On Saturday, March 23, 2013, I did my 19th race of 2013:  Culinaria 5K Wine and Beer Run.  If you can't see the photos posted below, you can see my report and photos at this link:  http://community.runnersworld.com/displayForumTopic/content/6220027437540758

INTRO

I am Scott aka Scottydog, runner since 1983, cancer survivor, retired Air Force, 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.

SHORT VERSION REPORT

Race #19 for me for 2013.  La Culinaria Wine & Beer 5K -http://culinariasa.org/wine-festival/main/5k.php - was held at The Shops at La Cantera on March 23, 2013.  The race sold out and had 2,200 runners and 300 walkers.  About 62 degrees at start time, with a dark gray sky and quite humid, but the rain held off for the event.  I stopped a few times along the route to take photos and ended up finishing with a chip time of 32:06, which I felt was pretty speedy for an old arthritic dog like me.  The guy in my age group (55 - 59) who placed first did a very speedy 24:05, and 2nd and 3rd tied at 25:17.  Some fast old guys in my age group, lol.

LONG VERSION WITH PHOTOS

Before The Start

8 a.m. start time.  I got to the start/finish site about 50 minutes before start time, and a bit before sunrise.  Wandered around and took some pre-start photos.  The Shops of La Cantera is an "open-air" mall, where you walk through some pretty nice grounds (artwork, fountains, etc) as you go to each store.

Still pretty dark when I got to the area and was greeted by the Cheese Factory lights.

Some of the things being prepared for the post-race festivities..fruits, veggies, and drinks from H-E-B, a huge grocery chain in Texas; pancakes; and wine.

The empty start/finish area before all the participants were lined up for the start

The Shops at La Cantera had some interesting fountain artwork

"Buddy" the mascot of H-E-B

Me and Buddy

Participants/Supporters Pre-Start

Our Pancake Chefs

Others

About 15 minutes before the start there was a little 'dancercize' warmup and then everyone lined up at behind the start mat.

ON THE COURSE

The course was an out-and-back around the parking area of The Shops at La Cantera, finishing from where we had started.  Not much scenery except for the runners themselves, so that's what I got photos of, of course. From one point on the course, we did have a view of the top of the roller coaster at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, which is next door to The Shops.

AFTER THE RACE

Enjoying a cold brew after I finished

The chefs were very busy fixing pancakes for 2,500 finishers...

And, besides the pancakes,  all these "Happy Finishers" and supporters enjoyed a cornucopia of other goodies too.  There was various brands of wine, beer, soda, and water; cheeses, and fruits, and some type of pudding dessert-thingy I saw several people enjoying, I saw a few people with big pretzels, and lots of other stuff...one heck of an after party!  All accompanied by music being played by a DJ.  And a fun time was had by all!    The folks wearing the nicely designed shirt that has the red/black silhouette of a runner on the front are wearing the very comfortable tech-tee shirt that was the race shirt in all the goodie bags.  I'm wearing mine as I type this report.

EPILOG

A very fun event, with a nice goodie bag and shirt, good organization, lots of friendly participants, and really nice post-race festivities.  This was the 3rd year this event has been held - I'm on a 'streak', I've done all 3 - and this year the only negative thing was the out-and-back course, which got quite crowded as the runners and walkers passed each other coming and going.  Since I don't really care about my time and was doing run/walk and taking photos, it didn't bother me all that much - though I admit at some points it did get a bit aggravating being crowded in, and we  mid-and-back-of the pack folks really didn't get to 'stretch it out" until well after the halfway point. At one point on the course, I heard one guy behind me commenting to his friend "You know, I know I'm not going to win any medals or anything at my pace, but it would be nice to at least be able to run my normal pace."  lol.

To be fair to the race organizers, though, it really was not their fault. The plan was to use last year's course - a really nice loop course with plenty of room for everyone, but one of the race guys I chatted with post-race told me that about 2 weeks before Race Day, the La Cantera Police told the race folks they had to use the out-and-back course, take it or leave it. I don't know why they insisted on the change, maybe road repair or whatever, who knows.  Well, of course with the time frame it was way too late to change the venue, so they had to bite the bullet and just do it. Another race guy I talked to said if La Cantera insisted on that course next year, then they were seriously going to think about moving the race to another location.  Personally, if La Cantera does insist on the same course next year that was done this year, I think they are going to lose out, because if the race folks are forced to change the venue, La Cantera is going to lose some bucks from the folks who stick around the Shops for a while post-race, and the race may lose out too, cuz some runners probably won't register to run on this poor course. Hopefully, it can all be worked out.

Oh well, in spite of that little glitch, the majority of folks I saw seemed to be enjoying themselves quite a bit, and the Culinaria folks sure do put on a good post-race show.  Also, the race shirt this year was a great improvement over the shirt from the last 2 years, I heard a lot of really favorable comments on that.  Athlete Guild did the timing this year - love that company!  And not just because my good friend, Scott Wood, operates it. Athlete Guild always does a great job with the race course setup, timing, etc.  Hope Culinaria continues to use them.  This is a very popular local event, and continues to be on my race calendar each year.  If you're a runner who is ever in San Antonio when this one is being done, definitely do it.

Good stuff, Scotty.  Kind of weird that they'd change up the course so close to race day.  Pancakes and pretzels?  Sign me up!

Good stuff!

I don't know how you did it, but you managed to take a pic of all 2,500 participants lol!

I used to drink Miller Lite.  Not too long ago actually...and may yet again.

Beer? Wine? Pancakes? Running? Really adorable shirtless guys???? This is the race for me!!!! Great RR scotty

You have the best RR's scotty.  Love the pics!

Great report.  You had me at wine.

Great RR! Other than the out-and-back, sounds like you had a great time!