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"Double Dip" Report/Photos: Rowdy Rec 5K and S.A. Roadrunner Members Appreciation Runs (Read 47 times)

scottydawg


Barking Mad To Run

    INTRO:  I am Scott aka Scottydog, runner since 1983, cancer survivor, retired Air Force, 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.

     

    I did one event on Saturday, Oct 5, 2013, and one on Sunday, Oct 6, 2013.   Reports and photos below.

     

    SHORT VERSION REPORT  - Rowdy Rec 5K 

     

    My 54th event of the year was the Rowdy Rec 5K, held on Saturday, Oct 5, 2013 at the campus of the university for which I work:  University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA).   Put on by the Campus Rec Center and the university mascot is Rowdy Roadrunner - hence the name of the event.  Start time at 9 a.m.   Sunny, a bit humid, about 74 degrees at start.  A nice turn-out of about 200 or so participants, including 1 dog - not me, by the way. Joking Nice loop course around the campus.  I ended up with a chip time of 34:02.

     

    LONG VERSION WITH PHOTOS

     

    Before The Start

     

    Me and Rowdy Roadrunner

     

    Rowdy with folks from iaapweb.com, a local race company that did the timing, course set-up, etc.  They always do a great job.

     

     

     

    Participants and volunteers and supporters.  Gee, I did not know the UTSA Campus Recreation Center was run by one big family.  Because when I took photos of those folks, I noticed the backs of  all their orange shirts had their last name on them:  STAFF.  Big grin

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Pre-Start Warm Up for those that wanted to participate.

     

     

     

     

    Some of those STAFF family folks...

     

     

     

     

    This STAFF family member was also our MC, who did a great job at the event.

     

    There were chair massages offered before and after the run.

     

     

    Getting ready to go....

     

     

    This lovely young lady wore a video headband and taped the course as she ran.

     

     

     

     

    On The Course

     

    We turned around on the course right where that guy in the orange shirt is on the right.  What, we didn't get to go up the big hill there?  I train on that hill once a week as part of my campus hill route, so I was ready for that hill!  I got cheated! Wink  I am sure several other participants, though - probably most of them - were glad not to have to go up the big hill. Joking

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    After The Race

     

    Me with a few of UTSA Rowdy Roadrunners.  UTSA Staff, Faculty, and Students are great folks!  I love working at this university and Sep 2013 was my 17th anniversary as being staff here.   Wow...24 years in the Air Force and now 17 years at the university.....oh my gosh...I just realized... I'm OLD!  Shocked   Joking

     

     

    Happy Finishers, Support Folks, Volunteers, etc.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    SHORT VERSION REPORT - SAN ANTONIO ROADRUNNERS MEMBERS APPRECIATION RUN

     

    My 55th event of 2013, held on Sunday, October 6, 2013.  This was a run put on by my running club in appreciation of its members and all its training teams and was a precursor for the folks doing the upcoming San Antonio Rock n Roll Half Marathon and Marathon in November, as the events included a 5K, a 15K, and a 30K.   I did the 5K.   The weather was QUITE different from Saturday morning as a cold front blew in Saturday night, we got some rain early Sunday morning, which stopped for the events, and at start time it was a very nice 59 - 60 degrees, with a dew point in the low 60s, sweeet!  I actually did better in this one than my Saturday 5K, finishing with a chip time of 33:21.

     

     

    LONG VERSION WITH PHOTOS

     

    Before The Start

     

    The 30K, 15K, and 5K were all done on River Road in New Braunfels.  This is a narrow and winding - but also scenic - road that goes alongside the Guadalupe River.  Start time of 8 a.m. for all events.  I got there a bit after 7 a.m. and it was still a bit dark as the sun was just starting to wake up for the day.

     

    I got parked and got a photo of the nearby river in the early morning

     

    Our start/finish area was graciously 'hosted" to us by Rockin R River Rides, which rents inner tubes for 'toobing' down the river.

     

    The river near our start/finish area

     

     

     

     

    Participants, supporters, volunteers, etc, pre-start

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Getting ready to go....

     

     

     

    On The Course

     

    On the way out to the turn-around point the river and hills above the river were on our left

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    I have made the 5K turn-around point and am heading back now.  Most folks were doing the 15K or 30K so on the way back, since we 5K folks turned around first, we had a lot of open road to run on.

     

     

     

     

     

    Some mist from the river and hills floating over this part of the road as I came toward it.

     

     

    After The Race

     

    Nice thing about doing the 5K...since we all finished before everyone doing the other distances, we got first crack at the food!  Chicken or steak fajitas anyone?  Yummy!  Served up by these lovely  lady volunteers.

     

     

     

     

     

    I came up behind this lady right near the finish line and called out to her "Speed up, old man about to catch you!"  She did and we both hauled for the finish, with her finishing about 3 - 5 seconds ahead of me.   Nice finish!

     

     

    My buds Jim and Bernadette.  Jim was overall male winner for 5K, Bernadette finished 3rd, I think.   And Bernadette did a 5K on Saturday too!

     

     

    After I got some munchies, I walked back out to the bridge we crossed to come to the finish and took a few photos from there.

     

     

    The view of the start/finish area from the bridge

     

    River view from the bridge

     

     

     

    More 5K finishers.

     

     

     

     

    All participants for all events got finisher medals.

     

     

     

     

    Jim got an additional medal for being 5K winner

     

     

     

    This guy was 1st overall male for the 15K.

     

     

    Our MC

     

    More Happy Finishers, Supporters, Volunteers, etc.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Brother and "sister"..... she does not look old enough to be his mother, right? Big grin

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Darn the luck...I did not see that my camera battery was dying when I took this last photo so it got a bit blurry.  But even so, you can still see how lovely these ladies are.   And, believe me, they are even more lovely non-blurry! Big grin

     

     

    EPILOG

     

    So, two events done for the weekend, both very good ones, both very enjoyable.  There were only  a couple of hitches, but not the fault of the club at all.    First, no post-race beer...our darn State Legislature....who passed that stupid law about no beer can be sold on Sunday until after 12 noon?  Angry   Somebody who doesn't like runners....Wink    And I heard from some of the other distance runners that some unknown folks "stole" one of the water stops off the course of the 15K and 30K folks - table, cups, water cooler, everything, if I heard right, post-race.   I don't know when it happened - maybe as the course set-up folks were going along setting all the places out on the course pre-race -  but pretty sad that someone would do that.  River Road is pretty isolated in places and there are lots of camping spots along the river, that are popular with folks, so maybe someone's idea of  a prank, but a pretty poor one, as the 15K and 30K folks had to  wait until the next stop on to get water, unless they were carrying their own.

     

    All in all though, , very nice events.  Kudos to all the UTSA and San Antonio Roadrunners staff, volunteers, timing and course set-up folks who did all the hard work  to get these events organized.    And special kudos to The San Antonio RoadRunners folks as this Members Appreciation Run was a 1st-time event of its kind for the club.  And in my opinion, it turned out great, and pretty scenic route too, nice running alongside the river!   And nice tech-tee singlets in the goody bag too.    Altho, I ended up giving mine away because one of my  good friends registered too late and so did not get a shirt, so I gave her mine.   Hey, 55 races done for the year, I think I can spare a shirt or two. once in a while.   Joking      The entry fee for this event was FREE to all club members, but I'd be willing to pay an entry fee to help support it.  I sure hope the club continues to have this event in the future.

     

    And for those of you  who know my running history when running near water.....for this one I managed NOT to fall in this time, lol

     

    Good weekend of running!

    "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt

      Nice reports, Scotty.

       

      That sucks about the water stop being stolen, people are really a-holes sometimes.  Someone did that a few years back at a disc golf tourney I helped run -- two coolers and a few cases of water, gone.

       

      Congrats on not falling in the river Smile

      PADRunner


        Another great weekend of running!


        Sloooow.

          Very nice weekend Scotty! Great times too, I bet it was nice running in the cooler temps. I hope you have a rest day planned for tomorrow. Sucks to hear about the theft, and especially no beer! The thought of drinking beer at any time is sickening to me, but I feel bad for you!

           

          Thanks for the race report Smile

          LRB


            2 for the price of 1, good stuff!


            delicate flower

              Nice reports as always, Scotty!  I'll take a fajita over a beer any day.

              <3

              swood830


                Great report Scott.  I was at an another event yesterday but my staff with Athlete Guild handled the course and timing for SARR.  It was unfortunate but the owner of Riverbank Outfitters didn't like the fact that we were setup on the side of the road down from his building.  He was really ugly to the volunteers and other staff.  I'm certain he was the one that took it.  We replaced the coolers and water quickly but unfortunately had to move further down so the 5K folks didn't get the advantage.  I think that's the first time that has happened to us.


                SheCan

                  Great job on both these races, Scotty.  Very cool that you got to run at YOUR University.

                  It was really pretty along that river for Sunday's run.  Congratulations for 2 more races done this year!  Wooo!

                  Cherie

                  "We do not become the people who this world needs simply by turning our backs on anyone we don’t like, trust, or deem healthy enough to be in our presence. "  ---- Shasta Nelson

                  Docket_Rocket


                    Nice reports, Scotty!

                    Damaris

                     

                    As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.

                    Fundraising Page

                    Gustav1


                    Fear is a Liar

                      Good job Scotty!

                       

                      What's a "Beak Freak"?

                       

                      Tell Jim and Bernadette I said "Hi" and enjoy the confused looks on their faces - I don't know either of them!

                      I'm so vegetarian I don't even eat animal crackers!

                      EbonyN


                      MusicofEbony

                        Great race and nice race report.

                        Formally known on the Runners World forums as Malletgirl02.

                        Zelanie


                          Nice double race weekend, Scotty!  You can see the change in the weather in the photos, especially the finisher photos!

                          The second course looks absolutely gorgeous!

                           

                          I have to say, you're looking pretty fit and trim in your photos these days, too!