INTRO

I am Scott aka Scottydog aka Scotty Dogg, runner since 1983, cancer survivor, retired Air Force, employee of University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), friend of dogs, fun-runner, and all-around goofball.  In 2003 I had spinal arthritis flare up and ever since then I’ve done the run/walk method since it hurts my back too much now to run continuously with no walk breaks.  I’m on what I call my “2F Plan” which stands for Fun and Finish.  At events that I now do for fun I carry my camera, chase “Great Legs” to help motivate my slow old man self to keep moving forward, and take pictures before, during, and after the race. Sometimes I even get a nice post-race sweaty hug from one of the Great Legs ladies.   I then do a pictorial race report of my events.  I also carry dog biscuits with me to treat any dogs I may meet at a run, hence my nickname “Scottydog.” Here is yet another of my Race Reports With Photos, and my thanks to all the people I interacted with for their graciousness and good humor in letting me take photos of them.

SHORT VERSION REPORT

This was my 27th race of 2015.  Held on May 30, 2015, this was a free event put on by Community First Health Plans in San Antonio.  Post-run, there was also a community health fair that included many activities and various types of health screening.   For a free event, this one had quite a large turn-out.  The Community First 5K info page announced there were nearly 1,000 people registered for the fun run/walk, so arrive on-site early, which I did, getting there about 6:30 a.m. for the 8 a.m. start.  I don't think all 1,000 showed up, but there were quite a few 5K participants there, huge start crowd in front of me from where I was near the back of the pack.   I ended up finishing in 33:54.  No awards as this was a fun run, but all the finishers did get a souvenir medal after they crossed the finish line.

LONG VERSION REPORT WITH PHOTOS

As said, I got there early.  Got my bib and my timing chip and then got a few pre-start photos.

Yours truly, your host for this race report

This event was held at Mission Parks Pavilions (there are 2 pavilions and we were at Mission Park #1 area), which is adjacent to the Mission

Reach part of the San Antonio Riverwalk that runs along the San Antonio River.  These parks have been renovated and have wide activity areas, restrooms, pavilion, even a big covered inside activity area with a stage.

Some of the 5K participants (wearing bibs), volunteers, supporters, etc.

iaapweb.com race folks who set up the course, timing, etc.

Community First volunteers

My speedy pal and 'running crush' - well, one of them..   - Bernadette

MC for the event

About 10 minutes before start time, we started gathering near these food trucks near the start/finish line  that were available to participants post-race to buy some goodies if they so desired.

ON THE COURSE

I think the original plan was to have us run part of the course on the paved Mission Reach trail, alongside the river, which would have been nice.  However, with the recent MUCHO rain we've been getting locally, parts of the trail had some debris, silt, etc. on them, making various spots slippery and potentially unsafe, with someone possibly falling; so Community First made the right call of moving us to the nearby paved roads, where we did an out-and-back and a mostly flat course, with a couple of up-and-down inclines going out and coming back.  After a very short bit of a somewhat crowded part of the route right at the beginning - and it was very short, maybe 3 minutes of my running time - the route then became nice and wide, so everyone had plenty of maneuvering room.

The first half-mile or so....

I've made the turn-around now and am heading back...LOTS of room now as, by this point, the middle and back of the pack people like me are all strung out...also, the skies got a bit dark...but no rain developed...by about Mile 2, with the near 100% humidity, I was kinda wishing it would rain on me, lol.

Looking back...underneath that bridge was the turn-around point

AFTER THE FINISH

I got a bottle of water, went and found some shade - at the covered facility - and sat and cooled a bit while watching this exercise dance class in progress.  They were really getting into it too.  Loved their enthusiasm!  Everyone needs to find their passion in whatever exercise they enjoy and just go for it!  Doesn't matter what you do....just get the heck out there and do something!

After my cool-down, wandered around taking some random post-finish photos of "Happy Finishers", volunteers, etc.

My first "Happy finishers" photo of two young ladies did not come out so well, unfortunately;  I stupidly forgot to wipe my lens - and could not find anything close by to wipe it with anyway - so I told these lovely ladies they would probably look one of those TV dream sequences - and I was not far from wrong, unfortunately, so my apologies to them....but I still think their loveliness comes through the haze.     Right after that, a friend came along with a bandana and gave me the use of it, so the rest of the photos came out a little better thankfully.

This young lady and I finished near each other.  I passed her at one point, with about 1/4 mile to go and told her I was an old man, I knew she could beat me to the finish line.  She did too, finishing ahead of my by about nearly a minute, maybe a bit more.

On my way back to my vehicle, I saw these ongoing activities

EPILOG

You can't beat a free race!   Mucho thanks to Community First Health Plans and all their volunteers and sponsors who got this one going for us!  As usual, iaapweb.com, a very good local race company, did their usual great job of course set-up and timing, and posted results on their website.  And, of course, thanks to all the law enforcement folks out there for us, helping keep us all safe.  I sure hope they have this one again next year, it is definitely an event to keep on the race calendar!

Wow, that looks really well put together for a free event!  If the goal was to get a lot of people out and exercising, I'd say it worked!  Glad you had a good run!

That is pretty cool!

I took a free health screening at a job I was working at way back in 2001. It really enlightened and encouraged me to "beat" my cholesterol numbers each successive year.

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