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.

Link to photos only:

https://s166.photobucket.com/user/scottydog69/slideshow/2019%2520Race%2520Reports/2019%2520Race%2520Number%252028%25203%2520Miles%2520for%2520Smiles%25205K?sort=2

Full report below.    

BEFORE MY START

 My 28^th race of 2019 was 3 Miles for Texas Smiles 5K put on May 11 in San Antonio, Texas.  This was the first inaugural 5K of the San Antonio District Dental Society (SADDS) Foundation to raise funds to benefit free community dental clinic programs for the San Antonio Community and for Dental Student Scholarships. Event was held at Walker Ranch Park one of the San Antonio ‘greenway’ parks. This particular park is on West Avenue and connects with Hardberger Park, another greenway system park. Start time of 9 a.m. so I got to sleep in a bit.  Arrived at the park with about an hour to start time and got a few photos.

Welcome to the event.  These were the key organizers that got this one started.

Thank you sponsors....

Local race managent company iRun Texas did the timing, course setup, etc

Various participants, volunteers, etc.

With friend Jill, who works in the dentistry profession, so this one was personal for her

Jill and friend

That is one big doggie. Very friendly though...and he appreciated my doggie treats

 ON THE COURSE

 No age group awards for this one; everyone got a finisher medal. Mother Nature was threatening rain this morning, but it only spit at us a little and did not rain on us at all during while we were on the course.  By the time it did rain, everyone was finished and we were all back at the park pavilion, so good timing.  The course was out-and-back, starting out from the park and heading toward Hardberger Park on off-road paved concrete trails.  It had poured pretty good locally on Friday night so there were a few messy spots along the course, but no flooding or course blockages or anything like that so we were able to negotiate the course pretty easily. Mostly a flat course with a couple of short inclines along the way.  I ended up with a finish time of 34:08.

I wish I had half this little lady's energy, lol.  She was quite the little runner out there.

These were the 3 leaders heading back to the finish, all pretty close to each other.

At a small event, when you are slow like me, sometimes you end up running alone, lol.  All good.

This was the little lady's mother, who was running pretty well herself.  Her daughter was right ahead of her, moving so quick I missed getting her in the photo.

After that last photo, it was nonstop running for me back to the finish.

AFTER MY FINISH

Nice little party after the event with DJ music, breakfast tacos, tea from local restaurant McAllister’s (they make good tea!), bottled water and also cold “Commander” beer from local brewery Alamo Beer.  Beer was named in honor of the San Antonio Commanders, one of the teams of the former new professional football league that recently went defunct last month., too bad.  I enjoyed a taco and beer and got a few after-photos.

Done!  Here with friend Charysse, who is much faster than me.

Here comes the Little Lady, with mom behind her getting a photo

And then Mom finishes

Happy finishers, supporters, etc.

These two are sisters...the dogs, not the humans.  But, hey, if the guy wants to be a sister, I don't judge...

The guy on the left is the one who founded this event

Yay for beer at races

EPILOGUE

Fairly small event with 111 finishers, so not too bad a turnout for an inaugural run. Nice course, good cause, lots of fun people, nice post-race goodies and dog-friendly,  so hope this one grows in the future.  Of course, if it does grow, another venue may have to be found since Walker Park is a pretty small park and the parking for that park is pretty limited.  I enjoyed myself and would do this one again and would recommend it.

Mucho thanks to all the people that made this one happen for we participants: volunteers, sponsors, vendors, organizers, park police officers that were out there for us, and anyone else I may not have mentioned here.  Thanks for what you do!