INTRO

I am Scott aka Scottydog - and sometimes Scotty Dogg - running 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.

Held on Sunday, February 1st, 2015 (Super Bowl Sunday - Go Seahawks!), this was my 4th race of 2015 and my 2nd of this weekend, after having done the Kinetic Kids 5K on January 31st.  This event supported Transplants for Children.  Event was held at Eilan, an 'everything" community in the San Antonio area that includes luxury residence apartments, resort hotel, business offices, shoppes, restaurants, etc.   The weather was much nicer today than for Saturday's event.  The rain had tapered off by Sunday and it was quite foggy, with a temp of about 62 degrees at the 9 a.m. start time, so not bad at all.  A little humid, though, at 90% humidity and a dewpoint in the low 60s. This is always a popular event so there were quite a few participants.  I'm not sure quite how many but at least 500 or so, maybe more.

BEFORE THE START

I'd picked up my bib number the day before so just had to get my timing chip on race day.  After that, with about 20 minutes to start time, I wandered around and got some pre-start photos.

The lonely start line before we all got started

Chip pickup volunteers - they were quite busy before the start, but things seemed to go pretty quickly

DJ keeping participants entertained

Some of the participants, volunteers, supporters, et al.....

In the start area, getting ready to go...

ON THE COURSE

I've done several 5Ks at Eilan - which is usually a 2-loop course around the community, simple and easy to manage- but never a 7K so I was curious as to how they were going to work the route for us to do a 7K.  I figured there would be some 'out-and-back' areas and that turned out to be the case.  We started in front of some residence apartments, offices, etc, did a little out-and-back, repassing the start line area - where I had to duck back into a building and  take a quick bathroom break, as I had forgotten to do so right before we got started and as soon as i started running, my bladder said "Hey..wait a minute..!"  ...it's hell having an old-man bladder at times... - , and then made a left and out onto the community roads.  We looped around these - with another short out-and-back along the way - and then repeated the roads loop again.  For the third loop we went about halfway and then turned back onto the road we'd originally come out and then back to the start/finish line the way we'd come out.  And as Eilan sits 'high' above Six Flags Fiesta Texas and overlooks The Rim shopping center, there definitely were some hills, we we ran more than once doing these loops.

One of our course volunteers...yay Air Force!

We had to do this particular hill 3 times

Awww...someone thinks I'm speedy...they put a speed bump here...

These good folks cruised the course, making sure everyone was okay.  I jokingly told them to meet me where I'd have about a mile left and give me a ride in...

AFTER THE FINISH

Well, in spit of my bathroom break shortly after the start, I surprised myself and managed to finish in 46:46 chip time.  In checking the results, I thought it was funny...my gun time was exactly 47:47 and my chip time was 46:46, lol.  How weird is that?   And then it was off to check the post-race goodies and I found what I wanted...

Beer!  Oh yeah...that Alamo Beer Brewery has some good stuff!

Wait...Do Over...we weren't ready....now we are...is the photo tipsy or is the beer just making me see it that way? 

And, of course, some of the "Happy Finishers", supporters, volunteers, etc....

This lady and I were pretty much in proximity of each other for the whole race.  She'd pass me during my walk breaks...I'd catch back up during my running segments.  Very nice lady, I enjoyed meeting her and chatting with her.

EPILOG

A very nice event!   Lots of friendly people, DJ playing music for us, nice post-race goodies and a somewhat scenic course - nice views of some of the surrounding areas when we were on top of some of the course hills.  The only glitch I saw was the course o the second lap we did - - not for the slower runners like me, but for the poor 'front of the pack" people; I really felt sorry for them because those speedier front-of-the-pack people were lapping we slower runners on parts of the 2nd lap and for some of them it was kind of like running an obstacle course through we slower runners on parts of the course.  Eilan really does not have a lot of roads to work with, so if the event is held here next year, I don't know if the route can be redesigned or not.   Maybe those faster runners can get a 10-minute head start or something before we slower runners start.  I really don't know; but I hope the RD can work something out for those speedier folks.

Aside from that, really nice!  I'd do this one again...even with all those hills.    Mucho thanks to all the volunteers, security, law enforcement, etc., all those folks out there for us who made this event happen.  And iaapweb.com racing company did their usual great job of results, managing the course, etc.   And thanks to the folks on the bikes who rode up and down the course making sure everyone was okay.

Next up for me:  Heart and Soul 5K on February 7th in the Stone Oak area.  Stone Oak...probably more hills! 

Did it feel hot with all that humidity, or cool because of the fog?  Either way, you get wet.  Nice RR, as usual.

Wow, Scotty.  Was there a flat area anywhere on that course?  It all looks either up or down!  I'll bet your recliner felt pretty good after that.