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%2047%20Fredas%20Run%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.     All in all, 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 47^th race of 2017 and my second race of the July 8 – 9 weekend was Freda’s 5K, put on by iaapweb at 7 pm on July 8^th.  Held at McAllister Park this event is named in honor of the artist Freda.   Several entrants and volunteers – mostly ladies – showed up as Freda look-alikes.  Did not take me long to get to the race site as I only live a couple of miles from the park. The place was already buzzing as I wandered around getting photos.  It was also quite sunny, so sometimes got a bit of shadow and glow in some of the photos.

Our MC

Various participants

I have arrived...and encountered someone that looks like one of my exes...

ON THE COURSE

PM run so pretty darn warm at the 7 pm start time – around 95 degrees.  However, the humidity was only around 41%.  You can’t win either way in Texas summer running.  You run in the morning, the temp is lower but the humidity is higher.  You run in the late afternoon, evening, or even after dark, it’s vice versa.   Whomever laid out the course – and I’m assuming it was my friend Jose from iaap – did it brilliantly for us.  Well thought out, with a course that kept us for the majority of the race on all the park’s paved running trails that were heavily shaded, nice. We really were out in the bright sunshine for only for the part near the start and then again at the finish.  This is a pretty popular local annual event, so the trails were a bit crowded at the start, but that crowd began to string out pretty good after Mile 1, and everyone seemed to have plenty of room to maneuver.  This was a loop course, too, not an out-and-back, so that helped also.  For my first race on this Saturday I had done 32:04, and for this one I ended up with 32:40, so I was pretty consistent. The course was very flat too, which helped.  I did not place, as my age group was 60 – 99, lol, as there probably were not that many old geezers like me at this event.  Enough though to keep me from placing.  It’s all good, though,   Fun event and I got my prize after I finished – a nice really cold Alamo Beer pale ale. There were also sausage wraps and a few other goodies.

AFTER MY FINISH

Drank some water first, sat in the shade for a bit, rehydrated, then went and got my beer and wandered around taking some after photos.   For having just done a run in some major heat, some people looked really great.  Others – like me – were just totally sweat-drenched.  ALL participants were happy to be finished, lol.

EPILOGUE

I really liked this one a lot, especially the location.  McAllister Park is not used that much anymore for races – I don’t know why – but it is a much better location for a race than nearby Ladybird Johnson Park, which I am not fond of running a race in.  Better pavilion at McAllister, more room to spread out, better restroom, and more options for courses.  With LBJ Park it’s pretty much out-and-back (kind of a boring course too) but McAllister has so many different trails and park roads, you can do out-and-back or a loop course, or some kind of mix of routes, very nice.  I wish more RDs would do events at McAllister.

MUCHO thanks to all the people who did all the hard work to make this one happen for we participants and were out there for us:  iaapweb for the timing and course set up, all the volunteers, sponsors, etc..   Without all of you doing what you do, there would be no races for us participants, so thank you very much for what you do!