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.    Also, i picked up my 'wrong' camera for this event, my older camera that I need to get rid of, so that contributed to some of the photos being blurry, sorry about that.  Most of them came out okay.

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%2036%20District%204%205K

Before My Start

My 36th race of 2018 was District 4 5K held on May 12, 2018 at Port San Antonio, which was previously known as Kelly Air Force Base. There was also a 10K. This event was a free 5K put on by San Antonio City Councilman Rey Saldana and District 4 as part of the San Antonio Fit program to encourage San Antonio citizens to be active and stay/get healthier. Fit San Antonio includes not only 5Ks but all kinds of other activities at various times over the year.  Event start time was 8 a.m.  This is a popular event - especially as it is free - so had quite a few participants.  Someone told me afterwards around 2,000 or so, but not sure how accurate that is.  There sure were a lot of people there though!  I arrived with about 45 minutes to go to start time and wandered around getting a few pre-start photos.

With friend, Richard. My very speedy friend.  I see him before the race and after, never during, lol.

San Antonio Police Academy Cadets

Firefighter Academy Cadets

This local radio station was one of the sponsors of the event.  My wife loves this station.  Me I am, more of a classic rock n roll guy...I guess opposites really do attract, lol.

Various participants, volunteers, sponsors, supporters, etc.

Yes, I had my doggie treats with me and they both knew it, lol.

In the start crowd...in front of me and behind me...

On The Course

Unless you go over to the "Security Hill" area, Port San Antonio/Kelly is pretty darn flat, and that was the case with our course.  Loop course for both 5K and 10K, and pretty darn flat.  Mother Nature somewhat cooperated by giving us no rain, a bit of a cooling breeze, and some cloud-cover.  The sun popped out on occasion, but mostly lots of cloud cover, nice.  Temp at start time was already 72 degrees at 8 .m., foretelling out Texas summer is on the way, and the humidity and dew--point were already quite up there, so a bit 'sticky' but that wind helped.   Really nicely well-thought out course for both the 5K and 10K.  Everyone started  together and the half-way point for the 5K was the intersection where we 5K folks turned off while the 10K folks continued straight on to the rest of their course.  I ended up with chip time of 33:53, and was 4th out of 17 in my 60 - 69 age group. Happy with my results, and did my usual run/walk thing, taking photos during my walk breaks.

Police Academy Cadets running in formation on the course

and after they passed me here I never saw them again, lol. They were quite speedy.

After The Finish

The only "complaint' I have for race day is that the post-race water was not after the finish line chute.  As you came into the finish, everyone got a nice finisher medal, but then you had to go look for the water. Runners really hate that, lol, we want our water right now, right after we finish - come through the chute, get the medal, get handed a bottle of water.  The majority of races I do during the year all do this and it is so much more convenient than having to go find where the water is. Yeah, we're spoiled. So my suggestion for next year is move the water right by the end of the finish line where it can easily be gotten to or handed out.  OK, enough of that.  After finding and getting the water and doing a short cool-down walk, I wandered around getting some after-photos.

My friend Abe getting on his 'photo look"...

OK, now he is ready, lol

I thought these two were sisters...mother and daughter. 

Right before I left, got a photo of this static display. When I go running on the local Air Force bases, these things bring back a lot of memories of my Air Force active-duty days.  Just about everyone in the Air Force was/is around some type of aircraft on his/her assigned bases, even if it was just flying overhead.

Epilogue

First day of packet pickup pre-race was kinda crazy, very little parking, very long lines and lots of waiting, as several people were getting muliiple packets for team members, friends, family, etc., and I get that.  However, I was picking up only my packet and waited nearly an hour to get it. My suggestion here would be 2 separate lines - one for multiple packet pickup and one for single packet  pickup.  The single packet folks would be outta there in no time that way, which would probably also help the multiple packet picker-uppers (say that 3 times fast! ) go a bit faster too. I heard from a friend the 2nd day's packet pickup at Port San Antonio went better, more room out there I guess.   It IS a free race, however, so one has to expect a large turnout for these and basically just not get frustrated about it, have patience, and you will get your stuff eventually.  I ended up while in line chatting with two very nice other participants near me, so made new friends and that helped the time go by.  Anyway, hope they work this out for next year's event so it goes a tad quicker.  Once you got your stuff, timing chip already on the bib - nice, so nothing to pick up on Race Day, very convenient - you got a very nice drawstring tote goodie bag, nice quality race tee, and some giveaway stuff - like these "bone" pens given out by one of the sponsors, an orthopedic business, those were cool - and some other stuff.  Don't know about the 10K course since I did the 5K, but the 5K course was excellent; well-thought out, lots of views of this part of Port San Antonio and wide roads with room enough for everyone. Where I was at any given time, I never saw anyone getting bumped, crowded, etc. Everyone around me seemed in pretty good spirits.  Water stops on the course and also some nice volunteers at various points enthusiastically cheering on all the participants.  Very nicely done.   I would certainly do this one again and would recommend it to others.

Mucho thanks to all the people who made this one happen for us! Thank you District 4 people, all the sponsors, vendors, volunteers, police officers, medical people, Port San Antonio people for letting us invade your space for a while, and anyone else I may not have mentioned here.  Without you, no event for we participants, so thank you very much!