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%2072%20City%20Managers%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.

BEFORE MY START

My 72^nd race of 2017 was the San Antonio City Manager’s 5K held on Oct 22, 2017, starting and finishing at The Alamo Plaza.  This event was part of the Siclovia activities in which downtown streets are closed for several hours on selected Sundays to encourage San Antonio citizens to come out and get in some fitness exercise via walking, bike riding, skating, or whatever  method – participant choice.  It is like a mini festival with lots of people, vendors, etc. The 5K was done first thing in the morning, start time 8:30 a.m., to kick off the activities.  I arrived about an hour before start time and got some pre-start photos.

With my speedy friend, Jim.  He finished 1st in his age group...by 2 seconds!

With another speedy friend, Albert

With my friends from iaap who did course setup, timing, etc

Police Academy cadets

Police Color Guard for National Anthem

Firefighter Academy Cadets

Various participants, supporters, volunteers, etc

Getting ready to start...quite a turnout...this is a very popular local event

Balloon and Texas flag....300 on the balloon because San Antonio will be celebrating its Tr-Centennial in 2018.

ON THE COURSE

Unlike the very hilly 5K I did in Helotes TX the day before this event, the City Manager’s 5K was flat, flat, flat.  It was kind of an out-and-back course with participants heading down Alamo Street, then cutting over to Broadway, a main downtown thoroughfare, and heading back to Alamo Plaza via Broadway and a turn onto Houston Street just before we finished back where we started.   Weather was pretty humid when we started, and dry, with some clouds starting to roll in.  Rain had been predicted for the morning with a cold front moving into our area but it had not arrived yet.

My first walk break was just a little before the halfway point, and got some on-course photos

After I started up again and right before I got to the turn-around point that predicted rain came in, bringing with it a pretty stiff wind too.  As you can see, the back half of the course for those of us still out there was quite wet wet wet!

AFTER MY FINISH

I finished in 33:24 – not even close to placing in my age group, lol, as the first 6 guys in my 60-65 age group all finished in the 20’s.  There are some speedy old farts in my age group, lol.   Thankfully, after watching the weather this morning before I left home, I had brought a dry shirt to change into.  And, go figure, after most of us finished, the rain then stopped, the temperature had dropped as well as the dewpoint and humidity and the sun came out.  Turned into a beautiful day with some beautiful running weather…after the race, lol. Mother Nature sure can get crazy at times.   I got some water, did a little coo-down walk and then got some post-race photos.  Lots of participants still wet wet wet, but at least now the sun was out to help us all dry off pretty quickly.

A corner of my lens got a bit wet in the rain, so there is a kind of blurry spot in some of the photos, but I tried to position the camera so nobody looked like they were in Witness Protection, lol.

Our MCs

EPILOGUE

When I first did this event way back when it was in a different location.  This location is MUCHO better and the course – even with the rainy weather – is great.  In dry weather would be a perfect ‘shoot for a PR’ course.  And being around historic The Alamo, right in the heart of downtown San Antonio, is always nice. Plaza is a very nice area with shoppes, hotels, eateries, and Rivercenter Mall, which is open early in the morning – the mall area, not the stores – which is very convenient, especially if those porta-potty lines are long, because the mall has several restroom facilities and water fountains and is right adjacent to Alamo Plaza.  And for runner coffee lovers who need their fix before a run – personally, I can’t stand the stuff lol – there is an open Starbucks right by Alamo Plaza.  There was a slight problem with results showing for everyone – probably that quick-through storm made the computer go a bit whacko – but my friends at iaap got the winner results to the MC, so the awards could be done.  iaap always prints everyone’s results on their website so results can be found there too, which I explained to participants I was around at any given time that I heard saying they could not find their results, so hopefully that was a bit helpful for some.

Great location for an event, great course, lots of stuff going on – vendor tents, giveaways by sponsors, etc.  Close to many eateries – it’s within, like one or two blocks of the San Antonio Riverwalk – if you’re the type of person that wants to go get breakfast after a run/race. One of the best 5Ks – as in course, organization, venue, etc - I have done this year.   And not only for runners either.  This is also a walker friendly event, kid friendly, baby jogger/stroller friendly and course streets wide enough to accommodate everyone’s moving about without interfering with anyone else. Definitely would do this one again and would recommend it to others.

MUCHO THANKS to all the people who made this one happen for us:  the organizers, city employees, iaap for course, timing, etc, law enforcement out there for us, all the many many volunteers for packet pickup, course marshals, race registration, etc.,  sponsors and vendors supporting the race, and anyone else I may have missed – apologies – who had a part. Without all of you there would be no event for we participants, so thank you very much!

Sounds like another great race, even if it did rain on you! Congrats!

As long as you aren't going for a PR, that rain looks like it would be fun!  I love all the smiles   Thanks for sharing!