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%2066%20SNIPSA%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 66^th race of 2017 was SNIPSA 5K held on Sep 30^th.   This race supported San Antonio area’s local spay-and-neuter program.  A dog-friendly event, so lots of dogs with their humans at this one, as well as many vendors catering pet products also local area shelters with information on pet adoptions, etc. Quite a nice turn-out for this one, someone told me he thought there were about 1100 walkers and runners.  I’m not sure how many dogs were there, but there were quite a few.  I’ve done this one in the past, so knew what to expect and arrived with about an hour to go to the 8 a.m. start time and got some pre-start photos.

One big dog!

Two dogs before the start

Dogs and cats getting together, oh my....  

My friend and our MC Mark Purnell.  He does a great job.

One of the oddest looking dogs I've ever seen...   

I got at the end of the pony I belonged at....don't we look like members of Congress now?  Me and the pony..Two horse's asses..  

Cooking up those sausages for us post-race.  Thanks!

Race Day volunteers

Various....

3-legged dog and family doing the walk.  They had a cart they pulled along in case she got tired and then could ride in the cart

Some local school cheer team young ladies out there for us.  Got their coach's permission to take the photos.  Thanks for cheering us on, ladies!

Getting ready to go...in front of me and behind me

ON THE COURSE

Done in a very nice San Antonio neighborhood know as Alamo Heights, one of the more affluent areas in our city.  This was a loop course through part of Alamo Heights. Well maintained neighborhood with some really nice houses.  Wide roads with enough room for everyone to maneuver around on.  Also a few challenging hills on the course.  Nothing really huge, but some longer climbs at certain points.  This course is what race directors would euphemistically call ‘gently rolling’, lol; yeah, a couple of those hills were not so gentle. Right before the finish, we had about a half-mile of flat, but then right before the finish had to go up the last incline – that had been a down incline for us on the way out – right before we got to do a small flat part before the finish line.  I was feeling pretty good today and even with my photo stops during my walk breaks along the way I managed to finish in 33:28.  I was 6^th in my age group (ten year age groups, so 60 – 69).  There are some speedy old guys in my age group, lol.  I think the first guy in my age group did this thing in 22-something.

Thank you course volunteers!

After that last photo, nonstop running to the finish for the last 1.1 miles.

AFTER MY FINISH

Water, cool-down walk, ate one of the very good sausages in a sausage wrap that the grillers had been preparing before the race, chatted with some friends, and then wandered around getting some after-photos.

iaap folks who did the course set-up, timing, results, etc.  Good thoughts and prayers for one of them missing - their family member and leader and my friend, Jose, who is in the hospital recovering from a heart attack.

These doggies loved the pools SNIPSA had put out for them post-race.  I confess I felt like getting in there with them, lol.

Thanks for serving up all this food for us

This was a popular post-race stop.   Line was looong, so I did not get any.

Encountered my friend, Albert.  Two old guys having fun.

Various post-race photos

This doggie has his eye on those sausage grillers, lol.

...and the other one keeps waiting for that lady to drop her sausage wrap...

Love the expression on that dog on the far left, lol.  "Are we done yet?"

I am with the dog..that is my best side too.

OK, there you  are...

Doggie:  I am only putting up with this because she feeds me."  

"OK, I love you too..I'll throw in a smile..."

Big dogs!  Rhodesian Ridgebacks.  These doggies can run.

With MC Mark Purnell

Mark and his lovely lady

My speedy friend Tanya, 20-something, 1st overall Women's Masters division.....yeah, Master's...even though she looks about 20-something..

EPILOGUE

Quite a lot going on post-race for this event, making it a lot of fun.  Lots of vendors giving away lots of free stuff – and the pets were not forgotten, all kinds of treats, toys, goodies for them too – along with treats like brisket (yummy!), sausage wraps, shaved ice in various flavors, various fruits, etc.  Professional photographers going around taking lots of photos to be put online later, and probably for purchase.  This is quite an active event before, during, and after running or walking, making it one of the really best local area races.  No beer though, bummer, I like a good cold beer after doing a race.    It was all good though, lots of fun, lots of great people, lots of great dogs who all seemed to enjoy themselves; and, of course, a great cause for our furry friends and family members.  Definitely will be doing this one again 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; SNIPSA for such a great event; iaap for the timing and course setup; or MC Mark Purnell who did his usual great job; and anyone else I may have not mentioned – apologies – who was involved.  Without all of you doing what you do, there would be no events for us to do, so thank you very much!

Lots of people at that one. Definitely hilly though.