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

Held on July 12, 2015 at Boerne City Lake Park.  This was my 34th race of 2015 and my 2nd race of the weekend, after having done a 5K on July 11.  For this event there was a 5K (244 participants) and a 15K (201 participants) and a 1K kids run.  There was also a new course for this event.  Both the 5K and the 15K started at 7:30 a.m., so a nice early start.  I ended up with a 35:04 chip time finish, placing 6th in my age group.  I might have finished a bit faster except that the course change was nice and I enjoyed some views along the way so stopped a bit more than I usually do during an event to take a few extra photos.  It's all good, I enjoyed myself and there were some very speedy guys in my age group for this event so at my normal pace I really didn't expect to place anyway.

LONG VERSION REPORT WITH PHOTOS

Umm, ok, I really like this race, so I may have gotten a bit carried away as I took over 100 photos for this one.  So sit back and enjoy the ride! 

Before the Start

Boerne City Lake is just outside the city of Boerne (pronounced "burny") and is a very popular recreation area with the lake, picnic tables, some trails going around the lake, swimming, boating, etc.   It's about a 40 minute drive from where I live, so with the 7:30 start time, I left about 5:45 a.m. to arrive with some time remaining before the start to wander around and get a few photos.

Runner warming up..with the sunlight coming in behind her in the east

The lonely start line before all the activity begins

You could get a massage pre-start and post-race

A few of the participants, supporters, etc.  The ladies in the first photo give a nice view of the tech singlet that all participants got

Yours truly with my speedy pal, Bernadette, who also did the same 5K on Saturday that I did.  Now, the only problem I had with my bib number was that everyone kept asking me for information. 

Small world! This is Patrick,  a friend of my wife and I - and also the minister who renewed our vows for us on our 20th wedding anniversary.  Super nice guy.  He was here this morning "dog-sitting" for a friend of his who was a participant in the race.

The official photographer and the race MC

Me with Mitch - co-owner of iRun Texas, the local specialty running store that puts on this event - and one of his lovely staff...and my apologies for not remembering her name...because I'm OLD and have brain dumps at times. 

My running pals Gene and Loyce

Getting ready to start

On the Course

We started near the picnic grounds and across from the event pavilion of the park.  The past course for this event took us left out of the start area, but this time we turned right, then climbed a hill to a trail up above the lake, making our way along this trail with the lake to our right.  We hit some pavement for a bit, and for the 5K folks we then turned onto one of the local country roads and did a little out-and-back on this.  After we did the turn-around, it was back to the finish the way we had come out.   For we 5K folks we had a couple of small hills too deal with; they were a bit steep but fairly short.  The trails were rocky in places but since I live near a park in San Antonio that has similar trails to this, this type of running was 'old hat' for me so I had no problems with it at all.  I did see one lady a bit ahead of me catch her foot on a rock and down she went. I did stop to help, but she had a few friends with her and they began to take care of her and told me to go on ahead.  I heard later she had really banged both knees up a bit - ouch! - and was taken back to the start/finish area.  Hope she is okay and heals quickly!   The 15K folks, of course, had a much longer "out" than we 5K folks did and after talking with a few of them I knew after they got back, they said their course was BRUTALLY hilly, especially along miles 4 to 6.   Made me glad I can't do distance running anymore, lol, with this arthritis I have.   Kudos and respect to all those folks that took on that  hilly 15K!

I'm on the bottom here..and am heading up to that top ridge...

Once we got on the top ridge...nice views of the lake!

On the top ridge trail...

On the road where the 5K folks did a turn-around and the 15K folks kept on going straight..

Back on the trail, heading toward the finish and for the 5K folks this was about our only 'steep' hill, so not bad at all.

Looking at the course behind me from the hill

After that I took myself nonstop back to the finish.

After the Finish

Shiner Beer was there post-race and that's where I went first.  But I'd forgotten it was Sunday so no alcohol could be served up until 10 a.m. by county law, darn the luck.  So I enjoyed some water and a banana and there were also breakfast tacos of various flavors and I munched on those and wandered around taking some post-race photos, first of the 5K folks who, of course, finished long before the 15K folks and then the 15K folks began coming in and got some photos of some of them too.

iRun folks ready for the awards ceremony.  Now, you can tell the young lady is an angel since she's got that sunlight 'halo' atop her head.

Two of the early 15K finishers...Gary, on the left finished in 59 minutes and the guy with him finished right behind him in 3rd place.

iRun food volunteers

..and some of the goodies...

A lot of folks like this guy on the left - especially the 15K folks who were out there a while - had these 'iced down' towels on their heads post-race that iRun had available right after the finish, a very nice touch for this warm July event.

One of the food trucks out there for us

One of my 'running crushes", Ceci, on the far left, with two lovely lady friends.    She is co-owner of iaapweb.com, another very good local race company so is usually quite busy and does not usually have time to do a race as she is often organizing and overseeing them; so it was nice seeing her at this one that she actually got to run.  She did the 15K.

Yeah, finally got my beer!

EPILOG

This event is organized by iRun Texas, a very good local running specialty store.  They have some really great people on their staff and always put on great events.   Mitch Allen, co-owner of iRun and all-around great guy, did a great job with the awards ceremony and making sure everything was going okay; and Mark Purnell, our MC who does MC duties for quite a few local events during the year, did his usual great job.  Mucho thanks to all the volunteers, sponsors, law enforcement folks that were out there for us...all the people that made this one happen for we participants.  This is one of their events I especially like and I've done it quite a few times in the past. And, as for the new course this year, personally I like this one much better than the old course of past years.  This one is much more 'scenic" as you get a nice view of the lake - and when you are on the top ridge, a nice breeze from the lake going out and coming back, which is really appreciated - and not so much a straight 'out-and-back' on country roads like the other course is.  After I finished I kind of took an 'impromptu survey' of participants.  I asked - and I know how many cuz I counted them lol - 15 participants if they liked this course better or the old one better - and 14 of the 15 said they liked the newer one better; so I hope this year's course is the one iRun keeps for this event.

Next up for me:  No race to do next weekend, so I will be a volunteer at the July 18 San Antonio Roadrunners Women's 5K, of which my friend Sally is RD.  So many Great Legs in one place and I can't chase any of them!      But it's okay...I will be one of the course marshals, so will bring my camera and at least get a few race photos for Sally, so it's all good.  

I swear I posted here after I read it but it looks like I didn't.  Great RR, Scotty.  It's nice to see you out of your comfort awesome Tee.