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

A couple of the photos may not have come out so well; sorry about that.   Plus, at times post-race I forgot to wipe my sweaty lens - duhhhh - so there might be a smudge or two on some of them. And for a few, when I asked someone to take a photo for me, I forgot to tell him/her how to focus the camera, duhhh..   All in all though, I think they came out fairly well.  I am certainly no professional photographer with skills; but at least all the photos are free to save.

Here is yet another of my photo reports.  Full report below.   

Link to photos only: http://s166.photobucket.com/user/scottydog69/slideshow/2018%20Race%20Reports/2018%20Race%20No%208%20We%20Run%20This%20Road%205K?sort=2

BEFORE MY START

My 8^th race of 2018 was We Run This Road 5K held at Camino Real Elementary School in Niederwald, Texas, which is a tad over an hour’s drive from San Antonio.  Weather was in the mid-40s, with some wind and a bit of drizzle when I got to the race site with a bit under an hour to go to 8 a.m. start time.  Wind was blowing a bit too.  I had a couple of base layer shirts on, under my  primary shirt, as well as a light pair of gloves and a hat.  It also helped that the school kindly opened its doors so we could use the inside restrooms and stand inside for short periods to get wamr. Got my packet and then wandered around getting some photos. This was a fairly small event, with maybe a couple of hundred participants.  There was also a kids 1K run.

Two of my favorite ladies...Mary and Bernadette.  I have been friends with Bernadette longer than any of my other running friends.

My friends Joe and Yeti the Wonder Dog

Thank you volunteers

Athlete Guild race management company folks

Slow me with speedy friend Don

Our MC who did a great job.  I thought she was costumed as a bear...but she said monkey..

The team name for the school is Roadrunners....made me like them more...I am a University of Texas at San Antoniio (UTSA) Roadrunner, having worked at UTSA for more than 20 years now.   My friend Bernadette said she thought it was a woodpecker, lol.  Apparently she and I are not good at recognizing costumes...  

National Anthem before we start

GOD BLESS AMERICA

ON THE COURSE

Got rid of my heavier base layer and hat as I knew I would warm right up when I started going.  Mother Nature kindly stopped the drizzle for us too, about 20 minutes before start time.  It was actually some pretty nice running weather; even the wind behaved. We started in front of the school, went out on the main driveway to a road in front of the school, turned left and then went into an adjacent neighborhood.  Since just about right off the bat we started going up an incline, I suspected there might be a couple hills on this course. That proved to be correct.  More going up than going flat on this course.  These were not steep hills, more like long inclines, so we were on them a bit longer than if we’ just had a couple of shorter steep hills.  So glad I do a hill training session once a week, I was ready.   I ended up finishing in 33 minutes and change, 4^th in my age group, which for this smaller event was 60 – 99 males.

AFTER MY FINISH

I was fine while running, but it was a little chilly after I finished, so got my dry base layer shirt from my car and my hat and got those on.  Then it was off to get some “Happy Finisher” photos.  Ever notice more people are smiling after a race than before and during?  Hence, my ‘happy finisher’ title for post-race.  Also, photos of some of the volunteers, supporters, etc.   The Kids run was done and then after the last finishers came in the awards ceremony was done.

Zoe is one quick doggie...she was first dog overall.

These were the last finishers..  The guy on the left was the bike pacer.  I don' know if he had a problem with his bike or he just carried it in, accompanying the last finishers.  Either way, he got his workout.

With the bear...ummm, monkey..   

There was a doggie division and these were the top 3 dogs.

Both Mary and Bernadette got medals

EPILOGUE

I did not know there was a series of these events – 4 of them – called the Old School Series, or something like that, and this was the first event of that series.  To me, it felt like a nice and friendly small-town get-together for a run or walk, with lots of smiling faces and friendly people.  Goodies post-race were pretty much various types of energy bars, water, and some other stuff – no beer, darn the luck, but I get it, it is, after all, a school – and the awards were pretty nice for the age-group winners.  I really have no negatives about this event at all. It was organized very well, the course was ‘challenging” but interesting and also not so challenging that kids too could not do it.  And for me this was an ‘out in the country” run; very rural for me, being a “city boy”, who grew up in Washington DC area and now lives smack dab in San Antonio by the airport.  There is nothing wrong with that; did a course I’ve never done before in a place I’ve never been before, and I found it quite interesting.  Along the route I did notice lots residents in this neighborhood have lots of dogs, so maybe I should carry more biscuits next time. Of course, so many dogs that my finish time may turn into an hour or so if I stopped to treat them all, lol.  It was all great fun and I certainly would do this one again and recommend it to others.  I quite liked it.

Mucho thanks to all the people that made this one happen for us,  including school staff for opening their doors to us, all the volunteers, sponsors, vendors, etc;  law enforcement that was out there for us; Athlete Guild race management company for course setup, timing, results; and anyone else I may not have mentioned.  No race for us without all of you, so thank you very much!