Scottydog Reports

Photos are here:    https://photos.app.goo.gl/cMAKiuXmFKGks7xZ7          

 Before the Start:  My 63^rd race of 2025 was the Gift of Life 5K run held on Sunday, October 5^th at Ladybird Johnson Park in San Antonio, Texas.  This was my 2^nd race of the weekend, after having done a 5K in New Braunfels on Saturday.  This event supports Transplants for Children which, according to their brochure information “provides assistance to families and children to master the lifelong challenges associated with pediatric organ transplantation.” The organization provides tools and support for long-term successful organ retention.”  I try do to this one every year I can; I was not a transplant child, but I was a “March of Dimes” baby, born with dislocated hips, so had to wear some special shoes and braces for a while to help with this; so I feel for any child who has to go through any type of disability, medical procedures, etc.   Packet pickup time was 8 a.m. with a start time of 9:15 a.m., after a Kid’s Run was done.  I arrived around 8:15 a.m., got my packet and then got a few pre-start photos.

On the course:  The National Anthem was played, then the kid’s run was done, and then we 5K participants got started.  We had a bright sunny day for this one, with the temp around 78 degrees, so not too, bad, but the humidity was pretty high. Thankfully, the trails at this park have a lot of shade along the way so it did not feel too bad. iRun Texas via their associated company, Split Second Productions, did the timing and results for this one. I know these folks and one of their crew told me since the Transplant folks wanted the start/finish line in front of the park’s main pavilion, the course would probably be a tad short of a full 5K; which was okay with me, lol, my legs were still feeling my Saturday 5K a bit.  We started in front of the park’s pavilion, did a short loop on the park’s traffic circle, and then went onto the paved concrete greenway trails at the park, first by going down a short hill that took us to the main trails.  We made a left turn, got onto the greenway and followed the trail that took us in the direction of the Los Patios Shoppes Area and the 410 frontage road. I did my usual run/walk of  8-minutes-run/2-minutes-walk and took some photos during my walk breaks. Overall, I was feeling pretty good and managed to run pretty well…at my usual slow pace, lol. The overall course may have been short, but the mile 1 and mile 2 markers on the course, were dead-on per my garmin, so good job there by iRun folks. After getting to the Los Patios area, we went forward until we got to the Loop 410 frontage road which was where our turn-round was and then went back to the finish the way we had come out.  On the way back, I took a couple more photos while on the course, but for the most part ran most of the way back to the finish nonstop.  When I crossed the finish matt my Garmin read 2.99 miles, so I waved off the volunteer handing out the finisher medals to all finishers, and kept going around the traffic circle, with the finish line behind me. I then went back on the course for a bit, then made a turn-round, went back up the short hill to the traffic circle and then went back to the finish area, being careful not to cross the timing mat again so as not to screw up my official results…and so I ended up getting “pie distance” in, with 3.14 miles done so got in a full 5K, lol.    Per the results posted by Split Second Productions, my chip time was 40:48: 16, averaging 13:07 per mile I crossed the timing mat with a negative split for the last part of the course, nice.  There were 99 participants, runners and walkers, and I was 36^th overall per the results. Awards were only given to the first overall in each age group, so the majority of the funds received for this event would go to the cause and I have no heartburn with that; every kid should have a chance to get better to live an active life style and grow up.

After My Finish:   I went and got my finisher medal and got a few photos of some others coming in.  After that, I got some Gatorade and water and sat in the shade of the park pavilion, relaxing and rehydrating and enjoyed chatting with my friend Deborah who joined me at the pavilion. This was also her second race of the weekend.  After that, I was up-and-at-it again, chatting with volunteers, other finishers, supporters, etc., handing out some more dog treats and getting a few after photos.

Epilogue:   This is a very nicely done event for a great cause, one I will continue to do in the future. It’s a very nice course, easy to follow, with lots of room for everyone, including those users of the park not doing the event – other runners; walkers, cyclists;  The majority of cyclists were very good about calling out as they came up behind us, so we could move over a bit to give them room to pass by, and I appreciate them doing that. There was a water station right near the turn-round point, and the volunteers there were great, taking good care of us and cheering us on. The race is very nice quality and nicely done too, with running characters, made to look like organs, on the front and  a list of the sponsors on the back, and there were a few goodies and coupons in the goodie bag. The event had raffle tickets you could purchase to win a prize; and some of the vendors at their booths and tables had offerings of their own. As notes, this is also a dog friendly event, so I handed out several treats, with the permission of their humans, of course. I will definitely do this one again and would recommend it to others.  Much thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants:  Transplants for Children staff; all the many volunteers and sponsors; the law enforcement officer there for our safety; iRun Texas for the course setup, timing and results, and any others involved I may not have mentioned her.  Thank you all so much.  Whatever your exercise passion is, may you always stay healthy to enjoy it, and have much success with all your personal goals. If you’re a runner or walker, hope to see you at a future event sometime

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/N31my2c7rP4ZzE7U7

Before the Start:  My 62^nd race of 2025 was the Oh My Quad 5k, held in New Braunfels, Texas at the Guadalupe Brewing Company on Saturday, October 4^th.  I had planned to go up on race day morning but then found a notice from TXDOT (Texas Department of Transportation) that starting on Friday, October 3^rd at 9 pm they would be doing some road construction at the Schertz, Texas exit until 7 in the morning.  Since that is right on the way to the race site, I decided I would just get a motel room on Friday night and go up then, which I did. This worked out nicely. I stayed at a very nice Super 8 Motel just off of Walnut Street frontage road, got settled in, and then went to the brewery to get my packet.  When I got there, one of the owners, Keith, recognized me. He had put on a 5K several years ago at San Marcos High School for the Air Force Jr. ROTC detachment there, and I had done that event.  I got my packet, and he then  asked me if I had a tutu; um, no.  He told me it was a tutu run, so talked me into wearing one for the race, lol.  After that, I went back to the motel, stopping to get some take-out dinner and then enjoyed eating dinner in this very nice room while watching a couple of movies.  I got to sleep early, got some nice rest and then was up at 5 a.m. getting ready.  I didn’t want to sit around the hotel room, so just heading out to the brewery, and was actually one of the first ones to arrive, so got some great parking.  Some race day volunteers were already there, getting ready for race day packet pickup and setting up the course with cones, and so forth.  I got a few photos of these volunteers, and a few other photos.  Around 6:30 to 7 a.m., lots of people began arriving – participants, vendors, etc. – so I enjoyed chatting with them and getting some pre-start photos. This is also a dog-friendly event so, with the permission of the humans, I handed out dog treats to several dogs, which made me very popular with them, lol.   

On the course:  This is the first time I’ve done this event which, apparently, is very popular. There was a total of 302 finishers, per the results list on RunSignUp.  We had a pretty sunny day, with a temp of about 78 degrees and the humidity was pretty high up there. The course is an out-and-back done on paved roads. We started on the road, going over a timing strip that activated the timing device that was put on our shoe lace; first time I’ve ever used one of these. For the most part the course was pretty flat, with just a few up inclines; nothing you could really call a hill. The longest “up” part of the course was a gradual up incline on the road where we headed to the turn-round. I did my usual 8-min-run/2 minute walk thing and got some on-course photos during my walk breaks. The course was still open to traffic, but there was very little during the event; from where I was on the course at any given time, the drivers I saw were pretty careful about it all, giving us ample room.  There were also lots of police vehicles on the course, so that may have had something to do with that too. After making the turn-round, I got a few more photos on the way back and then, after hitting Mile 2, I ran nonstop to the finish. I ended up with a chip time of 40:28 and a clock time of 40:59, which is about right, as my old-time garmin is just a little off…but I love the darn thing, lol, so keep on using it.  My time was good enough for 2^nd in my 70-and-up males division. One thing I loved and found very entertaining: one lady had a goat with her and she walked the course with her goat.

After My Finish:   I stood near the finish arch and got a few photos of others finishing. After that, I went to enjoy the after-party and let me tell you, the brewery owners put on a really nice after-party, with some music; post-race beer, of course, many different flavors; various vendors there, with products; and more. I wandered around chatting with others and getting some after-photos. I also handed out more treats to the dogs – and the goat even enjoyed one, lol.Epilogue:  This was my first time doing this event, but it won’t be the last. It is one of the “friendliest” events I have ever done, with lots of camaraderie between participants, supporters, vendors, etc. We also had a very good MC in quite a costume, who kept us apprised of things, and also did the awards ceremony – even though he did the older people last, so at our age, we had to wait quit a while, lol, to get our awards. I always suggest to race directors, old people first since we need to get home after a race to get our nap in, lol.  The race shirt is nicely designed; the age group award medal is nice too; and they also had some give-aways post-race, very nice. As noted, dog-friendly event – and goat-friendly too, lol – and a very nicely laid out course with plenty of room for everyone. There are even indoor restrooms, but fairly small, so there were plenty of porta-a-potties too, so the lines went pretty quickly. The doors to the brewery building were open, so it was nice to stand in there a few minutes to cool down post-race. Anna and Keith, the brewery owners, really do a great job with this brewery and with this event.  I will do it again, and I certainly would recommend it to others.   Mucho thanks to all who made this event happen for we participants:  the brewery staff; the many volunteers; all the law enforcement folks out there for our safety; the patience of the residents whose space we invaded for quite a while; our MC for doing a great job; our timing and results guy; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all so much! Whatever your exercise passion is, may you always have much success and stay safe doing it.  Maybe I’ll see you on the road or at a race sometime, if you are a fellow runner.

Photos are here:         https://photos.app.goo.gl/uA62Va9sjNUACRM89

Before the Start:  My 61^st race of 2025 was Veronica’s Journey 5K, held on Sunday, September 28^th in Shavano Park, Texas, a small city located just off of Northwest Military Highway. This event is named for Veronica Finne, a 13- month-old who battled Ependymoma,, a form of brain cancer, but sadly lost her battle after 11 months. Her parents established the Veronica N. Finnie endowment fund at the Catholic Community Foundation (CCF) and the Veronica Nicole Finnie Fund for Families and Children to support those in need and provide resources for families, in memory of their daughter. It also supports Veronica’s Boutique, a free program for pregnant and parenting families that provides parenting education and material assistance for pregnant and parenting families. The Catholic Charities Archdiocese of San Antonio supports this program.  Packet pickup and race-day registration was held at the pavilion near the Shavano Park City Hall offices. I was not able to do the packet pickup on Saturday, as I was still in downtown San Antonio after doing the Head For The Cure 5K, which raises funds for brain cancer research. I arrived at the City Hall around 7:30 a.m.  area and got my packet from the volunteers doing race day registration pickup. Prior to the start, there was a mass held at the pavilion. I am not Catholic, but I respectfully waited until it was was done and then gave my race shirt from Head For the Cure and my finisher medal and my shirt from this 5K also to the priest and asked him to donate it to a family who may have a child who was dealing with brain cancer, and maybe it would bring them some luck. I do so many races that I my drawer space is full of race shirts, so I usually ask for a youth-size shirt, and then donate them, as well as my finisher medals,  to various charities; usually to Morgan’s Wonderland, since I was a disabled kid myself, or to the cancer kids at San Antonio Children’s Hospital. After the Mass, I enjoyed pre-race chatting with friends there that I knew, and other participants, an getting a few pre-start photos.

On the course: The course was out-and-back.  There was a total of 79 finishers for this event, runners and walkers.  There was also a Kid’s Run right before the start of the main event. We went across the street from the City Hall area, with the help of a very nice woman police officer who was doing traffic control for us.  The start/finish line chute was set up on a street in this neighborhood across from City Hall, where my friends from local race management company IAAP, had set up the timing mat, start\finish chute, etc.  I took a group photo of them and then chatted with other participants and some of the start/finish line volunteers and got a few more photos.  Participants then lined up for the start, and we got onto the course at about 8:15 a.m.  The weather was really nice; clear skies and a nice temperature of around 68 degrees, as a cool front had moved in the night before; sweet. The course was done on paved roads in a really nice neighborhood with some really beautiful homes along the way.  I did my usual 8-minutes running/2-minutes-walking intervals and took some photos during my walk breaks. This event is also dog-friendly, so I handed out a couple of treats to the dogs who were participating with their humans. The first ¼ mile or so was nice and flat before we had to climb a not-so-steep hill – more like a long up incline than a hill – and then we were on level ground again for a while and then went down a steeper hill, as we wound through this very nice neighborhood.  As I went along, I saw my very speedy friend, Bob, already heading for the finish and got a photo of him, and then of my other speedy friend, Woody, as he came along too.  After that,  the participants were pretty spread out over the course. There was a water stop near mile 1 and I jokingly asked he guy where the beer was; he jokingly replied back “We sent someone to get it but he hasn’t come back yet.”  Lol.  Sometimes I was in the company of a few other participants, other times I was running by myself. After we came to a water stop, we then started down a hill…..a LONG hill and fairly steep too. Once we got down this, we were on flat ground again, went around a curve, and then got to the 5K turn-round. Of course, this meant that long steep downhill on the way out was now a long uphill for us – quite long, lol.  Even so, I was feeling pretty good – and I do hill training at least once a week – so decided I was going to push myself for this last half of the course and just go to the finish nonstop. We had another fairly steep part of the course to climb, got around that, and then were on up incline we had shortly after the start, which was now a down incline for us.  I could hear cheering going on so, from that, and the distance I saw on my Garmin, I knew  I was fairly close to the finish now, so pushed myself a bit more. I ended up crossing the finish line with a chip time of 42:44, averaging 13:45 per mile and my last mile was a negative split of 12:51, nice. I ended up first out of 4 in my 70-99 males age group.

After My Finish:  After getting some water and doing a short cool-down walk, I then stood back from the timing mat and got a few photos of others finishing. After that, I wandered here-and-there, chatting with others and getting some more after-photos of participants, volunteers, etc.  Finally, it was time to return back across the street to the City Hall pavilion for post-race activities. One of our participants sang an Hispanic song for us – she was really good too – and there was also a group of folklórico dancers that entertained us, wearing cultural dress. They were really good too.  The awards ceremony was then started. They began with the youngest participants first, jeez, so I knew I’d be there quite a while before they got to my age group.  Race directors really need to learn to start with the older age groups first, so we can get home and take our needed naps after all this exercise, lol. Epilogue:  This is a really nicely done event for a really great cause. Veronica’s parents, whom I met at earlier Veronica’s 5K events, are super-nice people; her father was actually driving the shuttle bus for today’s event, picking up people from where the parking was located and brining them to the race area.  I so feel for him and his wife;  you never get over losing a child, you just learn how to live with it, day-by-day, as I found out after losing my first wife and 4-month old son to a drunk driver. I am so grateful to them for helping establish this event to help those in need. I try to do this one every year but missed a few due to some cancer bouts I had to deal with myself. Never-the-less, I will continue to do this one whenever I can; and I certainly would recommend it to others.  It’s a smaller event, participant-wise, making it feel like a group get-together of a bunch of running friends out to support a great cause, making it feel very personal; it would be nice if it grows in number, which would help raise more funding and more awareness, but then if it gets too large, it might have to be relocated and also might lose that ‘personal touch” you feel with a smaller group of participants.  Either way, though, I will be there for this one whenever I can.   This is a good event with a nice course; challenging in places, but nice, lol; very nice quality race shirt; finisher medals for all finishers; and unique small plaque-type age group awards  A Lots of nice things post-race too:  the dancers and the lady who sang for us; there was also a taco truck there; and post-race ice cream too; and there was a vendor fair right near the City Hall area, for those who might be interested in that. Mucho thanks to all who made this one happened for we participants:  the Finnie family; the Catholic charities organizations; all the many volunteers; the law enforcement folks out there for our safety; the race sponsors, vendors, etc.,  the patience of the residents whose neighborhood we invaded for a few hours; iaap for the timing and results; and anyone else involved not mentioned here. Thank you all!  Whatever your exercise passion is, may you always be successful at it and safely enjoy it

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

Before the Start:   My 60^th race of 2025 was Head For The Cure 5K, held on September 27^th at Providence Catholic High School on St. Mary’s Street in San Antonio, Texas.  Per the race website this event “raise funds, awareness, and hope for the San Antonio brain tumor community.” This used to be one of my ‘streak races”. I did every one of them from the very first one that started it all, until 2021, when I was undergoing prostate cancer treatment and so missed doing it that year, breaking my streak.  This was the 12^th annual event of this 5K.  It was nice to be doing it again; this is a very well-organized race for a good cause. Of course, me being me – directionally challenged, lol – I ended up missing a turn on the way to the race site and ended up getting a bit lost. Thankfully, I started out very early before the start time, so had plenty of time. Fortunately, I encountered a San Antonio police officer, who helped me out by ‘escorting me” to the race site, with me following her there. When I told my wife about this later, she said “Only you could have encountered a woman police officer and get an escort.” Lol; yes, she may be right; I sure have had a series of running adventures during my 41 years of being a runner.  After arriving at the race location and getting parked, I then wandered here-and-there, chatting with other participants, supporters, volunteers and running friends of mine that were there.  As this is a dog-friendly event, handing out treats to the doggies there; yes, I do carry dog treats with me when I run, hence my nickname and race name of Scotty Dogg, which was bestowed upon me by a friend many years ago when I stopped during a race to treat some dogs.  I’d met some of these dogs at other events and they recognized me, lol, and a few of them came toward me to get some treats; yes, I am the Good Humor Man for dogs, lol.  I enjoyed chatting with all these folks, both participants, and supporters and getting a few pre-start photos.  Before the start, a group of young people nicely sang The National Anthem, and then we all lined up to get going.  Since my running paces are “slow-and-slower”, lol, I made sure to line up more toward the back of the pack, which was quite large. Between runners and walkers, I think there were over 1,000 participant.

On the course:  We started on the school grounds, went down a driveway and made a left turn onto St. Mary’s Street, heading in the general direction of the part of St. Mary’s Street that would have taken us toward the 281 highway, if we’d gone that far.  However, we made a left turn before that, onto Camden Street, if I remember correctly. We went all the way down this street, then made a left turn onto  N. Saint Mary’s again, and this brought us back in front of the school. At this point, there was a turn-round, which we made, and then we proceeded back to the finish using the same route used to get to the turn-round. I got a few more photos on the way back, but pretty much ran mostly non-stop to the finish. There were several police officers doing traffic control for us at all the intersections we crossed, and I made a point of thanking them all.  I also jokingly asked one of them “Where’s that bike police officer that’s supposed to be following me, in case I need a ride?”  I saw one lady – not a participant – who was pushing a stroller with her son in it, and he had service dog with him, so I did a quick stop to give her some treats for the service dog. That was just before Mile 2 and after that, I went non-stop to the finish.  Surprisingly, I ended up with a chip time of 38:52, which I was very happy with, averaging 13:32 per mile, and my last mile was a negative split. My garmin noted the course distance was 3.0, so it may have been just a tad short, but it’s all good.

After My Finish:  Did a cool-down walk and went to my vehicle and got some iced-down Gatorade and water I had brought with me and drank those while I sat there with the a/c on full blast to help me cool off after being in that high humidity.  After that, I then returned to the race site area to chat with other finishers, participants, volunteers, supporters, etc. and get a few after-photos. I think ALL the dogs there now recognized me, from the previous handout of treats, since whenever I came near one, it would stand up or come toward me…”the Treat Guy, the Treat Guy.” lol. Yes, I did hand out more treats and also got several after photos of other participants, supporters, volunteers there for us, etc. The dancers there also put on a very nice show for us; very talented. I am so jealous….since I dance more like “Elaine” from the Seinfeld TV show, lol.  

Epilogue:  This is a really very well-done and well-managed event. I can’t remember the name of the company that did the course setup, timing, and results, but they did a great job. BTW, you can find all the results for this one listed on the RunSignUp website, which is convenient. They had a lot going on at this event, too. There was a food truck on-site; a big “soap bubble area” the kids there enjoyed playing in; a really nice Tacos drive through place right next to the school area; and plenty of vendors/sponsors that had some freebies items, and one who was selling reasonably priced tickets to support the cause and you could win a new Garmin watch;  All finishers also got a really nice and quite large finisher medals; and the race shirt is very nice quality; even the race bibs are nicely designed. I would definitely recommend this one to others and will do it again.  Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us: all the many volunteers; all the vendors/sponsors who help make this one happen each year; our timing and results guy, and our MC who stood by the finish line cheering in every runner and walker as they came into the finish; all the police officers out there for our safety; and I think there was an EMT on  bike, cruising the course, just in case medical aid was needed; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here; Thank you all!  OK, time for me to relax and nap, lol. My race #61 is the day after this one, on Sunday. Report and photos to follow on that one too. Whatever your exercise passion is, may you always safely enjoy it and have much success. Maybe I will see you at a future event sometime; give me a shout-out and we’ll get a photo together if you’d like that; if not, we can just chat.  Cheers to all.

Photos are here:        https://photos.app.goo.gl/EfcuSP6zC7sqAUJi8   

 Before the Start:   My 59^th race of 2025 was the Legacy of Courage 5K held on Sunday, September 21^st at Ladybird Johnson Park in San Antonio, Texas. This was my 2^nd  5K of the weekend, after doing the 911 heroes run on Saturday at Mission County Park in San Antonio. This event, put on by Bigfoot Running, included a half marathon, quarter marathon (6.55 miles), a 5K and a 1-miler. There was also a Kid’s Dash before all the main events started.  The event, held in Ladybird Johnson Park, supports The Outdoor Disabled Veterans Program, a Texas-based nonprofit organization that provides hunting, fishing, and other outdoor experiences for disabled veterans, with an ultimate goal to offer therapeutic benefits for veterans’ mental and physical health.  Start time for all events was scheduled for 7 a.m. I arrived a little after 6 a.m., got my race packet and got a few pre-start photos. One of the race volunteers told me there was a total of 200 registered between all the events; a few people were no-shows, so there ended up being around 194 finishers between all the events, if I remember correctly.

On the course: There was a slight delay in the start, so we ended up starting closer to 7:30 a.m. The start/finish line was located right at the end of the park’s parking lot that bordered the traffic circle in the park.  The National Anthem was played and then we got going. After crossing over the starting matt, we then proceeded down short inclined paved trail and made a left turn onto the park’s paved concrete greenway trails, heading in the direction of the Los Patios Shoppes area. I did my usual 8-minues-run/2 minutes-walk thing and took a few photos during my walk breaks, but not as many as I usually take as, for this event, I decided to see if I could run a bit more nonstop than I usually do. After getting to the Los Patios area, we went across the Loop 410 frontage road, then went underneath the Loop 410 overpass, continuing on a paved trail. This wound us around to a short uphill incline and after getting to the top of that, we 5K folks got to our turn-round and then proceeded back to the finish the way we had come out. I also had a ‘wardrobe malfunction with my darn race shorts tie-string keeping coming loose, so had to stop a couple of times to tighten it up, but I pretty much managed to run the last 1.5 miles nonstop to the finish Per my garmin, I ended up with a chip time for the 5K of 48:34, averaging 15:17 per mile.  I tired to find my “official chip time finish via the Bigfoot website and also via RunSignUp, but they are both notoriously bad about making it easy for participants to find online results. I did check with a race volunteer at the event and he verified to me that I had finished 2^nd in my 70 and over age group and got a nice Bigfoot pin that was the award for the age group placers. I

After My Finish:  Did a cool-down walk and went to my vehicle and got some iced-down Gatorade and water I had brought with me and drank those while I sat there with the a/c on full blast to help me cool off after being in that high humidity.  After that, I then returned to the race site area to chat with other finishers, participants, volunteers, supporters, etc., and get a few after-photos.

Epilogue: I am not fond of the course that was laid out for this one. The majority of race companies that hold events in the park use a course where the start/finish line is sent up closer to the small hill we went down to get access to the paved trails; and then we go out to the Los Patios area and right at the 410 frontage road, participants turn around and head back the way they came out, without having to go across the 410 frontage road. This is a much better course, in my opinion. However, since this course does cause the park’s traffic circle to be closed to traffic, it may be that if this course had been used then Bigfoot might have had to pay for Park Police officers to be on site for participant safety, and that can get pretty expensive. Well, it is what it is, and I managed to enjoy myself. The Bigfoot employees are pretty nice folks; there was lots of water post-race, and a table full of various post-race goodies, such as pretzels, some bananas, if I remember correctly, and a bit more. There was no awards ceremony; you basically went to where the packet pickup table was, gave the volunteer your bib number and if you placed in your age group, he gave you your award. I ended up 2^nd in my 71 and over age group – and I forgot to ask him what my official chip-time was – and got a very nice Bigfoot Pin. The race bibs are nicely done and the race shirt is very nice quality, even though it only lists the Half-marathon on it; no mention of the other events on the shirt. Lots of good, fun people did this event, so I enjoyed post-race getting some photos and chatting with other participants, supporters, volunteers, etc.  After that, I drove home, which did not take long at all, as I live quite close to the park, got a shower and then, after doing two pretty warm, humid races, I took a nice nap for a while, lol. 

Would I do this event again; I think I would if they used the “usual” course for 5Ks done at this park.  Meanwhile, mucho-thanks to all who made this one happen for we participants, e.g., the Bigfoot folks there; all the race volunteers; the water station lady on the course; the one police officer that was out there for our safety at the 410-frontage road crossing; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here.  Maybe I will see you at a future event sometime. Whatever your passion is, may you always enjoy it with much success, and forever stay safe doing it.

Photos are here:       https://photos.app.goo.gl/CjyhZRb7jwfPvw2y5  

Before the Start:  My 58^th race of 2025 was the 911 Heroes Run, held on September 20^th at Mission County Park in San Antonio, Texas.  There was a 5K held for runners, walkers, and those who wanted to ruck  the event.  There was a total of 151 finishers for the 5K. Put on by the Travis Manion Foundation, the run honors the heroes of 9/11, service members, and first responders who have served the nation. The run also “aims to fulfill a promise to never forget the sacrifices of 9/11 heroes and to empower local veterans, active duty personnel, first responders, and their families” per the foundation’s description of this event. The Travis Manion Foundation is headquartered in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Per the foundation’s website “Lieutenant Travis J. Manion was killed by a sniper on April 29, 2007, in Iraq during his second deployment. He was leading a counterattack and exposing himself to enemy fire to draw attention away from his wounded teammates, allowing all members of his patrol to survive. For his heroic actions, he was awarded the Silver Star and Bronze Star with Valor. His mother, Janet Manion, founded the Travis Manion Foundation to honor his legacy and inspire others to serve through the motto, “If Not Me, Then Who…”.  Race start time was at 7 a.m.  I arrived at the park around 6:15 a.m., got my race packet, and then got a few pre-races photos. Prior to the start, an honor guard presented the colors,  and a young lady beautifully sang The National Anthem. After that, we lined up for the start and got going.  The race was chip-timed, so the race director asked all those running start first, and the walkers would start about 5 minutes after the runners got going. The weather was pretty warm, with a temp around 76 degrees and the humidity was a whopping 91%.

On the course:  We were on a sidewalk adjacent to the Mission County Park pavilions area, with the pavilions on our right. We went over a timing mat and then proceeded to paved trails that are part of the San Antonio Greenways Trails system, As we departed the park area, we made a left turn and then went down a short, fairly steep hill.  We had a very short flat area for just a few minutes and then began climbing up a long hill. This is a very hilly course, so we continued going up-and-down for quite a way. We also passed under a few high bridges, some of which had traffic going over it. If I remember correctly we went under 3 of these bridges. After going under the third bridge, we then did a downhill and that took us to the only flat part of the course, with nice views of the river on our right. We went down this flat part of the course to a bridge that was our turn-round point, and then proceeded back to the finish the way we had come out.  As usual, I did my 8-mi-run/2-min-walk thing and got a few on-course photos during my walk breaks. Going out to the turn-round, I had several other participants around me. After making the turn-round, the participant crowd had thinned quite a bit, especially with my slow pace, lol, so I had much more room on the course heading back to the finish than I had when going to the turn-round and even had the course all myself at certain points. This is a dog-friendly event also; so, since I carry dog treats with me, I stopped along the way at times to hand out treats to the dogs.  Yes, I am the “Good Humor Man” for dogs, lol.  Of course this slowed my time down, but I didn’t mind; at my pace I didn’t think I was going to win anything anyway. I only have two goals when I do a race: finish standing up, and no ambulance waiting specifically for me, lol.  I was feeling pretty good, so the last mile, I pretty much ran non-stop.  I ended up with a chip time of 44:28 and ended up first in my 70-and-over males age group since, lol, I was the only one in that age group. I’ll take it.

After My Finish:  I got some water and did a short-cool down walk and then got a couple photos of others finishing.  After that, I wandered here and there, chatting with friends,  other participants and their friends and family, race volunteers,  etc., and getting a few after-photos.  Finally, it wat time to go, so, as a member of the YMCA, I headed right up the road to the Harvey Najim YMCA, located about a half-mile from the park, where I got a nice hot shower and changed into some dry clothes; very nice; so I didn’t have to drive home all wet-and-sweaty.

Epilogue:  This is a very nicely done event, well put-on by the organizers. There was water available before the event and also on the course, so that was nice. As noted, the course is very hilly, but the paved trails are nicely done, very smooth.  Pre-start and after the finish, there were several vendors/sponsors there that had a variety of things to eat and drink.  The race shirt is really nice quality and the medals for the age-group placers are really nicely done. I would do this event again, and I would recommend it to others.  Mucho thanks to all who made this event happen for us, e.g., all the many volunteers; sponsors; vendors; the folks who did the timing and results for us, and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all!

Photos are here:      https://photos.app.goo.gl/BvkvWH2Kr4gyavFCA

 Before the Start: My 57^th race of 2025 was the El Grito 5K held on Sunday, September 14 at Mission County Park in San Antonio, put on by Andiamo Race Productions.  This was my 3^rd race of the September 13 – 14 weekend, after doing the Gruene 5K in New Braunfels on Saturday morning; and then the Battle of Salado Creek 5K at Lady Bird Johnson Park on Saturday at 6:45 pm.  I got up pretty early on Sunday morning, got some breakfast and then headed down to Mission Park.  Unfortunately, even though I’ve been to this park several times, I had an old-man brain dump and took a wrong turn and ended up having to back track to get to the park. Start time for the 5K was 7:30 a.m., with me arriving just a bit past 7 a.m., so I got hustling and got my race packet, got my race bib on and still had a bit of time to get some pre-start photos.    There were 214 finishers for this event, so a pretty nice turnout.

On the course – There were some musicians there who played the National Anthem, accompanied by a young lady who did a great job of singing it. After that we all lined up behind the starting gate and got ready to go.  The course was done on the greenway paved trail in front of the park that was next to the river, so going out, we had some views of the river on our right and on our left coming back to the finish, as the course was an out-and-back.  The trail is fairly wide but to be safe, the organizers had us go across the timing mat in groups of 15 to 20 to get us started. The 5K was chip-timed so this procedure did not affect our results time, since the timing chip started after the mat was crossed. I got across the matt with about 3 minutes ‘gun-time’ showing and was off and running. The course is VERY hilly.  It does not have those crazy “Helotes Hills” or Eisenhower Park hills, but they were fairly challenging, being long up slopes and then down slopes.  We started downhill after crossing the start line; then had a very short flat part, and then we were climbing up again.  Although not super steep, these hills were pretty long in places, so we did a lot of climbing. I did my usual 8-minutes-running/2 minutes walking and took photos during my walk breaks. Considering I had done two races this weekend already, I was feeling fairly good and went along pretty well. The course was open to other users of the trail not doing the event, so we did encounter some cyclists and other walkers and runners doing their own thing. The cyclists were pretty good about giving us warnings as they came up behind us.  After doing I don’t know how many hills – 6 in all, if I remember correctly, we then got to a very flat part for about ¼ mile, with the river on our right and our turn-round was a bridge right ahead of us. This was the flattest part of the course, with some nice views of the river. After the turn-round we then of course had to climb up the downhill we had come down to get to the turn-round, and this hill was one of the longer ones on the course, taking us under a bridge and then after the bridge around a bend where the next part of the  uphill was; and so it went, lol, negotiating all these hills in reverse of the way we’d come out. I admit my legs were beginning to feel those other two 5Ks a bit, so I took a few extra walk breaks. Finally, we got go the last downhill and could see the finish line ahead of us and hear people cheering. Of course, since we had started on downhill, we now had to climb up that hill to get to the finish line. Somehow I made it u that hill nonstop, lol, and crossed the line, ending with a chip time of 45:40, averaging 14:42 per mile, good enough for 2^nd out of the 4 in my 70 – 99 males age group.  I was happy with that; I had really expected to finish closer to an hour, so this was a nice surprise.

After My Finish:  After getting some water and eating a banana and doing a cool-down walk, I then wandered around chatting with others and getting some post-race photos of happy finishers, supporters, vendors, and so forth.   As this is also a dog-friendly event, I also handed out treats to the doggies there, with permission of their humans; I usually carry dog treats in case a loose one starts chasing me and treat the friendly ones. Epilogue:  Andiamo gives out overall awards and age group awards to the first in each age group, so I didn’t expect an age group award, being 2^nd in my age group, but I still got a very nice medal, as Andiamo has some very nice finisher medals, and they are pretty large too. Their race shirts are all nicely done too and very nice quality.  They also had several post-race goodies and on-site musicians and dancers who entertained us post-race with a very nice show. Mission Park is a nice park in the San Antonio Greenway Trails system; it has very nice indoor restrooms; water fountains; 2 covered pavilions, and one of them is huge and has a stage to do presentations. There were also Park Police officers at the event for our safety, as well EMT folks which, thankfully were not needed, but nice to have them there, just in case, especially as I have a pacemaker, lol.  I will definitely do some future Andiamo events and would recommend them to others. Mucho thanks to all who made this one happen for us participants, e.g., iaapweb for the timing and results; all the many volunteers there for us doing packet pickup and other things;  all the vendors/sponsors out there too, as they help pay for all this to happen; the ‘official’ race photographers; and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here; thank you all! May all stay happy and healthy, and may you always succeed at whatever goals you have. Stay happy, stay healthy, and stay saf

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/sXXRgnpG5Laiv698A

 Before the Start:   My 56^th race, and second 5K on Saturday, September 13 was Battle of Salado Creek 5K, after doing The Gruene 5K in the morning. Put on by local race company Scallywompus, Battle of Salado Creek was an evening event  held at Ladybird Johnson Park in San Antonio. LBJ Park is part of the San Antonio Greenway Trails system, connecting to other parks in the system, but it is also one of the smaller parks in the system, so parking was kind of crazy with participants for all these events. I actually managed to find some pretty close parking to the start area luckily, got my race bib and then got a few pre-start photos.  The park was packed with participants, supporters, vendors, and volunteers as there were several events for this one:  a ½ marathon; 10-miler; 5-miler; 5K; and a 5K competitive walk. Being the shortest event, the two 5K events were the last to get started, with a start time of 6:45 pm.  I got there with about 40 minutes to go to the 5K start time, got my bib and then got a few pre-start photos. The half-marathon and 10-miler folks had already started by the time I got there, and the 5-miler folks started at 6:30 pm after I got there, so got to see them start. My pre-start photos included volunteers, participants, supporters, vendors, and so forth. It is also a dog-friendly event, so I handed out some treats to the doggies there, with permission of their humans.  It was pretty humid and the temp was  around 73 degrees. The bugs were also out in force, so I was glad I had the forethought to put on my bug spray before coming out. We started 15 minutes after the 5-miler folks started.

On the course –  The course started with us doing a loop around the park’s traffic circle near the park pavilion and then heading down a short slope to access the main greenway paved concrete trails in the park. All courses were out-and-back.  I did my usual 8-min-run/2-min walk thing and took photos during my walk breaks. For the most part, the course was pretty flat with just a couple of up-and-down inclines, but nothing you could really call a major hill. The 5K course took us to an area near Los Patios Shoppes, which we passed by. Our turn-round point was right by the frontage road of Loop 410, which we did not have to go under, using the overpass, like the longer-race participants did. We turned around right in front of the frontage road and headed back to the finish the way we had come out. Best Races, another company of which I have done some of their events, should take a lesson from this, lol, instead of having us do double loops in the park. Anyway….even with doing a race in the early a.m., I felt pretty good overall and did okay.  I am no speed demon – my two paces are Slow and Slower – but I am very consistent so managed to keep going pretty well. I ended up with a chip time of 42:30 averaging 13:41 per mile and had a negative split for the last mile. I ended up being first in my 70-74 males age group, as I was the only one in that age group, lol. I’ll take it!

After My Finish:  I got a few photos of others finishing and some still in the finish area. After that, I went to the tent of my friend Gilbert, a very nice guy who often brings fresh fruits for participants, volunteers, etc.  He always has a chair for me to sit in, post-race and enjoy some water an a nice banana; very nice to just sit a few moments and relax; and then I was up and off again to get a few more photos. Finally, it was time to go, so I went home – which did not take long, since I only live about 6 miles from the park – got showered and changed and then just relaxed the rest of the evening, resting up, since I had another 5K to do on Sunday morning.      

Epilogue:  Scallywompus always does their events up very nicely. Their motto is “Come for the race. Stay for the party.”  They are not kidding either. There was all kinds of food goodies; beer; even margaritas, if I remember correctly; and lots more. Very unique finisher medals; nice quality race shirt; and a uniquely designed race bib.  Age group awards are these “Scallywompus drink glasses.” I got one, but ended up giving it to a young kid to take home; I have done a lot of Scallywompus events in the pass, so have several of these glasses, with just no more cabinet space for them, lol; so if I do win something, I usually end up giving the glass to a kid; a fellow vet; or a disabled person (I can relate because I was a disabled kid, and am very lucky to be where I am today).  It’s all good. Mucho thanks to all the many who made this one happen for us: All the Scallywompus folks; the many volunteers and vendors out there for us; our music man, Paul, and our MC Anthony, both doing their usual great job for us; iaap race management company doing it usual great job with the timing, results, etc. and anyone else involved I may not have mentioned here. Thank you all so much!   As for my fellow “athletes”, whatever your physical exercise passion is, may you always be successful in all your goals, and always stay safe and healthy.  Maybe I will see you at a future event sometime.

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Wfv2Ui375d4A31nH6

Before the Start:  My 55^th race of 2025 was the Gruene 5K held in the historic district of Gruene, Texas on September 13^th.  There was also a 10K and a Kid’s Run.   Gruene is in the New Braunfels, Texas area. Put on by a top-notch race management company, Athlete Guild, the start and finish of these events were right across the street from Gruene Hall. Built in 1878, Gruene Hall is the oldest and most famous continually operating dance hall. Music artists who have performed there include Willy Nelson, George Strait, Lyle Lovett, and many more. This event is a very popular one, so I knew the race area would get crowded pretty quickly, so I got up around 4 a.m., got myself ready, had my breakfast and then headed for the venue, arriving at 5:30 a.m., and got really nice parking. Start time for the 10K was 7:30 a.m., and 8 a.m for the 5K, so I had plenty of time.  I got my race packet, got a few photos of some of the race day volunteers – thanks to all of them for being there so early for us – and then enjoyed a short nap in my vehicle. After that, I wandered around chatting with supporters, vendors, other participants, and so forth, and got a few more pre-start photos. The Kid’s Run was held first, followed by the 10K folks heading out on their course; and then we 5K participants started after that. All the events started right on time.

On the course –   The start/finish timing chute was directly across from Gruene Hall. We 5K participants made a left turn after crossing the timing mat and headed up the paved street. The entire 5K was done on paved streets that including passing by some businesses and private homes on the main street and then looping through a really nice residential area with some very nice apartments and houses. The 5K course was very flat – the course of the 10K folks took them down a hill that went past Rockin’ R river rides, and I think into a neighborhood near that, which also has some hills if I remember correctly. After they came back up that hill, they pretty much did the 5K course too, so they had quite the workout.  I did my usual run/walk thing – 8 minutes running/2 minutes walking – and took on-course photos during my walk break.  I also had to slow down a tad, as the draw-string on my darn running shorts broke, thus once in a while I had to grab the waistband on them and occasionally pull them back up a bit, which made for some interesting running at times, lol, especially since I did not want to freak out participants behind me by having them see “the moon” come out so early. I did manage not to let that happen and, surprisingly, ended up with a finish time of 42:34, which is about my normal race time for a 5K, so I did better than I thought I would in spite of the wardrobe malfunction, and making a few stops to hand out dog treats to the dogs I encountered during the event, lol. I was 2^nd in my 70 -74 males age group, mainly because there were only 2 in my age group, lol. My speedy runner friend Robert was first, literally finishing almost twice as fast as me in 23 minutes and change.     

After My Finish:  I stood a little up from the finish line and got some photos of others finishing. After that, I then got some water continued to wander, chatting with friends and other finishers, and some after-photos of happy finishers, friends, volunteers, etc., and also handed out more dog treats.  This is a dog-friendly event. All-in-all, I was quite happy with my results, and how everything worked out.    

Epilogue:   I can’t remember how many years this race has been put on, but it is always a very popular event. The 10K had 104 finishers and the 5K had 250 finishers, so a pretty nice turnout.  I am happy I got to do this one, as it is one of my favorite events of the year. I wasn’t sure if I would make it or not since, in late August I was found to have skin cancer on the back of my neck so had a surgical procedure for that. However, the doctor did clear me, telling me I could run a week after the procedure, so I actually got to participate in 2 other 5Ks before this one; doing okay at those two helped me validate that I should be okay for this one also; and, nicely, two days before this 5K, I got the news from pathology that it had not spread out, so they had gotten it all, so I was coming into this event as one happy runner, lol, let me tell you. Would I recommend this event? Absolutely! A very nice course; nice quality  race shirt; a very nice, unique finisher medal; and post-race goodies that included these small sandwich things – not quite sure what they were – Shiner Bock beer, lots of water, of course, and some fresh fruits too. This one is definitely a keeper on the race calendar. It was also good seeing my friend Scott Wood, co-owner of Athlete Guild, and all the Athlete Guild crew members; I have a long history with them, and Amy, who is also a co-owner, is a fellow cancer survivor and one of my personal inspirations to keep on going and stay strong. MUCHO thanks to ALL the people who made this one happen for we participants, e.g. Athlete Guild; the many volunteers out there for us; law enforcement folks on the open roads for our safety; the EMT that was there; all the many race sponsors of course – and thanks to drivers, residents, business owners in the area, etc., for their patience in letting us invade their space for quite a few hours. Whatever your passion is, may you always be successful.  Maybe I will see you at a future event sometime; if so, give me a shout-out; always happy to see fellow participants at the races.

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/HRCiucCzzec5qGoR6

Before the Start:   My 54^th 5K of 2025 was the 911 Remembrance 5K held in Windcrest, Texas at a small park located In Windcrest, Texas.  There was an option to do a 10K, 5K, and 1-mile walk. Start time of 8 a.m.  I arrived at the park with about 40 minutes until the start time, got my bib and race shirt and then got a few pre-start photos.  I am not sure of the exact number of participants as this race was “old school’ timing with we finishers putting our finish time on a card after we crossed the finish line, and then the race organizers figured out who placed in their respective age groups. It is a fairly smaller event, with the atmosphere of friends/family gathering together to do a nice group outing. I got my race bib and my race shirt and then got a few photos before the start.  Windcrest Firefighters and local law enforcement officers were also present.  The firefighters had brought one of their trucks for which they raised a ladder and then flew the flag from it in honor and remembrance of those lost on 9-11.   All participants lined up for the start and a few minutes before we got going, all of us together sang The National Anthem, very cool and moving.  At 8 a.m., our race director gave us a GO and we were all started on our respective routes.  The weather cooperated by not raining on us, but it was warm with a 78 degree temp and humidity about 83%; we did have lots of cloud cover and gray skies, which was nice.

On the course –    All the routes were through a really nice neighborhood area of Windcrest, with wide streets, some very nice homes, and lots of maneuvering room. The course was done on the paved streets in this area. It was a loop course.  At my pace, the faster runners were soon way ahead of me an out of sight. I pretty much ended up doing my run/walk with just a few other participants near me, and sometimes I had a street all to myself. I did my usual 8-min-run/2-min walk and took a few photos during my walk breaks. I spent most of the course chasing my friend, Rick, who was pretty much ahead of me the whole way. After I passed the half-way point, I changed to 8-min-run/1 minute walk and made up some time.  I did see some residents out doing their own thing – cycling, walking, running, etc., and some of them had dogs with them, so I handed out a treat to each dog I met, if its human gave me permission to do so.  This didn’t help my finish time, lol, but what the heck. After I passed the 1.6 mile mark, I then began to run more nonstop. Overall, I was feeling pretty good. From the Mile 2 marker to the Mile 3 maker, I went non-stop and got the closest to Rick on this mile, just a tad after the Mile 3 maker,  However, in the yard across the street, there was a cool very tall skeleton in a yard, “walking’ its skeleton dog, so I stopped to get a photo of that, and never did get close to Rick for that last part of the course. I ended up finishing in 40:33, which was good enough for 2^nd place in my 70+ males age group.

After My Finish:   I did a cool-down walk, sipping some water as I went along, and then went and filled out my “finish-time-card” and left that with a race volunteer. After that, I enjoyed chatting with other participants and supporters and getting some post-race photos.  Lisa, our Race Director, and her volunteer person, got all the results tabulated from the cards and then announced the placers in each age-group. There were only 2 in my age group and my running community friend who finished first in my age group is quite speedy, he was way ahead of me, lol.   Epilogue: This is a laid-back but really nice 5K, with a really good course, very nice quality race-shirt, and really nice finisher medals. All finishers got that medal and the age-group placers also got a very nice placer medal that is different from the finisher medal.   There was post-race water for participants, and a few small “goody’ things.  Lisa and her organizers did a really good job with this one. I will definitely do it again and would recommend it to others.   Much thanks to her and all the people who helped her get this organized; also thanks to all the firefighters and law enforcement folks out there, and I think there was also an EMT on hand too, just in case, so much thanks there too.  Whatever your passion is, may you always stay happy and healthy doing it and have much success with it.  Maybe I will see you at a future event sometime, or you may see me, lol; if so, give me a shout-out; I always enjoy chatting with my fellow participants.