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.    Sorry about some of the ‘shadowy’ photos; it was a sunny day and my camera is not the best for this kind of light, etc.

Link to photos only:

http://s166.photobucket.com/user/scottydog69/slideshow/2018%20Race%20Reports/2018%20Race%20No%209%20SuperBowl%205K?sort=2

BEFORE MY START

My 9^th race of 2017 was the Super Bowl 5K for Tranplants for Children on Feb 4, supporting the local San Antonio area office that assists children who need various types of transplants and provides counseling, referrals, etc. to the children and their families.  There was also an 8K and a kids 1K. Held in Helotes, Texas, a small city bordering on San Antonio, about a 25-minute drive from where I live in San Antonio.  The weather was quite different from the drizzly day I had for my race the day before this one.  The weather got quite sunny and warm, with predicted temps going to near 80 in San Antonio area.  Race start time was 9:30 a.m., and it was already nearing 60 when we started. I arrived with about an hour to go to start time and got some pre-start photos.

Various participants, supporters, volunteers, etc.

Alamo Beer - my favorite locally brewed beer - was there ready and wating.

Two retired Air Force guys...this amazing gentleman had a double-lung transplant 6 months ago and here he was today, walking the 5K.

iRun Texas crew out there for us - timing, results, etc.  Thanks!

Getting ready to start...in front of me and behind me

ON THE COURSE

We started near El Chapparal Mexican restaurant whose owners kindly let us for a while invade their space all around the restaurant.  Helotes is a pretty hilly area in places, so races here are often jokingly called “HILLotes running.”   We went down an incline from the restaurant, made a turn to go down another hill, then flat for a bit, then a  fairly long uphill, then a downhill; once we got down the second hill, flat out to the turn-round point and back the way we had come out.  Of course those downhills and down inclines were now up for us on the way back before we finished.  A friend of mine who did the 8K said they had two more hills, in addition to the 5K course hills we 5K folks did.  As I was on the last up part, heading to the finish, my legs were like “Did we not just do hills at yesterday’s race?  What are you doing to me?”  lol.  I felt pretty good overall but the two days of hill racing did tell, so I was slower today than on my race on Feb 3, finishing this one in 34 minutes-and-change.  Just like my 1^st race of the weekend, I ended up 4^th in my age group of 60 – 69 male.    My kind of running weather, though; I much prefer to be warm than cold.

AFTER MY FINISH

Got me a banana and a bottle of water and then did a cool-down walk back to my car in a big ole lot behind the restaurant.  Put a dry shirt under my race shirt, sipped my water, ate my banana, relaxed for a bit, cooling down; and then off to get some After Photos. By now the sun – as you can see in the photos – was shining VERY brightly and it was getting quite warm. 

From the parking area in the field, some nice views of these houses in the hills

Of course I had to be with the group with the doggies...and yes, they did get treats from me.

With friend Mitch of iRun Texas

My friends Gene and Loyce.  Gene finished 3rd in our age group. I think I was about a minute behind him.  Shouldn't have stopped to take that last photo, lol.  It's all good.

With friend Antonio, who did the 8K - in 28 minutes and something.  Faster than my 5K, lol.

With friend Albert, 75 years old and going strong.  I want to be like him when I grow up.

What a cutie.  Her first 5k today.  She did well too. Here with her dad.

A family of runners...speedy family, from the medal count.

Going back to my car, saw this atop a wall by the restaurant.  Nice. 

EPILOGUE

Nicely organized event by Transplant for Children and iRun Texas, the race management running company that did the timing, results, course-setup, etc.  I don’t know for sure what the 8K course was, but the 5K course was nicely done – a couple of challenging hills, but not so challenging that kids and people with strollers/baby joggers could not do it too.  Some of those kids were quite speedy too.  There were even a couple of doggies out running.  Water stop for the 5K course was right at a really good point too, , coming up one of the hills going out, and right there after climbed the hill after the turn-around and started down the other way heading to the finish.  Perfectly placed for any needed water pick-me-up for on the way out and on the way back.   Lots of vendors at this one giving away freebies, and post-race goodies included Alamo Beer, water, fruits, energy bars, and one table had cupcakes, which went pretty fast. Nice being by a restaurant, I saw several post-race participants that went in and purchased something post-race and then sat outside happily munching away on their well-earned cuisine.

Mucho thanks to all the people that made this one happen for us, all the volunteers, sponsors, organizers, restaurant owners and staff, etc. Without all of you, no race for us, so thank you very much!