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 8th race of 2014, done on Sunday, February 2, 2014.  Held at Ladybird Johnson Park, this race supports Transplants For Children -<cite> www.transplantsforchildren.org/ </cite>  - "dedicated to assisting young organ and tissue transplant recipients and their families in effectively coping with the emotional, financial, and social challenges that arise before, during and after transplantation.   Weather was pretty crappy, as our area had a 'cold' front move in overnight on Saturday night.  It was 43 degrees with a 'feels like" temp of 38, VERY windy, overcast, and spitting rain at us off-and-on. Never-the-less, quite  a nice turnout, maybe 400 or more folks coming out to support a good cause and also maybe because this annual event is one of the more unusual distances - 7K (about 4.3 miles) - for the local racing scene.   I did my usual 8 min run/2 min walk thing during the race, taking photos during my walk breaks, and ended up with a chip time of 45:46, so just under 11 minute miles.

LONG VERSION REPORT WITH PHOTOS

Before The Start

The Spurs Coyote, mascot of the NBA San Antonio Spurs, was at the event and your host for this report, Yours Truly, got a photo with him.  Just before the photo was snapped, Coyote 'munched" on my head, making me laugh. Too funny. Love that sneaky ole Coyote!

Some of the race volunteers were active duty Air Force guys helping out.  Thanks for your service!

This was our very entertaining MC, doing his "Saturday Night Fever" impression here, lol.

Thankfully, we had a nice shelter to get in out of the rain and wind while we got our bibs and timing chips and waited for the start

Timing Chip volunteers

Some more of our great volunteers

Food volunteers setting up for the post-race goodies

DJ playing music for our entertainment

Some of the participants, supporters, et al, before the start

Getting ready to start - We started on a grass/dirt field - luckily, only for a very minimal distance - which got a bit muddy with the rain, so lots of us had to kick the mud off of our shoes when we got to the paved part of the course.

On The Course

As said, we started on a bit of a muddy field.  Then we did a small portion of one of the park roads and then turned onto the off-road paved trails in this park which are part of San Antonio's 'greenway" system of connecting trails. This was an out-and-back event from start to finish.  I don't think I'd even made the 1.5 mile mark before the leader came hauling back toward me, already heading toward the finish.  Speedy!   The nice thing about this course was there were nice thick woods pretty much along both sides of the trail, so the wind for most of the distance was pretty much a non-factor.  I wore a hat pre-race to help keep me warm, but ditched it for the race, as I tend to heat up quite a bit when I'm running. I felt comfortable, weather-wise, for the whole way.

A little past 1/2 mile distance

A little ways before the turn-around point

Now starting to see people heading back to the finish while others - like me, lol - are still heading to the turn-around point

Now I've made the turn-around point and am heading back to the finish myself...this was on my way to Mile 3.

This part of the course took us to an underpass that went below the highway

Last walk/photo break...just under about a mile to go..

My friend, Sally (green coat).  She was not feeling well, I could tell, cuz she is normally MUCH more speedy than me, so very rare for me to see her back where I am in a race, and REALLY rare for me to finish before her, which I did today.  So good thoughts for her getting back to her old self really soon.  Benefit for me though...I got to chase her Great Legs lots of times after my photo breaks during this race.

After The Race

I collected my hat from where I stashed it, to keep myself protected post-race from rain and wind. Hey, I'm an old man, I'm turning 420 this month in dog years, I gotta protect myself from the chill.   Now...let's go find the goodies!  First......beer!

Pizza, oh yeah...I indulged in a slice...

There were also Margaritas and Bloody Mary drinks. Two of my lady runner friends enjoying their bloody marys.

There were chicken wings, served up by these Air Force volunteers

All these different types of sauces and dips...

...to go with the Nachos!

And there was a whole 'slewful' of snacks...chocolate chip cookies, 'crunch packs' of various types of chips, and so forth.

And of course there were lots of "Happy Finishers", supporters, etc.   There may be a couple of 'cloudy' spots in these...I kept trying to remember to wipe my lens, but sometimes forgot.

EPILOG

Good cause, lots of very friendly participants,  great volunteers, lots of vendors, LOTS of post-race goodies, the Spurs Coyote, a very popular fellow in San Antonio, blessed us with his presence and in spite of the weather, as previously mentioned, a very nice race turnout and a very nice course so I think for the most part people did enjoy themselves.  Kudos and thanks to all the volunteers and race organizers and vendors and sponsors  and our Park Police traffic folks who made this all happen.  This one is definitely a keeper on the annual race calendar.

Oh, and by the way:  Go Seahawks!

Next up for me: The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo "4 Mile Stampede Run/Walk" on February 8th.

What a great cause for a race.  I hope they raised a lot of money.  Congratulations on your 8th race of the year and first race of February I guess.  It looks soooooo cold and wet there for Texas!  Glad you survived the cold, and getting bit by that danged coyote.  Hope your friend Sally is feeling better soon.

It looks like he is giving your ear a tongue bath.  lol

Thank you for another awesome race report! I love to see all those smiles and how great to support a worthy cause.

And I'm nuts for the cute socks I'm seeing! Want!