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.
SHORT VERSION REPORT
Race #24 for me in 2013. Finish time for me: 32:46 chip time. Since this is Fiesta month in San Antonio - 10 days of party and parades and events, April 18 - 28, 2013 - http://www.fiesta-sa.org/ - this race supported the scholarships Fiesta raises. El Rey Feo "King Larry Benson" and his court attended the race. How one of our local leading citizens become El Rey Feo each year: they have a contest to raise money for student scholarships and the person who raises the most money is El Rey Feo. This year, that person is Larry Benson, of the family that owns the Benson car dealerships. The Benson family - local citizen Tom Benson is the owner of the New Orleans Saints - are great folks and do a lot for the San Antonio community and are great folks. For this event there was also a 'decorate your shoes" contest for Fiesta and a runner with the best pair of 'Fiesta decorated shoes' won a prize. This goes to a tradition during the parades when the Fiesta Royal Court ladies riding the parade floats wear those long gowns and the crowd shouts out jokingly "Show us your shoes!" to see the type of shoes they are wearing that are hidden by those gowns, and the ladies oblige by lifting their feet and showing their shoes - some of which are quite originally decorated and fun to see.
LONG VERSION WITH PHOTOS
Held by Carrera Races - <cite>www.carreraraces.com/</cite>- at Éilan in San Antonio -http://www.eilan.com/ - a very pretty community of hotel/spa, residences, business offices, etc. Located on La Cantera Parkway across from Six Flags Fiesta Texas. I got to the site with about 40 minutes to start time and did my usual thing of getting some photos before the start.
BEFORE THE START
Some of the Eilan office/resident buildings. The design/style of the buildings reminded me of some times I had spent in the Mediterranean/Greece area during my Air Force days.
Our start/finish area was in front of this hotel/residence building
Looking down at the fountain from the steps above
El Rey Feo Larry Benson and his court
Me with El Rey Feo and his Prime Minister
Other participants and supporters pre-start
Right after we started, first thing we did was climb a hill almost right out of the starting gate.
After the hill, we proceeded on a winding road and passed in front of a community hotel,climbing another small hill/incline just past the hotel.
Eventually I would get over to this road, the long downhill on the course
Just before going on the long downhill, I was at a point where you could see The Palladium - an IMAX theater at a shopping center called The Rim, that is near Eilan community. The design of the theater is like buildings of ancient Greece/Rome. This view reminded me of those old-time movies about ancient Rome that would open with a panoramic view of the city from afar.
Starting Loop 2, and then on to the finish. As you can see, the crowd had thinned out considerably from the initial start photo taken on this hill.
Notice the guy pushing the stroller. More on him later.
After that last photo on the course, I tucked the camera away and trucked on into the finish. At the 2-mile marker I started my chrono to see how fast I could get my 1.1 mile in with nonstop running. I crossed the finish line, glanced at my chrono...and was SHOCKED to see that I had done the last 1.1 mile in 9:37. Not speedy for many, of course; but for me, who usually does 11+ per minute training miles, this was smokin' for my old arthritic body, lol. My overall finish time was 34:46 chip time, averaging 10:35 per mile. I have been quite consistent lately, finishing my last 3 5Ks in 32-something for each one, even with all my photo stops along the way.
AFTER THE RACE
OK, if you are one of the 'dream sequence" looking folks in my post-race photos, my apologies; because I am an idiot at times and have a tendency of forgetting post-race to wipe my sweaty camera lens off. If you are ever at a race with me, PLEASE remind me post-race to wipe my lens! Thank you very much! Even with the "witness protection" look, I think you can figure out who you are.
Here is the Stroller Pusher Guy, whose photo I took on course as we started the 2nd loop. I was near him for a lot of the race and he was quite inspiring, a Wounded Warrior amputee pushing that stroller up those hills we had to do! One time as we ran together on the course, I told him he really inspired me being out here. He laughed and said "All I need is 5 toes!" Post race we chatted, sharing some of our military experiences. When I told him I had a screw that went all the way through my knee, he said, "Well, in my case, if my leg is bothering me, all I have to do is take it off. I don't think you can do that when your leg bothers you." lol. This guy is just so positive and has a great attitude, I really liked him. He also has a lovely and supportive family. I got a photo of him and family post-race.
Also, post-race, I found the two most important post-race goodies people...The Beer Ladies! With a bin chock-full of cold beer on ice.
Oh yeah, went down niiiice, after a hilly 5K!
There was also a wine option, served by this lovely volunteer
And lot of other post-race goodies, like these brownies sampled by this lovely-lady participant
Thanks for your service! Had a nice chat with these ladies - Army nurse on the left, Air Force lady on the right - who were enjoying some of the post-race goodies.
Two lovely "sisters", one of whom got an AG award
More "Happy Finishers" and Supporters and Volunteers enjoying the post-race festivities
EPILOG
One of the best and most-fun events I have ever done in San Antonio. Hope Carrera Races keeps this one going every year and hope that it grows in number of participants. Really good cause, nice course, nice post-race goodies. Also, a VERY nice touch by Carrerra: because this is a Fiesta race, at packet pickup, they had a multitude of color selections for the nice-quality tech tee race shirts - so you had your choice of yellow, blue, green, red, orange, lime green, etc. Since I work for University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA - Go Roadrunners!), I chose orange and blue since those are the school colors. If you are ever in San Antonio for Fiesta, definitely do this event!
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt
Hi Scotty,
Great finishing time. I never realized how quickly you finish, even with all those pictures you take. Unfortunately, I can't see the pictures in your report this time. Hopefully it's only me.
Skirt Runner
Oh no I can't see them either! Th pics are always the best part!
PRs: 5K- 28:16 (5/5/13) 10K- 1:00:13 (10/27/13) 4M- 41:43 (9/7/13) 15K- 1:34:25 (8/17/13) 10M- 1:56:30 (4/6/14) HM- 2:20:16 (4/13/14) Full- 5:55:33 (11/1/15)
I started a blog about running :) Check it out if you care to
Return To Racing
Congrats on #24. Want to see the shoes (and legs).
Put that beer down and fix your post lol!
That's much better. Sorry if you had to waste a lot of time with that, but picture #s 12, 33, and 47 still don't show. Wow, that's so many pictures!
Don't know why you can't see those pics. My wife got on her laptop and said she can see them all. Two friends of mine e-mailed me and said they could now see them all too.
I sure wish this place would just let us cut-and-paste photos, no links, etc., would sure be so much easier! Especially for a technology idiot like me!
Don't know why you can't see those pics. My wife got on her laptop and said she can see them all. Two friends of mine e-mailed me and said they could now see them all too. I sure wish this place would just let us cut-and-paste photos, no links, etc., would sure be so much easier! Especially for a technology idiot like me!
I don't know what was wrong earlier. I see them now. You sure put a lot of work into your reports.
Antipodean
Weird. I can only see one picture. Just one. And I can't see anything in Scottydog's other post. It must be something to do with being so far away from ya'll.
Julie
"It's not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."
~ Sir Edmund Hillary
Great race report and race, Scotty! I wish I lived in your neck of the woods because you always have such fun races. Thanks for sharing the story about "Stroller Pusher Guy." What an inspiration!
By the way - you are speedy! I don't stop and take pics and I'm still 4-5 minutes slower than you. And that time on the last 1.1 miles - awesome! You are speedy in my book!
Jen
Upcoming races:
Covenant Health Knoxville 5K 4/7/13 (and cheering on DH for his 1st Marathon!!)
Rock and Roll Chicago Half Marathon 7/21/13
Tower of Terror Ten Miler 10/5/13
Yay pictures are showing up! I can see all of them! Whata cool race, love the race shirts!
delicate flower
Brownies should be standard post-race food IMO.
<3
Smaller By The Day
Wow Scotty! You can pick up the pace when you want to. Pretty darn impressive. Speaking impressive, the soldier with the stroller...wow. That would have been one of those amazing races to be at. The architecture in the pictures, the views along the course, inspirational people and moments, beer....oh...and a race! Thanks Scotty!
Improvements
Weight 100 pounds lost
5K 31:02 Sept. 2012 / 23:36 Sept. 2013 (Same Course)
10K 48:59 April 2013
HM 2:03:56 Nov. 2012 / 1:46:50 March 2013
MARATHON 3:57:33 Nov. 2013
Go figure
You seem to have more fun events in your area than anywhere else I see on here! It makes me kinda jealous! I'm glad you're out there taking advantage of all the opportunities and enjoy the heck out of it. I love the idea of letting you pick your tech tee color...very cool. Keep up the good work.
Trying to find some more hay to restock the barn