INTRO

I am Scott aka Scottydog aka Scotty Dogg, runner since 1983, cancer survivor – caught very early, so I actually had a fairly easy time of it - , retired Air Force, employee of University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), friend of dogs, fun-runner, and all-around punster and 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.  My only goals for a race these days are finish everything I start, have fun along the way, and finish standing up with no ambulance waiting for me. 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 – unless it’s a mean dog; then the biscuit goes in one direction and I go in another. Hence my nickname “Scottydog.” Here is yet another of my Race Reports with Photos. I am not exactly a good photographer but hey, at least all the photos are free so my ‘subjects’ can save and share their photos if they so desire. Mucho thanks to all the people I interacted with at this event for their graciousness, patience, and good humor in letting me take photos of them.

My 9^th race done in 2016 was held at Rockin’ R River Rides in New Braufels, Texas. Start time of 8:30 a.m. Weather was pretty darn chilly for we South Texans, around 41 degrees with a ‘feels like” temp of around 39 – 40. Thankfully it was nice and sunny, which helped. This was a pretty small turnout for a 5K, 44 finishers, 21 male, 23 female. I think most of our local runners were doing the Chocoholic 5K in San Antonio. Yeah, I like chocolate too, but $55 entry fee is a bit steep for me for a 5K. Right before the start I took off my base layer and just ran in my long-sleeved shirt and then put the base layer back on under my shirt after I finished to keep my warm and dry. After my somewhat hilly 5K on Saturday, my legs were a tad sore for this one – which also had hills – so I just took it easy and took more photo breaks on the course. Ended up with a finish time of 34:57 – about 11:15 per mile – and got first in my age group. Of course, there were only 2 in my age group, lol. Even so, I’ll take it. Another medal to give to the kiddies at the San Antonio Children’s Hospital.

BEFORE THE START

Arrived at the race location with a little less than an hour to go to start time and immediately began to get some pre-start photos.

C'est moi!  With the river and the Gruene water tower behind me.  My bib number is 1604..which is appropriate, lol, as we have a local highway 1604 that is often under construction....just like me since I'm old now...

Guadalupe River near Rockin' R

These nice folks were out there with massage tables to give 'loosen up" massages before the race and relaxing massages post race.  Nice.

Two volunteer young ladies who were prepping the food and beer for our return after the race.

And this guy was cooking up the sausages.  He did a great job.

Athlete Guild folks.  They did the course setup, timing, results, and MC functions for the race.

Some of the participants, supporters, etc.

Very nice lady I chatted with, who is a cancer survivor.  Introduced to me by this Athlete Guild fellow who did the computer timing for the race, printed out the results, etc.   Very nice guy; I see him at a lot of the Athlete Guild events I do.

My speedy pal, Bernadette.

Getting ready to start.

ON THE COURSE

We started in the parking lot of Rockin’ R, made a left onto the road in front of the place, and then down the road a bit made a right, going up a hill and down a road that took us into a very nice neighborhood, through which we did a loop. We came back out onto the road we had used to come into the neighborhood and then it was back to Rockin’ R to finish. Pretty nice course with a few moderate hills along the way.     I bet the 'real winter' people in the North, Midwest, etc, think it's funny that we Texans here are all wrapped up for 39 - 41 degrees, lol.  Let's see them try to run in our 100 degree summers.  

I played 'leapfrog' for most of the course with these 3 ladies.  I'd stop to take photos, they'd pass me, I'd run again and catch up; and repeat.... 

With about maybe 1/2 mile to go, we passed by this little do lying in somone's front yard, poor thing.  Didn't look injured or hurt.  I thought maybe she'd lost her mother and so was just waiting.  Or maybe it was a pet or something.  As I started to continue on my way, I saw a lady coming out of the house towards the doe, so hopefully she got it taken care of.

Heading for the finish...

This is the incline we went up on the way out

AFTER THE FINISH

Got some water after I finished and then went for the goodies….sausage wraps and beer….nice.

Our beer servers

Oh yeah....

Law enforcement that was out there for us keeping us safe from any potential 'idiot driver".   Thanks guys!

After I sat a bit and consumed my goodies, it was time to get photos of some of the ‘happy finishers’, supporters, volunteers, etc.

EPILOGUE

This is the first time I’ve ever done this particular course and – in spite of my tired legs – I liked it quite a bit. Definitely going to keep this course in mind for the occasional training run. Although my preference is large races, this is a really nicer small event, with lots of participant comradery, very nice post-race goodies, nice tech tee, and good course. I would definitely do this one again. And hope it grows in the future. Runners who slept in today missed a really nice 5K.

Mucho thanks to all the volunteers, sponsors, law enforcement, etc, who were all out there for us participants today; all those folks that made this one happen for we entrants. All of you did great for us! Thanks to Athlete Guild for putting on this event, course setup, timing, results, etc.