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.”

And a big thanks to runningahead.com for allowing me a “home” for my many many MANY race reports and photos.  Great site, free training log; calendars; running routes; maps; conversation forums for runners; and much more

Here is yet another of my photo reports.  Full report below.   

Link to photos only:   http://s166.photobucket.com/user/scottydog69/slideshow/2017%20Race%20Reports/2017%20Race%20No%2068%20Hero%20Fest%205K

A couple of the photos may not have come out so well; sorry about that.   Plus, at times post-race I forgot to wipe my sweaty lens - duhhhh - so there might be a smudge or two on some of them. And for a few, when I asked someone to take a photo for me, I forgot to tell him/her how to focus the camera, duhhh..   All in all though, I think they came out fairly well.  I am certainly no professional photographer with skills; but at least all the photos are free to save.  J

BEFORE MY START

My 68^th race of 2017 – and my 2^nd race of this weekend after doing a 5K on Oct 7 - held on October 8 at Comanche Park, was the Hero Fest 5K in San Antonio benefiting the San Antonio Firefighters Cancer Fund.  There was also a 10K.  Start time of 8:30 a.m. for both races.  Mother Nature gave us a sunny morning, but a cool one with low dew-point and a temp around start time of around 68 degrees which is Fall weather in South Texas.  This was the 2^nd year for this event and I guess word got around after last year, as there were many more participants than for the inaugural event.  Besides the morning races, this was an all-day event that included many vendors, live music, games, and more.   You can find all that goes on at this event by going to this link:   http://saherofest.com/     I got to the park with about an hour to go to the start time and got some pre-start photos.

Firefighter Cadets

One of my friends and personal inspirations, cancer survivor Terry

With pal Bernadette

Various participants, supporters, volunteers, etc.

After I gave these doggies a treat, they had no problem looking in my direction toward the camera

The start area

This guy played The National Anthem on his trumpet

ON THE COURSE

Comanche Park is one of my favorite local parks to do a race/run in.  Good facilities, water fountains, nicely paved trails, many options for direction to go in, lots of shade along the course.  Course was out-and-back for both 5K and 10K on the park’s paved trails, with the 10K folks splitting off from the 5K participants at a point on the trail to continue on their own route. For the most part the 5K course was pretty flat with just a couple of inclines to go down and go up; nothing you could really call a ‘hill’ – unless you did not run hills; for those people it probably was a hill.    Nice flat part back to the finish.  I ended up with a finish time of 32:23.  The age groups were 10-year ones and I ended up 5^th in my 60-69 year old males group; there are some speedy old guys in my town, lol.

Over this small bridge...

crossing this 'roaring waterway"...   

In the finish line area...

AFTER MY FINISH

Post-race goodies included iced down Gatorade, water, Amstel X-Light beer, and locally founded and made Kiolbassa sausages, my personal favorites.  After re-hydrating, I enjoyed a cold brew and a sausage as I wandered around taking some after-photos.

Winners....the overall winners got firehats as their 'medals'

EPILOGUE

This one has quickly become a favorite race of mine, even though it is only 2 years old.  Nicely organized event at a great locale; really nice tech-tee race shirt; good course; and lots of post-race goodies and activities.  Also, no porta-potties needed, VERY nice, as Comanche Park has ample facilities, including a really large shaded pavilion to wind down in after the race, relax and enjoy your goodies and chatting with friends and fellow participants. This one is definitely a keeper on the race calendar, and will probably grow in the future.  I hope so because it is certainly a good cause.

MUCHO thanks to all the people who did all the hard work to make this one happen for the participants:  all the organizers, sponsors, volunteers, etc; law enforcement people that were out there for us; the firefighter cadets who participated; iaapweb for the course setup, tiing, results, etc;  and anyone else I may have not mentioned – apologies – who was involved.  Without all of you doing what you do, there would be no events for us participants to do, so thank you very much!