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

A couple of the photos may not have come out so well; sorry about that.    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. 

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

Link to photos only:

http://s166.photobucket.com/user/scottydog69/slideshow/2018%20Race%20Reports/2018%20Race%20Number%2015%20North%20Shore%20Shuffle%205K?sort=2

Before My Start

My 15th race of 2018 was the North Shore Shuffle 5K held on March 3 in Spring Branch TX, about a 45-minute drive from where I live in San Antonio. Race start and  finish was at Rebecca Creek Elementary School. This was a fairly small event with about 60 or so participants, runners and walkers. The school kindly gave us use of the grounds and the building, so nice to have inside restrooms and water fountains accessible. Very friendly people and this event felt like a 'neighborhood get-together' for an enjoyable time.  This was my first time doing this event.  I arrived with about an hour to go to start time and got a few photos.

Race shirt

Have arrived at the race site

Our race Director (left) and the guy who was our MC

My friends from Athlete Guild did the timing, results, etc.

Army Jr. ROTC Color Guard for the National Anthem

Various participants

I think me and Neal were two of the oldest guys there

On The Course

The race venue was quite close to locally man-made Canyon Lake.  Our course took us through a very nice neighborhood with some beautiful homes along the way and a couple of 'vista views' of Canyon Lake in the distance.  There were a couple of hills on the course too.  Roads were open to traffic and I did see some drivers on the road along the way; the ones I saw were pretty polite about being careful of us.  Apparently not too friendly though, lol.  I gave the little "Texas hand-and-fingers-flip-up" wave to all the drivers coming toward me and got no response from any of them, sheesh.  Maybe that's a good thing, though, means they were paying attention to driving.   I ended up with 33 minutes and change for my finish time and got a medal in my age group...since I was the only one in my age group, lol.  There were two older guys than me, both in their 70s, and they each got an award too.

Nice view of some of the distant hill country

Some nice homes in this neighborhood

Yep, it was a bit hilly in places

Thanks volunteers!

On the road that heads us back to the finish

This finishing lady ran a bit with me on the course

After My Finish

Post race goodies were bottled water, energy bars, various fruits - the oranges were really good - and so forth. I sipped my water, sucked on my orange and wandered around taking post-race photos.

We are done!

She also got a medal

The 3 oldest guys there

The two 70-and-up guys got medals also

Epilogue

As said, first time I've ever done this one.   Event was nicely organized and a pretty nice race shirt too.  Some really nice views of the lake from the course.  Not a whole lot of post-race goodies - can I bring my own beer next time for post-race? - but understandable, given what their race budget probably is. I would do it again and would recommend it.  It is just a really nice, kinda 'down-home' small race with lots of good people there, and also dog friendly too.

Mucho thank to all the race organizers, volunteers, law enforcement out there for us, the school for giving us access to grounds and the building and, of course, to all the sponsors for the support. No race for we participants without you doing what you do, so thank you!