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.   

Slide show of photos only:

http://s166.photobucket.com/user/scottydog69/slideshow/2017%20Race%20Reports/2017%20Race%20No%2078%20Country%20Run%205K?sort=2 

Before The Start

This was my 78th race of 2017.  Held on Nov 12, at Freeman Coliseum, which is right next to AT&T Center, the home of the NBA San Antonio Spurs. The Coliseum grounds are also the home of the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo in February, so lots of big storage buildings, stock 'showing area' buildings, warehouses,  and so forth. The Country Run is put on by CST Brands Inc., which does business as Corner Store, a convenience store associated with Valero Energy Corporation and their Valero gas stations and their other fueling stations in other states.  This event is put on at various cities around the country.  This is a pretty popular local event and usually has a good turnout. The proceeds benefit a nonprofit chosen by CST.  In the past few years this has been Big Brothers/Big Sisters in San Antonio. I forget which one it was this year.

8:30 a.m. start for the timed runners.  There was also a non-timed Fun Run and a 5K walk.  I got onsite with about an hour to go before start time and got a few pre-start photos.

The lonely start/finish line before everyone lined up

With my better half, my wife Gail

A sample of what some of the inflatables looked lik

Friends and various participants

This lady led a pre-start warm up

Getting ready to go...ahead of me and behind me...

On The Course

Temp was in the mid 60s, fairly humid, with rain/drizzle threatening.   Where I was, never did get rained on or drizzled on.  Gail told me later that the fun-run people and walkers farther back behind the timed runners did get some misting rain on them.  We started near the Freeman Coliseum and then did a short route through the parking lot area. Crossed a road and headed onto the paved trails of a nearby golf course.  Kind of crowded at times, but where I was at any given time, everyone was pretty polite about moving over for faster people coming up, moving to the grassy areas when walking, and so forth.  Never saw anyone fall, thank goodness.  We did a loop on golf trails that took us back to the street, crossed the street back into the parking lot area, and then back to the start/finish line.

This guy gave me a 'high sign" as he passed me.

After the Finish

I ended up with a time of 34:07.  Not sure where I placed in my age group because I had another race this same morning that started at 10 a.m.   Saw a few friends on my way to my vehicle and got a couple of after-photos, but not many, cuz I had to hustle on over to my next event at Freetail Brewery, a local area brewery.  I did make it in time to do my 2nd 5K of the morning.

Everyone got this 'country ribbon' finisher medal

With some friends on my way to get to my next event

Epilogue

Have done this one every year since it started. It is a nicely organized event and after the finish, participants can go inside the Coliseum and enjoy post-race snacks - a whole lot of goodies - various brands of beer, and there was even wine; lots of vendors giving away freebies, and there were even various carnival-type games too.  This race has 'evolved' because it used to be done strictly in the parking lot area. This year the course was quite good; and along the way, there were giant blow-up "balloons" of farm animals, 'country-theme' balloons, etc.  There is also usually a couple of musicians out there playing as we go along, but with the wet weather, none this year, probably because they could not plug-in.  Even so, pretty nice.   I would definitely do this one again and recommend it to others.  However, I have heard rumors it may not be done anymore. CST Brands/the corner stores were acquired this year by a Canadian company that owns the Circle-K stores, so the CST stores will probably be re-branded and so who knows what will happen with this race for next year.  Again, this is only conjecture and rumor from people I have chatted with, so I have no idea how much truth is in it; it may be that the race will still go on. All we can do is wait-and-see.  Hope it does continue though, it sure is a good one.

MUCHO THANKS to CST Brands, Corner Store employees, volunteers, law enforcement out there for us, sponsors, vendors, etc., all the people who made this one happen for we participants.  Without all of you, no race for us, so thank you very much!