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.

The Stats

My 39th race of 2014

Races held:  4-miler, 3K event, and a 1K fun run for the kids

183 finishers for the 4-miler

My finish time:  46:27

Before The Race

Held in Kyle, Texas, about an hour's drive from San Antonio.  I was up quite early - 4:15 a.m. - and hit the road by 4:45 a.m. to give myself plenty of time in case I got a bit lost going to the race site.  However, the person who advised me of the location gave me great directions and so I was there about an hour before the 7 a.m. start time. After getting my goodie bag and putting on my bib, I wandered around getting some pre-start photos.  Since I was there so early it was still a bit dark when I began taking them.

Our timers from AthleteGuild

Getting the food ready for afterwards

Registration volunteers

Participants et al...pre-start

Getting ready to start

ON THE COURSE

The course started and finished at a local elementary school.  The route was through a very nice neighborhood area near the school.  A few of the residents were even out in their yards cheering us on.  For most of the route, I was pretty much near my friend, Rich, and near Daisy The Dog (a greyhound) and her human.  Along the route there were 'color stations" where you could move right on the course if you wanted color and get sprayed with one of those color-pack thingys.  Personally, I'm not into getting the color - and that stuff makes me sneeze like crazy - but those who did run through the color stations seemed to enjoy it.  Also, it was very well done, giving the participants the option of getting or not getting the color.

I'm following Rich in his flag shorts

Uggg, these next few photos came out blurry because I didn't realize how much I was sweating on my lens and forgot to wipe before taking the photos

Daisy and her human

One of our course marshals....since she's a marshal, I protected her identity....

We're over half-way done now

One of the color stations..

Thanks for the water!  And Daisy appreciates it too

Dang!  No wonder I'm tired...I thought this was a 4-mile race!     Actually, this was the 3-mile mark.  One of the race organizers warned us pre-race this 8-mile sign would be here for the 3-mile mark because after the course was prepared on Thursday night, it got 'vandalized" with some of the signs being damaged and/or stolen.  How sad is that?

About a half-mile or so to go now, as we pass our last water station and its volunteers

As we headed toward the finish I began to catch back up to Rich. I was nearly on him when this dog in a yard nearby started barking excitedly as I came up to him, so I stopped to give him a treat and thank him for cheering me on - - and then chased Rich again, but couldn't quite catch him.   He finished 44 seconds ahead of me for 4th in our age group and I was 5th.   I told him about the dog and he jokingly told me "Yeah, I paid the dog to get your attention...Woof...Scottydog...Woof!"   lol.

After The Race

Me and Rich, happy finishers

And there were popsicles post-race (hence the race name); Red, white, and blue me, enjoying a red, white, and blue popsicle

Our Popsicle Lady

"Happy Finishers" et al....some of them quite colorful...

My speedy pal, Bernadette, who does just about as many races as I do in a year (80 races done for her last year) but she actually RACES her events and places in her age group in just about every one of them.

EPILOG

This may become my local area race of choice for the 4th of July, it was quite a fun event.  Really nice course, nice post-race goodies, lots of really friendly people.  Nice quality race shirt with an amusing logo on it:

All in all, a very fun event to do.  Hope they continue this event in the future.

Next up for me:  Veteran's Victory 5K on July 5, 2014 and Free-Da's Run For The Arts 5K on July 6, 2014.

Daisy and her human?  lol

I don't think I have taken that many pictures in my life.

Nice report, I enjoyed it. Nice pictures

I do tend to get carried away with the camera, lol. But people seem to enjoy it.

Nice RR!

Stop sweating on your lens!  I always think it's blurry because it's a hot and humid day. But then, if you're sweating like that, I guess it really was a hot day... Congratulations, Scotty! Another great RR and I always enjoy seeing beautiful Bernadette.