races and then when I get enough of them, I donate them to disabled kids at Morgan’s Wonderland and/or the kids with cancer at San Antonio Children’s Hospital.  Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants, e.g., AAPAW and all their volunteers; Athlete Guild for setting everything up for us, and doing the timing and results; the law enforcement officers that were out there for our safety; the patience of all the other park patrons also using the trails as we invaded their space for a while;  and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Whatever your passion may be, may you always be successful at it, meeting whatever goals you’ve set for yourself and may you always stay healthy enough to keep at it.

Photos are here:     https://photos.app.goo.gl/xxjvWs1bLJViUQy7A  

Before the Start:  My 69^th race of 2025 was the Dios de la Muertos 5K held on Sunday, October 26, at McAllister Park in San Antonio. This was my 2^nd event of the weekend, after doing my 68^th race of the year the day before this one at Morgan’s Wonderland.  Dios de Los Muertos is a traditional Hispanic culture holiday involving family and friends gathering to pay respects and remember friends and family members who have passed away. There are often various types of celebrations, some solemn, some taking on humorous memories of loved ones who have passed, and so forth. At some of these organized events, people often gathered, wearing various types of costumes in honor and celebrations of these passed relatives. Such was the case with this event, organized by the Iniquez family, a family of very talented runners who own and operate iaap (iaapweb.com), putting on several outstanding running events over the year. This one is a very popular event, ending up having over 300 finishers, both runners and walkers. It had a 9:30 a.m. start, so I got to sleep in a bit, as I live pretty close to the park, and arrived there around 8:30 am.  After getting my packet, I then enjoyed chatting with friends and other participants, and getting a few pre-start photos.  This event is also dog-friendly so, as usual when dogs are at the events I do, I handed out a few treats to them.

On the course:    There was a kids run before the start of the main course, and then we got going after that. The course was an out-and-back, starting on the road near the Lower Soccer Fields at the park. The road took us past the soccer fields, then past a baseball field and then we turned onto trail that took us in the direction of the park entrance on Jones Maltsberger Road. However, we did not go that far. At a trail intersection we turned left, going past Becken Pavilion. Afte passing the pavilion we continued down the trail and then took a left turn that brought us onto one of the park’s main roads. We turned right onto this road and began heading toward our turn-round point. We wound around this road, making a left around a curve that got us heading in a direction going toward the start/finish area. About halfway down this road, we came to the 5K turn-round sign and water station. We then went back to the finish line the exact way we had come out. I was feeling pretty good, so ended up running the last ½ of the course nonstop to the finish, ending with a chip time of 41:12, finishing 4^th in my age group, finishing 4 minutes behind the guy who came in third.

After My Finish:  I stood near the finish line and go a few photos of others coming in. After that, I went in search of water and just relaxed for a few minutes as I drank some water and orange juice. I then went wandering around chatting with people there and getting some after-photos of fellow participants, volunteers, supporters, etc., and handed out some more treats to the doggies there.  There was also a costume contest, which must have been difficult for the judges because there were some pretty imaginative costumes at this event.  After that, the awards ceremony was done. A very speedy young lad ended up first overall male with a time of 18:48, wow.  I foresee running scholarship in his future if he keeps that up. Overall female was a member of the Iniquez family – all the family members of this family are very talented runners – and Bethany is no exception, she averaged a 6:36 per mile pace, wow. Well, shoot, I can do that too…for about 15 seconds, lol.   

Epilogue:   This is a really well-done event – as are all the Iniguez family races I’ve attended over the years.  The age group awards were designed with the theme of the race, these small boxes with little Day of the Dead cutout figures inside. All finishers also got a really nice finisher medal; there were two finisher medal designs, one with a skeleton running with a dog, and the other with a skull on top of a kind of butterfly body below it. I had originally gotten the one with the dog – just luck of the draw, that’s the one a volunteer handed to me at the finish line – but I ended up trading that one with my friend Carolyn, since she runs with a dog and had wanted one of those, but they were gone by the time she finished. I did not mind trading as I usually donate any medals I get to disabled kids and/or kids with cancer, since I was a disabled kid, born with dislocated hips, and have beaten cancer 4 times; so  it was all good with me.  I will most definitely keep on doing this event in the future and would certainly recommend it to others.  A popular event like this takes a lot of work to organize and Race Director Ceci and her family did a great job with it, as did all the many volunteers there, so much thanks to all of them. Also thanks to the Park Police Officers out there for our safety – I knew a couple of them -and thanks to our water station volunteers; all the people that did packet pickup for us; the EMT on site for us; our MC and my friend, Lana, another Iniguez family member who also did a great job for us; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all!  Whatever your passion may be, may you always stay safe and have much success.

Photos are here:    https://photos.app.goo.gl/GygUssosBgovk2A39

Before the Start: My 68^th race of 2025 was the Carry Forward 5K on October 25^th.  Held at Morgan’s Sports, a division of Morgan’s Wonderland park, this event raised funds for the Wounded Warrior Project. The initial start time was to be 8 a.m., however storms rolled into the San Antonio area late Saturday night, with quite a bit of rain, lightning, and thunder. My wife was flying home from an event she had been attending most of the week, with an arrival time around midnight, so I was sitting up watching old-time movies, waiting for her to call me when she landed to come pick her up. Apparently the flight was delayed, so I ended up getting her a little after 1 a.m. Got to bed around 2 a.m., then got up at 6 a.m., got some breakfast and then headed out to get my packet, which was supposed to start at 6:30 a.m.  As I left my garage, I was welcomed by Mother Nature with a lot of rain and quite a lightning show peeling across the skies, so was not sure if this event would be cancelled or postponed. I only live a very short way from Morgan’s Wonderland, so got there pretty quickly, and the parking lot was already pretty full. Found some parking, then went to get my packet; one of the packet pickup volunteers told me the race day pickup had been delayed for a while, so I went back to my car and sat there for a bit watching Mother Nature continue to put on her Wild Weather Show; lots of thunder and lightning flashes. I returned to packet pickup and got my packet. We were supposed to start at 8 a.m., but one of the volunteers told me we were now in a ‘wait’ pattern until 8:30 a.m., when there would be a decision made to continue with the event or post-pone it to a later date. Well, at least the rain had let up, although we were still getting some occasional lightning flashes. I wandered around the ‘gathering’ area, chatting with volunteers, other participants, supporters, etc., and getting a few pre-start photos.  We finally got the word that the event would go on, starting around, or just a bit after, 8:30 a.m. The National Anthem was played, and then we all got going.  The weather actually had improved quite a bit; lightning was done and, although it was a bit humid, it did not feel too bad out there at all. I was kind of way in the back of a lot of participants, both walkers and runners, who all started together, so it took me about 5 to 10 minutes just to cross the start line. We shuffled forward a bit, stopped, shuffled some more, slowly getting there. I kept thinking, this must be how cattle feel, lol, when being herded in the stock yards. 

On the course:  I finally crossed the start line, started my Garmin and then began carefully running, weaving in and out and around slower people ahead of me, both walkers and runners.  We exited the Morgan’s Sports area, made a left turn and then headed toward Morgan’s Wonderland Park, passing by The Lighthouse at the park’s splash-pad just before the entrance to Morgan’s Wonderland. Upon entering the park, we then did a loop around the man-made lake on the park’s paved concrete trail that goes around the lake, giving us nice views of it. With this many people doing the event – not sure how many but, dang, this was a PACKED event – it took me a while to get around the lake, negotiating ‘passage-way’ in and out and around other participants in front of me. I also did my usual thing of run-8-minutes-walk-2-minutes and took a few photos during my walk break. After going around the lake, we exited the park, making a left turn, following some traffic cones on the course. We rounded one at the end of this part of the course and then headed back in the direction of Morgan’s Sports, passing the splashpad lighthouse on our right now. We were pretty much going back the same way we had come out from the start.  I’ve done this 5K course before at other 5Ks held here, so knew what to expect; however, I got the unexpected. When we got back to the road we had started on, we turned onto that and then went directly to the finish line…what the heck? This sure won’t be a 5K. I saw my speedy friend Johnny, who had already finished, and asked him if they’d changed the route. He said yes, they sure had, they changed the event from 5K to a 1K, so once we crossed the finish line, we were done.  My garmin had stopped for a few seconds when I started, so I don’t think I have what the exact distance we did was, but my Garmin showed a finish time of 15:23, with a distance of 1.08 mile. I believe 1k IS 0.62 miles, if I remember correctly, so my mileage might have increased a tad from that by me doing a bit of back-and-forth when I was taking photos during my one walk break.  I was kind of disappointed that they changed the route and I did not get to do the full 5K, but I get it.  Morgan’s Wonderland Saturday hours of operation are 10:30 a.m. to 5 pm so, between the weather and that, they may have lessened the distance to help get us of the park area, maybe; and maybe there were some other issues too.

After My Finish: I got my finisher medal and then wandered around, chatting with other participants, volunteers, race sponsors, and so forth, and getting a few after-photos. There were a few dogs there too – mostly service dogs – so I did hand out some doggie treats, with the permission of their humans. I enjoyed chatting with several people, including one very nice young lady who worked for Morgan’s, and she told me the company was in the process of now building a YMCA, which should open next year sometime. I assume it will be a fitness center adapted to accommodate disabled, like the park and the other Morgan facilities, so that’s nice. I’d like to check it out though. When I told her I am already a member of the YMCA, she said, well then, you are able to use our facility too,  after it’s built; nice!

Epilogue:  As noted, although disappointed that we didn’t do the 5K distance – and I get that, between the weather situation, the time allowed for the event, and so forth,  this still was a very enjoyable event for a great cause, and they sure got a nice turn-out, raising quite a bit of funds for The Wounded Warrior Project. All finishers got a very nice finisher medal, and the race shirt is really nice quality. The race bib is also well designed and has a space underneath the bib number with the phrase “I CARRY FOR: and then a line where participants can put the name of a veteran being honored by him/her.   There was also a very large contingent of race sponsors with booths, etc., that had all kinds of various items, food and drink items, various clothing items, tote bags, and so forth; some for sale, some were free give-aways.  This is also a very friendly event with lots of friendly people and lots of my fellow veterans participating; lots of ‘war stories’ told at this event, lol, by several people, including me; I did 24 years in the Air Force, 18 of those years at overseas locations, and had some quite unique experiences.    I also enjoyed interacting with my fellow veterans and hearing what their military experiences were – including some of the spouses; they also served in their own way. I thank them all for serving our country.  Mucho thanks to all who helped make this event happen for we participants, e.g., all the many volunteers; the sponsors/vendors who helped pay for it all; the law enforcement folks out there for our safety; the person that played The National Anthem for us in a very unique way; our MC who kept us apprised of the race status as the morning went on; the EMTs on sight for us; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all so much! Whatever your personal goal may be, may you always stay safe while striving for it, and I hope you thoroughly enjoy what you are doing.  Maybe I will see you at a future event sometime, or maybe you might see me, lol; if so, give me a shout-out; I always enjoy meeting and chatting with my fellow participants.

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/5b14Lj1tMssZSCYF9

Before the Start:   My 67^th race of 2025 was the Spooky Sprint 5K held at McAllister Park, San Antonio on October 19^th.  There was also a Kid’s Run; a 10K; and a half marathon. Race start time of 8 a.m.. This event was put on by Bodies Race Company. Headquartered in Greenwood, Missouri, this private sports company that organizes and manages racing events at several locations across the country for family wellness and fitness. Per their website, the company is “dedicated to getting communities active and healthy by offering high-quality, affordable events.”   I arrived around 7:15 a.m., got my race packet and then got a few pre-start photos. This event had a really nice turn-out; for the 5K alone, there were 250 finishers.   I could not verify the totals for the other races because every time I went to the Bodies  Race Company website, their results kept taking me to RunSignUp, which had a crappy results listing for this event. It did not even list me as a participant and I know darn well I did this one, good grief. I don’t get why Bodies just does not put the darn results right on their own website, it would make them so much easier to find.  Anyway, thankfully, we had a ‘cool front” move into San Antonio over the weekend, so the temp at the 8 a.m. start time was only around 71 degrees – yes, lol, that is a cool front for San Antonio at the time of year, and the humidity was about 82%.

On the course:  The start and finish was at the trailhead of the parking lot where the dog parks are located. This is the trailhead that you first come to, if you enter the park via the Wurzbach Parkway, and it is right across from the baseball fields on the right. We started a bit after 8 a.m., but that was okay. The National Anthem was played and then all participants for each of the events all started together. The course was done on the park’s paved trails of the San Antonio Greenway System. We had level ground for about ¼ of a mile or so and then started downhill. When we reached some level ground we then went under the Wurzbach Parkway overpass, and made a left turn. This took us up a short incline, and then we had a bit of flat for a while before the hills started. These were no baby hills, either. Not quite as steep as the ones in Helotes or at Eisenhower Park, but they were a climb.  We went up the first hill, curved around a bit, and then went up part 2 of this hill.  Other participants, way faster than me, lol., were already heading for the finish. They were on my left; I was on the right side of the trail, heading for the turn-round. After we crested the hill, then we had a winding downhill trail that took us to the 5K turn-round and headed back for the finish. Of course, now we had to climb back up that winding hill we’d come down and it was a pretty good climb too. I finally crested it, and had flat for a bit, and then it was down the hill we’d first climbed on the way to the turn-round.  Finally got back on level ground for a very short bit; went back under the overpass; had about ¼ mile of flat, and then we started climbing again to get to the finish. I did stop a couple of times to get a few more photos, but for the most part, I ignored my watch beeping for me walk break, and just keep going until I finally saw the finish line and gave myself a last push, crossing over the finish line with a chip time of 42:58, averaging 14-minute miles, and I had a negative split from Mile 2 to the finish, nice.

After My Finish:  I got my finisher medal, did a short cool-down walk, and then got some photos of a few others coming in. After that, I just relaxed for a bit, rehydrating, and then wandered here-and-there, chatting with other participants and their supporters and, as this is a dog-friendly event, handed out treats to the doggies, with the permission of their humans, and, of course, took several after-photos. There was no awards ceremony per se; you just checked your results and if you placed then you went to a table where a very nice young lady gave you your age group award; I ended up 3^rd in the 5K for my 65-99 males age group.  I did not have my phone with me, so Bigfoot Running folks were kind enough to look up my finish time for me. I left the race area later than most 5K finishers, as I had a friend who was doing the 10K, so waited for her to come in, to get a couple of photos of her and my friend with her, Lucy Dog, finishing, and then a couple of after photos. I also took a few more photos of other participants still there. Finally, time for me to go home and get cleaned up.  

Epilogue:   Bodies Race Company did a really nice job with this event, pretty well organized from what I saw, with a very quick race-day packet pickup; and, overall Bigfoot Running did a nice job with laying out the course – the distance was right on from what my Garmin had – and they were also very helpful in looking up finish times for people like me who don’t take their phones with them on runs.  The race shirts are quite unique, as are the finisher medals, which are very cool.  Once you crossed the finish line, you went to a  table near the finish line and there was a variety of finisher medals that each had some kind of ‘monster’ on it, e.g. witch, werewolf, and so forth. Since I’m a dog, lol, I chose the werewolf one. At the packet pickup pavilion, there was also a variety of goodies, such as bananas, various types of crackers and other goodies and bottled water.   All-in-all, the event was managed pretty well. Since I don’t carry my phone when I run, the only problem I had was not being able to find results after I got home. Since Bigfoot Running did the timing, I thought they would be there but that was not the case. . I went to RunSignUp, apparently a partner company of Bodies Race Company and got a popup saying my name Scotty Dogg was not in the results…it would be nice if Best Race Company just put them on their site, making it easer to find. However, I do owe them an apology because they were there and I found them after the Race Director emailed me and told me how to get to them..so I am a technology idiot, lol. Oh well, it is what it is. Anyway, overall, a really nicely done event. I’d do his one again and would recommend it to others. Mucho thanks for all the people who made this one happen for we participants, e.g., any sponsors; the Park Police Officers out there for our safety; all the many race volunteers; the patience of the non-race users of the park – other runners, walkers,  cyclists, etc. as we horde of runners ‘invaded’ the park trail for a while; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Whatever your passion is, may you always be safe and successful at it.

Photos are here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/WEm5CsdZwBmU9dWLA        

Before the Start:  My 66^th 5K of 2025 was the 3^rd annual Paloween Hustle on October 18^th, 2025. There was also a 10K.  There were 247 finishers for the 5K and 9 for the 5K.  There was also a 1-mile walk, if I remember correctly, which was untimed.   Held at Palo Alto College in San Antonio, this event was established in honor of the late Samantha Tapia, a member of the college’s women’s running team. She was a top-notch runner who was very fast.  He told me she had only two speeds: fast and faster.  When talking with her coach at the event, I found out she had epilepsy, wow; I was impressed that she overcame this disability and could run like that.  Sadly, on her last run, she collapsed from a medical-related incident and sadly passed away. This event keeps her memory alive for all who knew her.  The college was quite a drive from where the directionally challenged me, lol, so it took me a while to get there.  When I finally did get there, I saw some signs with the name of the race on it and started following those….until I realized these were the course directional signs for the participants; well, shoot. Thankfully, I came to a parking lot where I saw a lady getting ready to go into one of the buildings, so I assumed she was Palo Alto staff, and I was correct.  She kindly told me to follow her, as she was helping with the race, and led me to parking lot across from the start/finish area; such a nice lady, thank you so much.  I got my race packet and then got a few pre-start photos. This is a dog-friendly event too, so I also handed out dog-treats and soon had some new doggie friends, lol.

On the course:  We had some nice weather for the 8 a.m. start, with a temp in the upper 60s/lower 70s and the humidity was not too bad at all. The course was a loop course, with the 5K doing one loop on the campus grounds and the 10K doing 2 loops. The course was mainly pretty flat, with a few up-and-down inclines, but nothing you could really call a hill. I did my usual thing of 8-minutes-running/2 minutes talking and took some on-course photos during my walk breaks. The course took in most of the campus, so we got a nice race-tour of Palo Alto College. I was feeling pretty good and ran/walked my usual 12-to-14 minute mile pace.  The last mile I pretty much ran non-stop and ended up with a finish time of 44:07 which, surprisingly, was good enough for first in my 65-99 males age group.

After My Finish:  I did a short cool-down walk, and then enjoyed chatting with participants, volunteers, supporters, etc. and getting a few after-photos.  Some family members of Samantha were there, as well as her coach, and they spoke a few words about how this all got started; it was pretty moving; I so feel for Samantha’s family; the loss of a child is something you never get over, you just learn how to live with it day-by-day, as I know from personal experience, having lost my first wife and 4-month old son to a drunk driver.  I hope her family can find comfort and solace.  The awards ceremony was nicely done – although they started with the overalls first, as expected, and then did the age group awards, starting with the youngest first; so, being 71, I had to wait a while, lol, before I could get my award and head home for my nap 😉. 

Epilogue:   This is a very nicely done event, one I will continue to do in the future, and certainly would recommend it to others.  The course was very nicely laid out by my iaap friends and since it’s an out-and-back, lots of participants cheering each other on as we passed by each other.  There were also 3 water stations, if I remember correctly – I jokingly asked some of them if they had beer – as well as ‘cheer groups’ along the course. As noted, the course is pretty flat, with only a couple of long up-or-down inclines, but nothing you could really call a hill. Post race, there were a couple of photographers getting video of some of the participants, including me, and there were all kinds of booths there that have various kinds of give-away goodies; one even had chicken-on-a-stick. The race shirts are really nicely designed, and all finishers got a finisher medal.  My age group award surprised me; it is a really nice full-plaque award – very heavy too – with the race name, and Samantha’s name on it, and the age group that I was in; wow.  The information on the back of the plaque noted this was made by the Palo Alto College Welding Program to help students improve their skills, so thanks to them; they did a great job with this award.  I would definitely recommend this event to others, and I certainly will continue doing it in the future.  Mucho thanks to all who made this event possible for us participants, e.g., Samantha’s family; the Palo Alto College leadership; iaap for the timing and results; all the many volunteers and race sponsors; the Palo Alto College law enforcement officers along the course for our safety; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all so much. Hope to see you all again next year; especially now that I know where everything is, lol.