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%2013%20Get%20Away%205K

A couple of the photos came out a bit blurry, sorry about that, I am definitely no professional photographer, lol, but at least the photos are free.

BEFORE MY START

My 13^th race of 2017 was the Get Away 5K (www.getaway5K.com) on Feb 26, held at Wheatley Heights, a sports/activity complex in San Antonio.  There was also a 1-mile walk and a kids run.   Put on by Corrigan Sports in multiple cities at various dates, this event is a ‘beach themed’ event designed with a ‘family atmosphere”.  All participants receive an event shirt and all 5K finishers receive a specially designed finisher’s medal.  This was the company’s inaugural event for the San Antonio area.  The big sponsor for the many Get Away 5Ks is AARP.

I picked up my packet the day before the race.  Nice quality tee, modeled her by my wife.

8:30 a.m. start for this one so, as I live quite close to Wheatley Heights got to sleep in a little.  Arrived with about 45 minutes to start time and wandered around taking some random photos.

Welcome to the Get Away 5K

Me, with friend, Karen.  Darn, she didn't have any dog treats in her pocket....

With one of my 'running crushes"...the lovely Daisy

Two Scotts...Scotty Dogg and Scott Wood of Athlete Guild, that did the course setup, timing, results...

A photo of an official photographer from San Antonio Current, a local/community news journal

Various participants, volunteers, supporters, et al

In the start area...

ON THE COURSE

As usual, Mother Nature was on another roll with the crazy Texas weather thing.  We were in the 70s and 80s most of the work week and then the temp dropped for the weekend.  For this race, temp around start time was about 52 degrees – not too bad at all – and no wind, thankfully; also very cloudy/overcast, and a bit humid, but at least Sunday’s predicted rain for us had not moved into the area yet, so it was dry. Course was on paved off-road trails that are part of San Antonio’s Greenway System, which interconnects a lot of local area parks together, making for some really good hiking, walking, running, and biking.  You can go a long way on these trails!  There was nothing you could really call a hill on this course, just a few up-and-down inclines.  Also, one thing I liked about this course:  unlike most events done at Wheatley, we did not start on the stadium track and loop around the track. Instead we started just outside the stadium and went right onto the trails. This meant we were on the trail a bit longer so got to see a bit more of the trail than we usually do when the start is inside the stadium.  I liked this course much better than the usual ‘stadium start-and-finish” course, and hope more local race directors use this course.

After doing a 5K the day before this one, I was still feeling pretty good. Did my usual 8-min run/2 min walk thing, and ran the last 1.2 miles in nonstop.  Ended up with a chip time of 32:27, 11 seconds faster than my Saturday 5K.   As this was a fairly small event – 151 finishers – no age group awards; the top 3 male and female finishers did get awards.  All 5K participants did get a nice finisher medal, a souvenir of this inaugural race.

I have made the turn around and am heading back to the start/finish area now

These two were moving quick, they blurred my photo..  it was not my lousy camera skills! OK, yes it was... 

After that last stop...1.2 miles nonstop back to the finish.  After I crossed the finish line, I got a few photos of some other people coming in..

AFTER MY FINISH

I will tell you what, these Get-Away folks know what the heck they are doing.  Really nice after-party.  Kind of reminded me of the local Scallywompus events of my friend, Bart Childers, there was so much going on....

Live music

A taco truck giving away 2 free tacos to every participant

Taco for the guy, one of my doggie treats for Shiner, the little one

a truck with shave ice, also free to participants

a photo-booth – again, free to participants – where you could get your photo wearing all kinds of silly stuff, the photos printed out for you and the photo guy also texted you the photos so you could upload them to your FB page or wherever you wanted to put them.

There was also a play area for the kiddies.

They even provided chairs-and-tables to sit down and enjoy the food and drink, very nice touch.

Me and speedy friend, Tonya, who was overall female winner, if I remember correctly.

And more....

I told this young lady I had to get a photo with her, because she is almost a 'twin" for a girlfriend I had in high school.  I grew up in the DC area - in Virginia, right outside of DC - and it turns out this young lady was from Baltimore, also in the area around DC.  Small world!  And kinda spooky, lol.  

and more....

My Scallywompus friends had a table there, promoting their upcoming event; the Scallywompus races are always great and lots of fun.  "Come for the Race. Stay for the Party!"  Karen and I clowning around at the table..

Nice..the 'awards' were these gym bags....

I got a 'special prize' for having the most 'unique" race name at this race, lol...Sweeeet!

EPILOGUE

This is one well-organized event, from packet pickup right down to the after-party.  This one is definitely a ‘keeper” on my race calendar and will certainly do this one again. They are trying to build up this race over time in lots of different cities in the US, so I jokingly told one of the Get Away folks that, hey, if they wanted me to do one of my reports on another of their events somewhere else, I’d be glad to do it and I don’t need a salary….just pay my airfare and lodging.

MUCHO THANKS to all the people that made this one happen for us – all the Get Away folks, Corrigan Sports, volunteers, sponsors, vendors, musicians, everyone who put this all together for we participants.    This was one “lots of fun” event. This first year one for San Antonio was rather small but I anticipate that when word gets out about how nice this one is, it will definitely grow in our local area.

And, finally,  as I bid you a fond adieu and close this report.....a 'selfie' with my old-time camera. Hope you enjoyed the report and photos!