INTRO

I am Scott aka Scottydog, 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 17th race of 2014, held on March 16, 2014, and my second 5K of the weekend, after having done Donovan's Run St. Patrick's Day 5K on Saturday, March 15 -report and photos:  -https://www.runningahead.com/groups/BF_and_Beyond/forum/c545f39dff3c4a539867b45e3e5cd351/resume#focus  -.  The Shamrock Shuffle benefited benefit Any Baby Can's health and wellness program Any Body Can. Any Body Can is a cost free health and wellness program designed specifically for individuals diagnosed with a developmental disability. A nice turn out for this event, around 300 folks, maybe more.  Besides the 5K there was also a 1K run/walk.  The weather was much more cooperative than the 95% humidity I had for Saturday's event.  We got rain early Sunday morning, but it had cleared off by race time and the temp was a pleasant 62 degrees with dew-point and humidity both in the 50s, nice.  Out of the 6 folks in my age group (60-64), I managed to finish in 3rd place and somehow managed to finish faster than Saturday's 5K, with a chip time of 33:06 for the 5K on Sunday.

LONG VERSION WITH PHOTOS

For Saturday's race, between the humidity, the spitting rain, and me sweating like crazy all contributing to fog up my camera lens, some of the folks in the photos of that race report ended up looking like they were in Witness Protection, with a blotch or two over a face here and there.  Today I remember to bring a small cloth with me to wipe the lens, so these turned out better, I think.   Event was held in McAllister Park, a very popular local park.  Since I only live a mile from the park I got to sleep in a bit more this morning before heading over to the race location.

Before The Race

Arrived with about 30 minutes to go and got some pre-start photos.  Between the recent  daylight savings time change and the overcast skies, it was still fairly 'dark in the park' when I arrived.

I can't remember if this chicken is the mascot of iRun Texas, the very good local running store that put on this race, or the mascot of Any Body Can.  Either way, the chicken was here and or race announcer pre-race would jokingly tell us to 'beat the chicken''.  Yep, he ran the 5K in full suit.  And finished before quite a few people, including me, I think. Speedy Chicken!

Our iRun Texas race timing folks

Participants, volunteers, supporters, etc.  Some very colorfully outfitted folks at this event.

OK, this was a bit creepy..I was standing behind The Chicken in the start area and he had his mask pushed back a bit until we started...and the chicken eye was staring at me!

Getting ready to go...it was QUITE windy for a bit, as you can see from the flag, which was being blown around quite a bit

On The Course

McAllister Park - the largest city park in San  Antonio -  has both paved trails, off-road trails and park roads. Our course was a mixture of park roads and paved trails.  Lots of woods in the park, which is nice because that gave us a nice windbreak.  For the most part the wind was very cooperative during the race, dying down quite a bit.   To start, we did an out-and-back on one of the park road, then turned onto one of the paved trails, and then back on the park road to take us to the finish. This is a nice park with lots of different trails; very nice park to run in.  Lots of folks do their long runs here for their marathon/half marathon training runs, since you can run so many different routes without having to do "loops" and conveniently there are restrooms and water fountains all over the park so you don't really have to carry any water with you if you don't want to.

On the paved trail  of the course.  At one point I could look left and see folks who'd already finished the trail and were on the road to the finish.  There was a small road from the trail that led to that road I'd soon be on.  I jokingly asked one of the volunteers at that point "That's the old man shortcut, right?"   There was a guy about my age behind me and he thought I was serious, I guess, because he started to turn that way.   I told him 'No, no, I'm just kidding with the volunteer, we go this way" and thankfully, he and I BOTH headed off together and ran the correct route, lol.

One of our great volunteers out there for us, and the one I was joking with about the shortcut.

After that last photo, ran nonstop for the last 1.2 miles back to the finish.  Ended up passing quite a few people that had passed me during my photo break.  Near the finish a lady pushing a stroller passed me.  I stuck out my 'hitch-hiker" thumb as she passed by but she didn't stop to give me a ride in...   She beat me to the finish too, quite handily, by almost a minute before I finished, nice strong finish for her!

After The Race

Since Shiner's was one of the sponsors of this event, the first thing I found  post-race was their product.  Oh yeah!

Other post-race goodies included bagels, all kinds of flavored breads, fruits, etc.

You could get a post-race massage and stretching session

And some of the "Happy Finishers" supporters, etc...

These "Happy Finishers" also give a nice view of the race shirt that was in all the goody bags.

A couple of my running pals, Gene and Loyce

Me and my speedy pal, Bernadette

Some of the medal winners...

This 'brother and sister' both got medals.  She told me she was actually his mother...uh huh... she must've had him when she was 15...

Bernadette got 1st place in her age group

Gene and Loyce also scored medals in their age groups, as they usually do.  For a slow old man, I sure have a lot of speedy friends, lol.

And I got 3rd place in my age group.  Just about a miracle, lol, considering the 1st two guys in my age group both finished about 10 minutes ahead of me.  There were 6 total in my age group.

EPILOG

I am glad this event was on Sunday because it sure is a good one and the Sunday date allowed me to do both Donovan's and this one, the two best local St. Patrick's Day events, in my humble opinion.   Hope they continue doing the races this way, one on Saturday, one on Sunday, because it would be really heard to choose between the two which one to do.   Nice course for this one - actually flatter than Saturday's course -  nice weather, lots of good folks out there, both participants and volunteers, nice post-race goodies at each.. and Guinness at one, Shiner Bock at the other, oh yeah!  Mucho thanks to iRun Texas for doing their usual great race organization, and thanks to all the volunteers and sponsors who supported us for this one.  A 'keeper event' on the race calendar.  If you're ever in San Antonio around St. Patrick's Day, definitely check this one out!

Next up for me: Heal The Soul 5K on March 22 in Comfort TX at Joshua Springs Preserve, which is supposed to be a very scenic park.  Never been to that park, so looking forward to it!

mmmm...Shiner Bock....a great Irish beer.

Congrats, Scotty!   Beautiful park - if I'm ever in SA, I'll have to check it out.    Looking forward to your next RR!