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/2016%20Race%20Reports/2016%20Race%2067%20Gruene%20Turkey%20Trot

BEFORE THE START

This was my 67th race of 2016.  Everyone usually just calls this the Gruene (pronounced "green") Turkey Trot.  This race's official title is "Comal Cops for Kids Gruene Turkey Trot" - Gruene is in Comal County -  and supports law enforcement efforts to benefit the children of the community through programs such as Green Santa and Blue Santa.  This one is close to the hearts of law enforcement, so lots of officers in evidence.  Also, with the recent murder of an officer in San Antonio, and other officers arund the country,  this was an especially poignant day for these officers, with all these folks coming together to support their cause, and with good thoughts and prayers for the fallen officers and their families before the race started. Held in historic Gruene,, about a 30 - 40 minute drive from San Antonio.  Race start time of 8:30 a.m.  I arrived with about an hour to go to start time.  Had already picked up my packet previously, so plenty of time to wander around and get some photos before the start.  This is a dog-friendly event too, so there were quite a lot of them out there.  I ran out of dog biscuits, handing out my treats, lol.

Two of the first people I encountered were Blue and Green Santa.

In jolly fashion they allowed a photo with Red Scottydog

I also encountered these volunteers who were busy preparing the wraps and sausages for after the race.  These folks had to be on site REALLY early to get everything going.  Thank you all for being there for us!

Some other goodies that would be waiting for the participants after the event

My friend, Scott Wood, of Athlete Guild, that did the course setup, timing, results, etc., and his sister.   We had a nice chat before things got going.

Others; from the "brightness" and shadows in some of these photos, you can see we had "abundant" sunshine

Love the dog's pose, lol.

My speedy friend Bernadette.  This was around her 73rd or 74th race of the year.

He's incognito...

...the disguise comes off! 

Ahead of me at the start crowd

Behind me..

ON THE COURSE

After a prayer and the National Anthem, the 5K started in front of Gruene Hall - where a lot of famous musicians often perform - wound around the small 'downtown' area, and then a loop route that took us through a nearby neighborhood, onto a small portion of a local road, back into another neighborhood, and then back to the start/finish line. Course was fairly flat for most of the way, with just some small inclines here and there, nothing you could really call a hill. Weather was great - sunny, blue skies, around  53 degrees or so at start time - which is a bit chilly for some of we South Texans, lol - and very low dew-point and humidity.   For this event there were about 1,900 registered - don't know if all of them showed up, but it made for quite a slow start for we middle-and-back of the pack people.   I did okay, though.  Even with my run/walk method and talking photos along the way, I managed to finish in 33:48.  I was 15th in my age group of 60-64.  My speedy friend Jerry - 63 years young, and so in my age group too -  finished first in our age group with a time of 22-something.

This  Lady in Pink came along right as my watch beeped for me to run again.  I ran with her until my next walk break.  We had a nice chat, and I hope I did not bore her too much, lol.  After my watch beeped to walk again, she went ahead and I never saw her again, not even after I finished.  Maybe I did bore her too much.

The short 'open road" part of the course.   This is a huge annual event for Gruene, so most of the drivers know about it, and all were pretty careful, driving very slowly when they were around the runners and walkers.

After that last photo, it was nonstop for me the last 1.2 miles all the way back to the finish.

AFTER MY FINISH

Drank some water, walked around a bit to cool down....and then found the beer and sausages.

That is a lot of sausages. I though this was a good idea...stick 'em all into this big tub and then we just come by and pick some up..no standing in line, nice.

Some of the "sausage ladies" who were helping prepare everything.  Thank you!

As I drank my beer and ate my sausage, I had a nice chat with these two, who were visiting from Washington State - where my wife is from, actually;  on their way to Florida, as the son qualified for an AAU event there.  The kid is speedy....he was something like 11th overall and placed in his age group too, I believe.  Very nice people.

And after that....wandering around taking random photos of 'happy finishers, volunteers, family/supporters of the participants, etc.

This is one well-behaved and trained doggie

Of course, he wanted me to get a photo of him with his humans too... 

Still timing incoming runners and walkers, printing out and posting results, etc...

Two Turkeys

With two cancer survivors....they had much more of a trial with theirs than I did with mine.  God bless all survivors!

With another speedy friend, Mitch, of iRun Texas - great San Antonio  running store and race management company.

And now with Jerry Gonzalez, that VERY speedy guy in my age group.

I only see these two before and after the race, never on the course at my pace, lol.

Every time I see this lady on Santa's left,  I always think it is my friend, Monica; but nope...it's Monica's doppelganger.  One day I am going to get Monica and her together to prove they are not the same person.

"Sheriff Turkey".   He led the Kids Race after the main event was done.  Okay, he got chased by the kids at the kid's run, lol.  Always a good sport.

EPILOGUE

Love this event.   Nice tech tee race shirts, really good course - and fairly flat too for those who want to shoot for a 5K PR, this is a pretty good course to try that on - at least for the speedy front-runners; with the rest of us, it is kind of a crowded start with this many participants.  Also, a very good cause. This one definitely will continue to be on my race calendar in the future.  Mucho thanks to all the people that made this one happen for us:  Law enforcement, sponsors, volunteers, city/town employees, and the residents of Gruene for their patience in letting hundreds of people invade their space for a while.

My wife, by the way, did a 5K in San Antonio, which was sponsored by H-E-B (a Fortune 500 company, groceries and more, headquartered in San Antonio) which supported the San Antonio Food Bank.  Her race had 3,000 participants so was even more crowded than my event.

Those Texas Turkey Trots are huge!  I like the costumes in honor of the turkeys.  People in SA really like to have fun at their races.