INTRO

I am Scott aka Scottydog, 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.

THE DETAILS

This was Race #1 of 2015, after having done 74 races in 2014.   The Cobweb Chaser is put on annually by the San Antonio Roadrunners, the largest running club in San Antonio, of which I am a member.   10 a.m. start time on New Year's Day, with the weather being cloudy, a little rainy drizzle, temperature of 37 degrees with a 'feels like' temp of 29...that is pretty cold for we warm-weather South Texans, especially considering on Monday at the beginning of the week the temp had been in the 70s.   This race was a club 'fun-run" with only the first female and male finisher getting an award.  All participants had Bib #1 to start off the New Year.  There were also some post-race door prizes, none of which I won, darn the luck.  For my first event of the year I finished at 33:33, which I though was pretty funny.  Maybe that is a sign I will have a nice 'even' year for 2015. 

BEFORE THE START

I only live about a mile from McAllister Park where the 5K was held, so I got to sleep in a bit extra than probably some of the participants who had to drive a bit more distance.   Maybe about a 100 or so participants.    Due to the drizzly weather, a lot of folks were crowding together under the pavilion where race-day registration and packet pickup was.

Yours Truly, your host for this report.  I am wearing 2 layers underneath this shirt.  I am sure my 'real winter' running friends in the midwest, central,  and north states would be laughing their butts off at that, lol, 3 layers for 30-something degrees.   And yes, I do color coordinate my socks, shirt, and shoes, lol.   My wife once asked me, when I started doing that, if I was having a mid-life crisis. I told her be happy...it's better than a blonde and a motorcycle.  

I got my stuff and then wandered around getting some pre-start photos of volunteers, participants, and those who had come out to support their runners of choice.

I jokingly told the guy in the middle I was going to photoshop his jacket since I grew up in the DC area and am a Redskins fan...

Two lovely ladies with their Ninja friend.... 

These two are wearing the long-sleeved New Year's race shirt all participants got..

ON THE COURSE

McCallister Park is the largest park in San Antonio, consisting of park roads,  paved trails, off-road trails, soccer fields, baseball field, playgrounds, protected wildlife, etc.   There are also a multitude of restrooms and water fountains around the park so runners training for distance events train here a lot as they don't usually have to carry any water, etc.  Right adjacent to the park is a San Antonio police sub-station, so this park is well patrolled with bike police and police cars going through the park...and you never know, some of the runners may be police officers too, getting in their runs.  Nothing is guaranteed to be 100 percent safe, of course, but this is usually one of the safest parks in San Antonio.   The 5K course started on a park road, then a loop on paved trails, and then finished back the way we had started.

AFTER THE FINISH

Most of the last mile, I was in the proximity of these two ladies.  I train a lot in this park so know the trails quite well and I just wound around them, using all the inside curves I knew were coming up.  Both these ladies seemed to appreciate my knowledge of the park, and just followed me right on in to the finish.  They graciously allowed me to get some photos.

Got some photos of some other "Happy Finishers" near the finish line area.

My friend, Bob, making a call to a-peel to someone, probably...

Then it was back to the pavilion where the goodies were being served up....

...including my first "race beer" of 2015....yeah!

There was also this really tasty quiche dish, some types of fruit.....

...and black-eyed peas being served by this lovely lady.   It was also quite nice and warm near the steam rising from the pot.   I am not fond of black-eyed peas myself, but my wife Gail told me I had BETTER bring her a cup of them back home.  So I made sure NOT to forget...she did get her black-eyed peas.   In 30 years of marriage, I've learned a thing or two...  

More "Happy Finishers", volunteers, et al.....

On the way home,  I stopped and enjoyed a few fun moments of watching some deer out grazing and the little ones playing...or is what the young ones do called "gamboling"?  Anyway, they seemed to be having fun.  The deer in the park are protected and used to people so after the older ones kinda watched me to make sure I was not some kind of threat, all the deer pretty much ignored me after that. I wish they would ignore me when I was running.  I've run in this park for about 20 years now and I've probably been knocked down by deer about 20 times.   They've never yet actually hit me, thank goodness!  But sometimes when I am doing an off-road trail run here, they will come bounding out across the trail, quite close, making me back-pedal and fall right on my keister.  I swear, sometimes I think they lie in wait for me, like I'm their comic relief or something, lol...."Shhh, shhh!  Here he comes!  Wait for it....."  

My camera flash kinda 'lit' their eyes up, so they almost look like deer from a "Twilight Zone" or "Outer Limits" episode or something, lol.

Bonus Photo:  Official Photographer Tom caught me on the course....

EPILOG

Nice course, lots of post-race goodies,  friendly people, lots of runner comradery.   A bit brisk for this event - our normal high for around this time of year is usually in the low 60s - but a very nice way to start off the New Year.  Thanks you San Antonio Roadrunners, and all the volunteers, sponsors, law enforcement, etc., who make this event possible and who were out there for us on this brisk day.   Also, thanks to SARR photographer Tom, who took all the 'official' photos for this event.  You can check those out on the San Antonio Roadrunners website and their facebook page.

After I got home, I chatted with my wife about the race.  Our cat, P2 (for "Paisley 2", because she is almost a twin for our older cat, Paisley, same coloring, etc), who loves to sleep on this tray, was, as you can see, thrilled to hear my event story.. SO thrilled, she gave me a razzberry... 

"You woke me up for THIS?'

"Uh huh..thanks a lot..."

Great work Scotty. 74 more to go!