INTRO

I am Scott aka Scottydog, runner since 1983, cancer survivor, retired Air Force, employee of University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), friend of dogs, fun-runner, and all-around 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.  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, hence my nickname “Scottydog.” Here is yet another of my Race Reports With Photos, and my thanks to all the people I interacted with for their graciousness and good humor in letting me take photos of them.

SHORT VERSION REPORT

This was my 36th race of 2014.  Held on June 14, 2014, Dog Days of Summer 5K was put on by Carrera Races and supported Guide Dogs For The Blind. At start time, temp was 74 degrees, dew-point was near 70, and humidity was 87%.  Overcast skies with rain threatening.  There were about 4 other local races on this day but this event still managed to get a nice turn-out with about 200 runners and walkers.  Dogs were also welcome at this event and drinking bowls and wading pools filled with water for the doggies were set up at all the water stops, nice.   There was also a 'cooling pool' at the finish area too.  I ended up with a time of 33:53 - and did my last part of the race in 10:18 - not fast, but good enough for first in my age group (60 - 69), as there were only 2 in my age group.

LONG VERSION WITH PHOTOS

Before The Start

Event was held at Eilan, a luxury condo/apartment/business and hotel community area.

Me and Race Director Virginia

These two keep telling me they are mother-and-daughter but they still look like sisters to me.  Here they are with their pooch

Race Volunteer with this gentleman and his guide dog.  Very nice people, had a nice chat with them.

This dog is the retired guide dog of the gentleman in the previous photo.  Now an "Ambassadog" for the group.

These three ladies are wearing the race shirt - you got a choice of color - that were given to participants. Nicely designed tech tee.

This lady is owner of local running specialty store "Run Wild."    Also an alum of the university I work for.

One of my running buds with her two dogs.  She told me the little dog was actually faster than the big dog on a run.

Getting ready to start

National Anthem played with the flags just past the start line...

And we're off!

On The Course

Course was two loops around the area and included a couple of hills.  The largest hill was a downhill.   On my second loop it started raining lightly on us a bit, which was quite refreshing, but then it stopped and for the last  mile of the race the humidity and dew-point shot as darker clouds moved in and it felt like running in a swampy area for a little while there

Our downhill on the course, which we did twice, was the longest hill.  With spinal arthritis I am not too fond of downhills, they are much harder on my back than uphills.

A little into the 2nd loop for me.  The start/finish area is back by the red tent.

The first hill of the race, just a bit after we started, was much less crowded on the 2nd loop.

After this, I hoofed it back to the finish nonstop - about 1.2 miles - and ended up doing that last nonstop bit in 10:18, which is pretty speedy for a slow old dog like me, lol.

After My Finish

Very humid!  I forgot to wipe my lens on occasion so some of the photos are a bit 'spotty' sorry...

Happy Finisher Me With Beer

Happy Me With Beer and another Happy Finisher

Happy Me post-beer, with Happy Finisher

There were also treats for the doggies

DJ playing music

And lots of 2-legged and 4-legged Happy Finishers, volunteers, etc.

Uh oh...the Beauty Fairy cursed this photo because I was in it...

Once I got out of it, THEN all the beautiful people became clear...

Me and my buds, Loyce and Gene.  The dog-tags we are wearing were the AG awards.  Gene is in my age group and much faster than me and at an all-human race would have finished way ahead of me.  However today he had his dog, Blue, with him and she took a lot of water stops along the way, so I managed to catch up to him just before the finish and passed him just before the mat.  He finished about 6 seconds behind me.   Probably the only time I will ever finish ahead of Gene at a race, lol.

EPILOG

In spite of the humidity and threatening rain - which never really developed - very nice and fun event.   Kudos to Carrera Races and iaapweb.com (course set-up and race timing and results) for their great jobs - which is 'business as usual' for them, they always do a great job - and thanks to all the volunteers, sponsors, traffic control folks, etc, who were out there for us to help make this happen. Thanks to all the folks at Eilan, who let us invade their space for a while.   And many thanks to all the doggies who gave me doggie kisses.   Hope this one grows next year and has even more participants, it certainly is a good one!

Cool pics.  Bernadette in another vintage shirt probably older than many of the runners. 

Did you do this last year? It looks familiar. Congrats!

Did you do this last year? It looks familiar. Congrats!

I thought the same thing.  I think those buildings and route are used by more than one race maybe.

 

I thought the same thing.  I think those buildings and route are used by more than one race maybe.

Yes, at this location, there are about 8 different races over the year held there.

Congratulations on your AG award! It looks like it was a fun event, thanks for sharing the RR and pics.