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 37th race of 2014.   Held at Camp Ben McCullough - http://www.campben.com/ -   which is near the town of Driftwood, just a little over an hour's drive from San Antonio.   Each year a reunion is held every year for certain families who are descendants of those who served in the Confederacy.  Our RD, Darrell, is in one of those families and this 5K event was started, if I remember correctly, sometime in the 70s as part of this reunion.  Darrell mentioned to me his family had been camping here for something like 80 years.  Lots of history at this camp.   It's a very pretty little place, with a creek running behind the campgrounds.  Darrell knows me from other events I have done and invited me personally to attend this on.  I'd never been to this particular area so took him up on it to participate.  Small event, about 100 runners and walkers and there was also a kid's run.   As I tend to race all up-and-down the Austin-San Antonio Corridor, I recognized several of the runners there, lots of them were from San Marcos Running Club.  San Marcos is about 45 minutes or so from San Antonio and I've done several races there in the past.   Most of them are quite speedy too, so I was pretty sure I was going to be almost dead last for this one.  I was pretty close to that prediction   but managed to finish in 34:17 chip time, which got me a medal for 2nd in my age group (60-65).  I think there were only 3 IN my age group, lol.  Don't care, I'll take it.

Long Version Report with Photos

Before The Start

Darrell gave me some really good 'how to get there' directions, so I arrived earlier than anticipated and had an hour to go before the start. Got my packet and then wandered around taking some photos.

AthleteGuild Guy for race set up, timing, etc.

Race Day Registration ladies.  The lady on the right is wearing this year's race t-shirt.  You had a choice of tank top or regular shirt.

Me and 'race friend" Wendell, whom I see at a lot of events.  I think we were the two oldest men there, lol.    Although, as you can see, Wendell looks a lot younger than me.

These two are also cancer survivors.  The more of us that beat this disease, the better!

Nice pavilion for the race activities, where I encountered these two.

And some more pre-start folks...

Getting ready to start.  We had a very slight delay in the start as the RD got a call that on the road where part of the course was, the local police were making an arrest - excitement in Driftwood! - so we had to wait until they wrapped that up.  That didn't take very long and we were soon off and running.

On The Course

This is on the road right after we made a turn out of the Camp.  OK, what Darrell didn't happen to mention to me about this race...see the cones way in front of the runners?  When we got to that point, we began to climb...

...and climbed

...and climbed....I thought when we rounded that 2nc curve up ahead that would be the top....

but nooooo....we kept climbing some more....Darrell has a wicked race course sense of humor. 

There actually was a top at last, thank goodness.  Then we got to run a bit of flat and then some downhill incline....BUT...we had a small climb again just before the turn-around point...

I've now made the turn-around point and am heading back to the finish

The waving guy made me smile, lol.  I had chatted with him and his wife before the race, very nice people.   After I finished my walk break, I went non-stop to the finish, and just after we entered the campgrounds again, I actually managed to catch up and pass Mr. Waver. I finished ahead of him but not by very much.

And, of course, before going into the campgrounds to finish, we had to climb that incline that was a downhill incline for us on the way out.  Oh, that wicked sense of humor of Darrell's. 

After The Finish

The post-activities were held in this shady pavilion, which was nice, as the temp was about 80, the humidity was around 85% and the dewpoint was over 70.

Darrell (red shirt) and his lovely assistant for post-race activities, announcing awards, etc.

Happy me with another medal to donate to the cancer kids' at San Antonio Children's hospital, which is what I do with any medal I may be lucky enough to get.

I had a nice post-race chat with this lovely young lady who had the patience of a saint to let a boring old man talk her ear off.  She kind of reminded me of my beautiful wife, Gail....attractive, good sense of humor, great personality...and, of course, Great Legs!    Just like me, her husband is a very lucky guy..and if he doesn't know it, she should tell him so. 

More "Happy Finishers" et al....

I think these two are sisters..

Love the dog's expression, lol.  Like.."Really, mom?"

After the race activities some of the San Marcos Runners Club folks were having beer-and-fajitas at the camping area of Darrell's family and I was invited to participate.  A photo was taken of the club members there and I was allowed to be in the photo as an "honorary member."   That, and I was sitting on the beer cooler, so if they wanted any more beer...     RD Darrell is at the back in red shirt/white cap.   One of our area "Grand Masters" of running, Moe, is at the right in gren shirt and hat.  He is very well known in the running community and puts on a really good event each year, "Moe's Better Half."

EPILOG

I joke about the "never-ending incline" for this 5K.  This is actually a very nice event in a very unique location and the people that show up for this one are all great, I really enjoyed interacting with them.   I think this one is going to become a regular on my race calendar.  Mucho thanks to Darrell for the invite and to him and his family and the San Marcos Runners Club members for all their hospitality.  Thanks to all the sponsors for supporting this one, to all the volunteers out there for us, and to the law enforcement folks out there for us too.

Bonus Photos

Well, I was supposed to get up in the early a.m. on Sunday for the MILSA Mile 3-mile fun run. But I forgot that Saturday night Gail and I were going to the Junior Achievement (Gail is a volunteer for them) Dinner and Auction at Knibbe Ranch, a very nice Texas working ranch and event center in Spring Branch.  We enjoyed ourselves and got home late, and I ended up just sleeping in Sunday morning.   In the late morning I went to McAllister Park - the largest park in San Antonio - for a trail run.  I think I should have gotten up early, because by the time I got to the park at 9:15, there was light rain, humidity of 89%, a dew-point about 74, and the temp was flippin 80 degrees.  At times running, the air was so thick I felt like the Jolly Green Giant was wearing a wet, hot,  sticky, ovenmitt and was pressing it right down on my head and body to see if I was 'done', lol.

I wanted a run today at a nice easy pace so the trail I chose was one that had a mix of soft dirt to run on and also places where there were lots of rocks to negotiate.  I knew those rocks would keep me honest about going easy in those spots.

Started out on a paved trail with nice shade trees...

That trail took me to this off-road trail..

Which led me to this hilly rocky trail - very steep and rocky, I admit to walking quite a bit of it

This trail is part of the 6+ - mile trail that circles the perimeter of the park, so I often saw mile markers like these along the way

At one point "Bugs' here kept me company, "rabbiting" near the trail I was on, and then scurried off into the brush.

Went through "The Archway", so called because the tree-tops on either side of the trail arch above it.

Out along "The Vista" where I had nice soft dirt trails for a while and passed cactus, etc.

Went past this thingy, which was built to help prevent parts of the park from flooding during heavy rains and also to prevent water from the park creeks flooding the housing areas near the park.

Ran this bit of 'open space" trail before getting to the road and heading back to my car.  This trail was reached after climbing a small hill and gave a nice view of the surrounding area.

Looking down on the trail I'd just come off of...

Ended up with 4.1 miles and then went home and took a nice COLD shower, which felt quite GREAT after that humid run!