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

I don’t have great camera skills and take photos with a camera that is like me  - old fashioned, lol - so sorry if a photo appears a bit blurry, etc.  However, they are free to save, share, etc.

Here is yet another of my photo reports.  Full report below.     

Link to photos only:

http://s166.photobucket.com/user/scottydog69/slideshow/2018%20race%20reports/2018%20Race%20Number%2077%20Battle%20of%20Leon%20Creek%205K/2018%20Race%20Number%2078%20Endurathon%205K?sort=2

BEFORE MY START

My 78^th race of 2018 was the Endurathon 5K on Nov 11.  Put on by the San Antonio Roadrunners, the largest and oldest running club in San Antonio, the main races for this event are the 30K and the 15K.  I think the 30K and 15K also had a 2-person relay option too, if I remember correctly.  The 5K was added this year, which was nice, so old fogies like me who can’t run distance anymore can participate too.  Location was at the Bulverde TX community center.  Bulverde is a small community in Comal County, located about a 30-minute drive from where I live near the San Antonio airport.  The 5K was the last event to start, at 8:15 a.m., with the 15K starting at 8 a.m. and the 30K starting at 7:30 a.m.   I arrived at race site at about 7:15 a.m., got my timing chip, and then wandered around getting a few pre-start photos.

Welcome to the Endurathon 30K, 15K, and 5K on Nov 11, 2018.  Happy Veterans Day and thank you for your service to all my fellow veterans.

Our MC, Bob, who did his usual great job

Music and sound man

My friends Whit the Human and Chance the dog who, when he sees me, comes right over, cuz he knows I have treats for him.

Various participants, volunteers, supporters....

Getting ready to start

ON THE COURSE

Compared to the 5K I had done on Nov 10, the weather was much nicer.  No wind, thank goodness, and a bit warmer than Saturday, with temps in the low 50s.  Very cloudy and overcast as rain was predicted to move in for Sunday night.  It was actually pretty good running weather.  After getting rid of a dry, warm shirt I had under my race shirt – saving that to keep warm for after the race – I felt just fine running in my short-sleeved tech shirt, as long as I kept moving. The 30K AND 15K folks had pretty hill courses from what participants told me after.  The majority of the 5K course was pretty flat most of the way.  We started from the community center parking lot, went down a hill, turned onto the main road of Bulverde, went down and incline and then went toward town on a pretty flat route.  This was an open road so we had to watch out for traffic. The drivers I saw at any given point where I was were pretty polite and patient about it all and slowed and made way for us.  After getting to a turn-round point, we went back the way we had come out.  This, of course, resulted in that downhill start and downhill incline now being up before we finished, but it was not a very long climb, especially compared to what the other races had to deal with. I ended up with a chip time of 34:01 and was happy with that.  No awards except for the top 3 males and females in each race, but results were posted for everyone to see their times.

Bulverde is very rural, and a pretty small town, so we had 'country road' views along our route

I believe this was the first 5K guy, heading to the finish

Heading into Bulverde to get to our turn-round point

Looking behind me.  This is how it was for a lot of the course.  Runners on the road, with vehicles sometimes near us.  As said previously, from what I saw the drivers were pretty polite, cautious and patient about it all.

Water stop.   This was a bit after the turn-round point, on the way to the finish.  Bummer, they did not have any beer there. 

Heading to the finish now, and looking behind me. Back out onto the open road

After I finished, got a pic of my friend Daniel coming in

And a couple more coming in

This lady I was in proximity with for most of the course.

AFTER MY FINISH

First thing: go find the dry shirt I had left at the start/finish area and got that back on.   Ahh, much better.  Some really nice post-race goodies including some kind of frito pie, lots of various fruits, cookies (my favorite dessert, lol; I had two), and also lots of water, various types of soda…and Shiner Bock beer, nice.  Munching on my cookie and drinking my beer, I wandered around getting some after-photos of the happy finishers, volunteers, supporters, etc.

Happy Veteran's Day.  A few of us dressed accordingly, including these two volunteers I was with post-race. I also had on my USA flag socks.

MC Bob announcing the incoming runners while Raf of iaap does the timing and results

My speedy friend Don (left) with another speedy fellow.  You think I do a lot of races?  This was Don's 84th race of the year or there-about.  He is shooting to do 100 races this year.

Happy finishers

Thank you volunteers/sponsors

Yay beer!

More happy finishers, etc.

Two happy finishers and a volunteer... nice sweatshirt...go Cougars!

My friend Kim did the 15K

Show us your shoes! lol.

I believe these were the crazy ones....   30K people if I remember correctly

Hey, friend Don!  I found your doppelganger!

EPILOGUE

San Antonio Roadrunners put on some really quality events and this one was no exception.  Really nice long-sleeved race shirts, nice 5K course – and probably challenging courses for the longer runs – and very nice after-party with lots of goodies and an open community center where you could pop in every once in a while to get out of the weather and get warmed up a bit and sit and relax.  I would certainly do this 5K again in the future and would recommend it to others.

Thanks to all the people that made this one happen for us; San Antonio Roadrunners board, staff, and all the volunteers and the event sponsors,  iaapweb local race management company for the timing and results; law enforcement out there for us, the bike EMT folks watching out for all the participants, ready to be there for us if necessary (thankfully, it was not necessary as far as I know) and all the sponsors and vendors and anyone else whom I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all for making this one happen for we participants.