Beginners and Beyond

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2017 Race #62 Loteria (Mexican Bingo) 5K (Read 2 times)

scottydawg


Barking Mad To Run

    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%2062%20Loteria%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

    Zoo Relay done Friday night, Sep 16.  El Grito 5K done the morning of Sep 17th.  Now it was time for my 62nd race of 2017, the Loteria 5K, start time 6:30 pm on Sep 17th in McAllister Park, a very popular hike-bike-and-run area with both paved and off-road trails, soccer fields, baseball fields, dog-park, etc. Thankfully I only live about 2 miles from this park, so I pretty much took it easy for the whole day and then it was over to the park for my 3rd race of the weekend.  This race is put on by local race management company iaap.  The theme is ‘Mexican Bingo’ and a lot of participants dress up like the characters on the Mexican Bingo cards, and there was a costume contest for this too. I arrived with about an hour to go before start time and wandered around taking some photos and making sure to keep drinking water, as it was a ‘cool’ 92 degrees outside; 92 in mid-Septemember…yep, that’s the start of our Texas Fall, lol.

     

     

     

    One of my favorite runs upcoming in November

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    With friend of more years than I care to count how long we've been friend, Sally

     

     

    friend Margaret as La Dame

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    OK, these guys...crazy in that heat.  They said they were going to have a chicken race, lol.  I told them not to get arrested for cock fighting.

     

     

     

    2nd race of the weekend for Bernadette

     

    And here we go.....

     

     

     

     

    ON THE COURSE

    Paved trails on the park on a loop course – with the exception of a VERY ANNOYING little out-and-back we have do on one of the park roads right before we head back to the finish.  Ok, lol, most of the participants don’t find it that annoying, but it just bugs the hell outta me, lol, cuz when I get to the end of that last paved trail, I just want to turn left and head right to the finish.  Yeah, I know, waaaahhh, suck it up, buttercup, and keep moving!  But one of these days I am going to convince my iaap friend, Jose, to change the end of that darn course…gotta figure out what to bribe – umm, I mean CONVINCE – him with.   After 2 races done already, again, I just took it easy, had fun with it, ended up with a time of 37:05 chip time.  All good.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    no, no, I want to go the other way, right to the finish!

     

     

     

    AFTER MY FINISH

    Got some water first, re-hydrated, cooled down a bit and then off to get the good stuff – this race had Alamo Beer – my favorite local beer from local Alamo Beer Brewery – and Kiolbassa sausages – my favorite sausages – Kiolbassa company founded in San Antonio! - and the only brand that does not upset my stomach.  Hmmm, I wonder if they’d sponsor me…I kinda look like a sausage…  Really hit the spot as I wandered around and got after-race photos.

     

     

     

     

    My friend Jim, very speedy, was first in our age group

     

     

     

     

    Play that funky music....

     

    Carolyn, also doing multiple races this weekend

     

     

     

     

     

    Bernadette and our friend, Bob.  She placed, as usual

     

    One of my crazier friends, lol.  Don't let the outfit fool you..this guy is pretty quick and often places.

     

     

     

     

    EPILOGUE

    This is one of the most fun races of the year, even though it usually is a pretty warm one, given the time of year it’s done; but, hey, it’s Texas, this is what we live with, especially in South Texas, lots of warm. Music Man playing tunes for us, lots of costumed folks, nice race shirts, good course – would be a PERFECT course without that out-and-back thing Wink – lots of post-race goodies.  Done this one many times before, will do it many times again, lord willing.

    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, et al.     Without all of you doing what you do, there would be no events for us to do, so thank you very much for what you do!   And, as this was an “open course – so other runners, walkers, cyclists who were not race participating were also using the path –thanks for the patience of those folks as they sometimes had to stop to let the race crowd pass.

    "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt

    GinnyinPA


      I always love the costumes in this race. Did the race t-shirts show all the different lottery characters as well? I remember from last year that people could choose which one they wanted, IIRC.