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/2017%20Race%20Reports/2017%20Race%20No%2065%20Dream%20Run%205K

A couple of the photos may not have come out so well; sorry about that.   Plus, at times post-race I forgot to wipe my sweaty lens - duhhhh - so there might be a smudge or two on some of them. And for a few, when I asked someone to take a photo for me, I forgot to tell him/her how to focus the camera, duhhh..   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 to save.  J

BEFORE MY START

My 65^th race of 2017 was Dream Run 5K on Sep 24^th.    Sponsored by Northwestern Mutual, this event supports childhood cancer research, with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation as the primary beneficiary this year. Also, a very personal event for many of we local runners and walkers who are friends of Jessica Heras, whose son, Michael, whose sarcoma cancer was found in 2016.  One of the bravest kids I know.  He recently turned 18 and at this young age has already had multiple surgeries and treatments.  This is an especially person and poignant event for him and his family, so a lot of us attend this event as a show of support and hope for them. No kid should ever have to go through this and, lord willing, someday a cure will be found to make it so.   Race start time of 8:30 a.m., with a kid’s run at 8 a.m.  Race area was at Eilan, an upscale community of apartments, business offices, shoppes, etc.  I arrived with about an hour to go to start time and it promptly started raining.  I don’t know what it is about this event, but it always seems to rain for this one; maybe some child angels up there who had childhood cancer are crying for all the children on Earth affected by this disease every time this event happens somewhere, who knows?  Like the past for this one, the rain did not last too long – stopped in time for us to do the event, and then started again a little while after we finished, go figure – as I wandered around getting some pre-start photos.

I have arrived....greeted by Old Glory and Texas flag and the unique Eilan style buildings

Various participants, volunteers, sponsors, supporters, etc

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation rep

The wine ladies...ready for post-race....participants could enjoy a post-5K glass of wine

My friend, Jessica - mother of Michael - and I think her husband (my old-man memory, darn it), sporting Michael Strong shirts. Lots of supporters buy and wear these in support of Michael and family.

iaap folks - course setup, timing, results...registration, packet pickup

Our Music Man...thanks for the tunes!

With friend George

and friend Irene

A little dance warmup before the start

I am a terrible dancer, so this DOG found an appropriate seat to wait for the start..

ON THE COURSE

I have done many races at Eilan, so know what to expect: 2 laps on paved roads that were mainly pretty hilly.  The hills were not really steep, they were just pretty long, with only a couple of flat parts in between all the climbs.   My first lap I ended up doing in 17-something and as I finished my first lap, the overall winner of the race was just about right beside me, finishing the entire 2-lap course in 17-something, good grief.  He stopped…and I had to keep going, lol, one more lap for me to do.   My second lap was actually a bit slower than my first – my legs started feeling the other 5K I had done the day before this one – and right before you go onto the part of the course that takes you to the finish there is a large downhill that gets me every time.  Because of my arthritis in my spine, downhills really pound my back more than uphills and on this steep downhill I have to slow down every time.  So I ended up with positive splits for the course and a chip time of 35:21.  And I was quite happy with that.  I also ended up 1^st in my age group (60 – 69) as I was the only male in my age group.  I think I was the oldest guy at the event, lol.

On my 2nd lap.....much less crowded road now...especially at my pace, lol.

I pretty much ran into the finish on the last part of the course with this lady, that was ahead of me at this point

My friend George coming up behind me

Nonstop to the finish after that; then waiting by the mat and got George finishing.

AFTER MY FINISH

Got some water, walked a bit, then sat resting for a bit, sipping my water, and then it was off to get some ‘after photos’ of the various people at the event.

Nice chat with this nice young lady as she let me share her bench as we sipped our water and relaxed postrace.

Some of the happy finishers, etc. 

My finish line partner

Another finish line partner...we ran in the same proximity for about the last half-mile of the course

Our MC (left) and a cancer research scientist helping and hoping to find a cure for children's cancer

My pal, Bernadette, as usual placed in her age group.  For this event, I think she was first Overall Masters Female

Gotta love small events, lol.  Only one in my age group today.

My friend, Edna, only one in hers too.  She also is a 'senior'...but a heckuva better looking senior than I am, lol.

EPILOGUE

Someone told me there were 250 registered for this event, but I don’t think they all showed up for whatever reasons, or maybe that number was in error.   Either way, for those of us who did show up, pretty nice little event, lots of camaraderie before, on the course, and after the event.  Everyone I was around at any given moment seemed to be enjoying themselves – except for maybe parts of those longer hills on the course – and lots of smiles all around – especially after we were all done.  Really nicely organized event, everything went off without a hitch, the kids run was fun to watch and cheer on the kids, and most of the Eilan residents knew about the race and avoided driving in the runner’s lane around the grounds, except for one idiot lady who actually drove IN the runner’s lane on the road – and our backs were to her in that lane -  instead of going the other way round which was open to traffic, a bit longer, but no participants on that side of the road.  I guess she decided whatever she had to do needed the shorter route, in spite of possibly whacking a runner.   Good grief.  Luckily she did not end up hitting anyone and all the participants around her gave shouts of warning to those ahead.  I believe the policeman at the last intersection we turned at to go to the finish had a few words with her when she got to the stop sign there.   Thank you, officer.   Aside from that little incident – which I have never before seen happen at any race I’ve done at Eilan; as said, the Eilan folks are usually quite considerate of us – everything else went pretty smoothly.  Pretty nice tech tee race shirts too.  Definitely will continue doing this one in the future.

MUCHO thanks to all the people who did all the hard work to make this one happen for the participants:  all the organizers, sponsors, volunteers, law enforcement and EMT folks that were there, iaap for the timing and course setup, the residents and business folks at Eilan for their patience, et al.     Without all of you doing what you do, there would be no events for us to do, so thank you very much!