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%2025%20Mutt%20Strut%205K

A couple of the photos may have come 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 25^th race of 2017 was the Mutt Strut 5K on April 15, the day this year which also was my running anniversary – 34 years as a runner, as I started my running life on April 15, 1983.  Race location was Park, near Floresville TX.  Never been to this park so figured for this race I wold enjoy a route different than my usual San Antonio race routes. Park is about a 40 minute drive from where I live near the San Antonio airport.

As this was for a no-kill shelter, I laid out my 'animal' shirt and socks the night before the race. This shirt, gotten from an iaapweb race, is one of my favorites

Nice tech tee race shirt in the goodie bag.  I suspect this will be another of my favorite shirts

Ready to head down to the race site on the morning of...

Arrived on site with about 45 minutes to the 8 a.m. start time and got some pre-start photos.  As the cause for this event was to help build a no-kill animal shelter in Wilson County, there were plenty of doggies onsite too, as this was a dog-friendly event.  Our host organization for this event was the Wilson County Road Runners (WCRR), with the timing and results being done by the very reliable AthleteGuild, co-owned by my good friend Scott Wood.

At my age, my race goals are simple:  finish standing up and don't have an ambulance waiting for me at the finish line.  Well, guess what......at least they were not waiting for me specifically, lol.

National Anthem...

and then we were off...

ON THE COURSE

Weather was pretty humid, with a mix of blue skies at times and storm clouds hovering, but no rain developed thankfully. Temp was around 65 or so degrees. Course was two loops on the park dirt/gravel roads and a bit of a paved section, but mostly dirt-and-gravel.   All the surfaces of the course we were on were pretty well maintained so no debris, over-brush, etc.  It was actually a sweet course, and also a pretty one, as we went under big shade trees, and wound around a pretty little loop near the back of the park area.   For the most part the course was pretty flat, with only a couple of small inclines – nothing you could really call a hill – along the way.  I ended up with a chip time of 33:18, which was good enough for 3^rd in my age group.  The race gave 3-deep age group awards in 10 year categories, and several people got awards, as this was an inaugural event, so not well known yet, and about maybe 50 – 70 participants.

Is that beer in there?  Darn...apparently not...  

Pretty little back area loop we did twice.  This was on my second and last loop

After I finished, stayed near the finish line and got a few of the people coming in that i had been running off-and-on with at various points.

AFTER MY FINISH

Drank some water, did a bit of a cool-down walk, and then wandered around getting some photos of “happy finishers”, volunteers, et al.

There was a fellow Eagle there

How a senior citizen old guy retired vet makes himself look good...stand next to a pretty woman.   I stand next to my wife quite a lot too.   This lady was, I believe, our Race Director and was also taking photos.  Great job for your inaugural event, young lady!

EPILOGUE

In my 23 years of living in San Antonio – I got here via my Air Force career when I was assigned to Lackland and then retired in San Antonio after that assignment – I never even knew this park was here.  It is a small park but a real gem.  You probably can’t go into and run miles and miles in one direction like you can with some of the San Antonio greenway parks, but it has really nice running areas to get in a few miles – and more if you want to do laps through the park – and one of my friends there told me there was also a trail in the park that takes you down by the river, which we did not see for the event. So I am definitely coming back to this park sometime and doing some more exploring.

As for the event itself:  good cause, really nicely well-thought out course – even though we did two loops for the 5K, because of the way it was laid out, it did not ‘feel’ like loops to me; always a good thing for me, lol, as I hate running on the track, makes me feel like a white lab rat, lol, doing all those loops – where’s the cheese?

Inaugural race, just starting out, so the post-race goodies, were pretty simple, some water, fruits, snacks, etc., but that’s okay, I get it, race budgets are tough, and the cause for this one was/is the important thing.  I did, though, actually bring a jar of dog biscuits and donated that to some of the volunteers so the doggies could have post-race treats too.  Since this one is close to Easter, there was also an Easter egg hunt post-race for the kiddies too. I told the Race Director for next year, she could probably have one for the dogs too, put some dog treats into a few of the eggs, lol, the dogs would probably sniff them right out.

The Wilson County Road Runner folks were great hosts and very nice people, it was a pleasure meeting some of them.  And if you want to explore the park more, the WCRR has some fun runs at this park twice a month and any runner or walker is welcome to join them.  Check their FB and website for the monthly times and dates.  I hope this one continues being put on in the upcoming years, because I would definitely do this one again and would certainly recommend it to my fellow runners.

MUCHO thanks also to all folks that made this one possible for we participants; the sponsors, all the volunteers, Athlete Guild for timing, results, the EMT guys that were there for us, et al.   Events could not happen without all of you willing to give your time for we runners and walkers.    THANK YOU.

Hope you enjoyed the report and photos!