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/2016%20Race%20Reports/2016%20Race%2060%20Wurst%205%20Mile%20Run

BEFORE THE START

My 60th race of 2016 was the Wurst 5 Mile Run, held on Nov 5, starting and finishing at Landa Park in New Braunfels, a city about a 30-minute drive from where I live in San Antonio.  This race is part of the New Braunfels Wurst Fest held every November,  celebrating the German heritage of the city.....one nice party held over 10 days, if I remember correctly - www.wurstfest.com    Race start time of 8 a.m., with a kid's run at 9 a.m.  This being Texas, you just never know what the weather will be for this event - some years I did it, it was very cold, others very hot, some just perfect.  This year, a bit on the warm side with a temp of 69 degrees at start time, cloudy and overcast, which was nice, and even though the humidity was fairly high, the dew-point behaved itself a bit, so it did not feel too uncomfortable out on the course, at least not to me.

I arrived on site a bit before 7 a.m., so it was still somewhat dark as I wandered around getting my first photos, but soon lightened up very nicely, although still quite cloudy, the sun never did come out at all.

Volunteers who had to be here WAY early...preparing our goodies and registering people on race day.

Our MC, David (white shirt), with friends

Athlete Guild crew that did the course setup, timing, results, etc.   Some of my favorite race people, love AthleteGuild. For you local runners and walkers, their website also has the best and most comprehensive local area (San Antonio-Austin Corridor) race calendar, they put everyone's race onto their calendar of upcoming events.

This guy tuba-played  The National Anthem for us, excellently done too. Quite impressive.

Some of the participants, supporters, etc.

I need to get my wife an outfit like this....  

How an old man makes himself look good, lol....stand next to lovely ladies...

These 3 are wearing the very nice long-sleeved tech tee race shirt participants and volunteers got

I saw these ladies again on the course and jokingly asked them to keep running ahead of me to motivate me to keep moving forward.  They did...way ahead of me, lol; they finished quite a bit ahead of me.

In the start line crowd....I don't know how many registered, but there were 914 finishers, walkers and runners.

ON THE COURSE

This was a kind of loop course.  Start was at one of the park pavilions, then we wound around near the golf course by the park and then went into a residential area, making our way to a nearby local highway area, a downhill shoulder near that, then a turn that took us back onto a road heading us to the finish, and back to the park pavilion the way we had come out for the first couple of miles.  This was not a very hilly course, but there was a steep little downhill on the way out, which on the way back became the uphill we had to climb right before we did the last 1/2 mile or so of the course.

There was a little old lady driving this car.  I don't know why she was out there on the course at this time, this is a well-advertised local event and usually in the early stage of the race, nobody is driving on this road.  Thankfully, she did go VERY slowly and no incidents occurred.   I think the police officer at the intersection nearby had her turn off the course there.

As slow as I am, lol, I got go see some of the lead runners heading to the finish on the left side of the road.

Looking behind me

..and ahead again...

The long downhill on the shoulder of this road

Left at that light and we start heading back to the finish

Heading to Mile 4

Past Mile 4 now.  Up this short steep hill and about 1/2 mile to go to the finish line.

After that, it was nonstop back to the finish.  I ended up with 56:18 chip time, 15th in my age group (60 - 69) out of 22.  I probably might have finished under 55 minutes if I hadn't stopped to treat a couple of dogs and take a few extra photos on the course;  but I don't care.  I was feeling great and having fun and the time is what it is.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

AFTER MY FINISH

"Happy Finishers", supporters, etc.  I call these photos 'happy finishers' because more people are smiling after they are done, lol.

I was in the verrrry long beer-line next to this very nice young man and lady - probably bored them to death with all my chatter, lol, but they were too polite to give me a whack to shut me up like my wife sometimes does. 

Ahhh, finally got my beer!  And got my camera lens wiped clean.

Me and friend Karen with Lederhosen Guys...that must've been some strong beer....is Karen holding me up? 

She is just the right height to make a good arm-rest too... 

The beer line was still looooooong!  Kind of like the voting lines for the election this year...except the results are better here... 

Very friendly dog and its human.  Out on the course I gave the lady a treat for her dog to enjoy post-race.

The beer pourers....how long did they have to stand there? Pretty darn long!

While I enjoyed my beer, I also enjoyed a bit of the scenery at this pretty Landa Park.

My friend Adrian and friend. Adrian puts on the best Santa 5K in San Antonio, it is the very ORIGINAL Santa 5K, and has a heck of an after party at Sunset Station.

Lovely ladies and lovely, very friendly doggies.  I enjoyed playing with them for a few minutes....the dogs, that is....    The ladies were very nice and friendly too, we had a very nice chat.

EPILOGUE

This is a race that has been around a while - this year was its 39th year to be done - and it always remains a very popular event.  Good location, nice course, as part of your registration packet you get a ticket to the Wurst Fest celebration, great race shirt, very unique Age Group awards (handcrafted mugs), lots of post-race goodies. I've done this one - well, I lost count how many times, but I know it's over 10 - and I will keep doing it whenever possible, it never disappoints; even if things don't go as planned for your individual race, well, you still have beer and sausages and pastries waiting for you after the finish.   BIG DANKE to all the folks that made this one happen for us, AthleteGuild, sponsors, park authorities, law enforcement, volunteers, etc.

Love the faces.  They're a lot happier than my face.