Barking Mad To Run
INTRO AND SHORT VERSION REPORT
I am Scott aka Scottydog aka Scotty Dogg, 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
This was Race number 23 for me for the year 2015. Held on May 3, this was my 2nd 5K of the weekend, after doing the Alamo Beer 5K on May 2. This race supports "Girls On The Run" (http://www.gotrsanantonio.org/ ) which has a mission to "inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running." My good running friend, Sally Seeker was one of the organizers for this year's event and invited me to participate and do a race report, as I did for her last year too. Weather was actually pretty nice, in the low 60s with low humidity and dew-point, and some nice cloud cover. The venue was Martin Luther King Park, which has paved trails that are part of the San Antonio trails 'greenway" system. This course was much flatter than the somewhat hilly Alamo Beer 5K, so I actually finished a few seconds faster than yesterday's 5K, finishing in 32: 53. This was good enough for 2nd in my age group (60 - 69)...especially as there were only two IN my age group, lol.
LONG VERSION REPORT WITH PHOTOS
Pretty nice turn-out for this one, lots of "Girls On The Run" teams with their coaches, several parents running with their daughters - and sons too - lots of friends of he girls out running also, and several of us adult runners out there supporting the cause. It was quite a nice mix of quite runners of quite a variety of ages out there. Kudos to Black Girls Run! who were some of our on-course volunteers at the water stops, etc., and also ti iRun Texas, a really good local running store who also had volunteers out there
Before the Start
I got up before dark - mainly because I'm an idiot and thought the race started at 8 a.m., but when I looked ay my 'races calendar" I saw it was 9 a.m. start...duhhhh. So I had some breakfast, and took my time getting myself hydrated and then left to get there at least a bit early. Probably a good thing, too, MLK Park parking lot is fairly small, so parking there was crazy and even parking lot next to the park that we could use was full. However "George" was watching out for me and as I came up near a space, someone was leaving it, so I waited and then was able to park quite close to the start/finish area. Thank you George - my Hawaiian "menehune" (leprechaun) that I "adopted" when I was in the Air Force and stationed in Hawaii and he's been with me ever since, keeping me safe and bringing me luck when I need it at times.
So out of the car, got my timing chip, and then got some pre-start photos of participants, their supporters, race volunteers, et al.....
My friend and race organizer, Sally, with fellow volunteer
Lauren and Adrian (red shirts) had also done the Alamo Beer 5K on Saturday with me, so 2nd race of the weekend for them too
Quite a busy little place already by the time I got to the park
Three active duty Air Force guys and one old retired Air Force guy
I figured they needed a photo by themselves to make it more "beautiful' without that fat old guy in there...
This lovely lady - one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet - is the RD for this event.
Pre-race stretching routine being done
Getting read to start
On the Course
One thing San Antonio now has is a great system of parks with these 'greenway trails." This trailway system did not even exist when I moved to San Antonio 20 years ago, so we've come a long way since then for our hike-bike-run community. Lots of the trails of the various parks connect, so you can go a long ways on some of them. MLK Park for some reason is one of the lesser used parks but it is a very nice park with some very nice trails, and lots of shade trees along the trails. It is pretty much flat in this park too, which makes it easier on the legs - especially after a hilly 5K the day before. Course for this race was an out-and-back so, at my slow pace, I got to see several of the speedier runners heading back to the finish after they made the turn-around point.
On the way to the turn-round point:
Made the turn-around point and with other people on the right, heading back to the finish.
Thanks for the water and the smiles, ladies!
Headed back to the finish non-stop after that. With about 1/4 mile to go, ran near a dad and his daughter. I was ahead of them for a bit but right near the finish, the little lady found her mojo and zipped right by me near the finish mat, beating me in by about 5 seconds or so. Way to go young lady, finishing strong!
After the Finish
The speedy little lady that burned me at the finish - here with her Dad.
Her Dad kindly let me have a photo with her...I WAS trying to smile, but was still panting from lack of breath from her making me 'race".
More "Happy Finishers", volunteers, et al...
Our MC, Lana, calling out the names and numbers as people finished
My friend, Mitch, owner of iRun, photo-bombing these two, lol.
Redo for them...
Big hearts...Mitch (orange shirt) and Lauren, who were first overall male (22:42) and female (21:40) - went back out on the course to cheer on participants still on the course and then ran back in a second time, keeping some folks company.
My UTSA co-worker Alma, with my friends MC Lana and Race Volunteer Minnie
Alma and her daughter, who also did the race
Epilog
Always a friendly and fun event for a great cause. Nice race venue - although if this popular race keeps getting any bigger, it might have to be moved to a larger park - lots of friendly people, good course, lots of post-race activity going on. I saw lots and lots of smiles at this event and it's great seeing these young ladies achieving success with their running. And it's usually done on a Sunday, so get little competition from other local events. Definitely a worthwhile event to put on your race calendar, so, runners, keep an eye out for it next year! Much thanks to all the volunteers, sponsors, organizers, law enforcement, EMT, running companies, etc....all the folks that made this one happen for we participants! iaapweb.com, as usual, did their great job of course set-up and timing results.
Next up for me: Race 24, Jon's Stroll 5K on May 9th at Wheatley Heights Sports complex.
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt
I'm sure you enjoyed following all the lovely ladies. Nice that it's such a popular event.
Why do some of the girls have bibs with just the number 1 and others have regular bibs?
Sounds like a nice race and a good cause. I like organizations that encourage young people to run. At the community center where I volunteer, they have done a couple of cycles where they train the youth for a race (one was a half-marathon and the other was a mud/obstacle run thing). I'm going to remind the guy in charge of it that I'm willing to help out with the training if he wants to do another.
Sounds like a great event, Scotty! I did a girls on the run race last year with a girl from my school, although from my perspective towards the back of the pack, I'm not sure there was much of a race, even on the front. It was still a good day out for a good cause, though! Glad you had a good time.
I'm sure you enjoyed following all the lovely ladies. Nice that it's such a popular event. Why do some of the girls have bibs with just the number 1 and others have regular bibs?
All the girls who are members of 'Girls On The Run" all got bib #1 because they are all "No. 1." Non-members and the adult team captains and the girls' adult 'running buddy" mentors all got regular bibs.
It looks like a lot of people showed up for this one.
Cool. This is a good cause.
Your race report always delivers the goods. Love the photographs.