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

I don’t have great camera skills and take photos with a camera that is like me  - old fashioned, lol - so sorry if a photo appears a bit blurry, etc.  However, they are free to save, share, etc.

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%20Number%2076%20District%203%205K?sort=2

BEFORE MY START

My 76^th race of 2018 was District 3 Fall 5K Fun Run/Walk held in San Antonio on November 3.  This event, put on by District 3 Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran and her staff, is part of the city’s series of annual events that encourage San Antonians to get out and be physically active.  Location was at the Greenline, a relatively new park recently opened at Brooks City Base as part of the city’s greenways trail system, connecting parks with each other via hike, bike, run trail systems.  Brooks City Base, now a location for various housing, industries, and business was originally Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio.  5K start time of 8:45 a.m.  Some really nice weather for it too, a mix of sunshine and clouds and a very comfortable 63 degrees with low humidity and low dewpoint.   Packet pickup was on race day only, so a bit of a line, but the volunteers got everything organized pretty well, so it was not very long before I had my bib number on and was then wandering around taking a few photos before the start.

This sculpture of a kid flying the moon as a kite was right near where we started and finished. I took a couple of photos of this.

Some of the iaap race management crew near our start/finish line; and part of the San Antonio River - a small part - that flows near this park

With friend before the start.  I had a top layer shirt on before the start and a singlet under that I did the race in.  Cuz, you know, I have lived in Texas now for 22 years so when the temp is below 60 - which it was a bit before the start - that is cold for we South Texans, lol.  Break out the jackets!

Various participants, volunteers, etc

My friend on the right, with the moon behind him looks like he is wearing horns, lol, and ready for a Viking adventure

City Councilwoman Viagran giving us some information before we start

In the start crowd, looking foward

ON THE COURSE

We started out near the park’s pavilion, following a paved concrete trail.  In the beginning, kind of narrow  – maybe slightly wider than a normal sidewalk size – so a bit crowded together for about the first 1/4 mile or so with the number of participants there, but all good, actually helped me not start out too fast, a mistake I usually make when I do races. Everyone seemed quite okay with it – I never say anybody pushing or ‘crowding’ anyone else, we just settled in and paced the best we could.  The trail soon widened nicely and everyone kind of spread out and did their own pace thing. We next went on some of the paved road at Brooks and these were very nice-and-wide roads so everyone had plenty of room. We stayed on the roads, doing a short  out-and-back part on one of them, and then to finish up went back onto the trail we had started on. By then everyone was pretty well strung out back along the course, so no crowding at all going back to the finish.  It was (is) a very well thought out course for the area, so kudos to whomever laid it out for us – which I think was my friend Paul of San Antonio Running Company (good local running and coaching company), who is very good at this type of thing.  I ended up with a time of 33 minutes and change, 5^th in my age group that has some very speedy old 60 – 69 guys, lol.  First guy in my age group finished in 22-something.

One of our course volunteers.  Thank you.

The out-and-back part of the course.  People on the left are heading to the finish.

Looking behind me, right into the sun, as I was on my last walk break and still heading to the turn-round

More people coming toward me, they have already done the turn-round.  After this photo, it was nonstop running for me back to the finish.

AFTER MY FINISH

Found some water and some goodies – various fruits, nutrition bars, etc – relaxed a bit and munched on those and then got a few After Photos.   This was a doggie friendly event, so they did enjoy some treats from me,  with the permission of their human companions.

Bet this doggie loved the cooler weather.

We had quite the little group photo-shoot, lol

I had a dog biscut gripped in my teeth as I took this photo, so had doggie's full attention, lol.

Councilwoman Viagran with friend and/or staff member

With the Councilwoman

After I got home, I found my kitty Oprah totally relaxing in her new favorite basket.....and took her advice, lol, and did the same thing myself, relaxed for the rest of the day.

EPILOGUE

This is the first time I have done this event or run in The Greenline Park, so it was nice doing a race route that I’ve never done before.  As said, course was very well thought out.  Brooks City Base has very wide road – and now lots of trail connections with the park – so I am definitely got to go running here again and go exploring.  The only recommendation I would make to the race organizers is move the water at the finish line area to right behind the chute where runners come out.  Actually, the post-race water bottles were not really that far from the finish line.  But, you know, we runners are sometimes a bunch of ‘prima donas’, lol – I know I can be at times -  and don’t want to have to go looking for the water after we just finished a race, we want it RIGHT there waiting for us.  Anyway, just a small thing. Overall, this was a nicely organized event, one I would certainly do again and would recommend to others.

Much thanks to all the staff at District 3, all the many volunteers and organizers and sponsors and vendors who got this one all put together for we participants; to the law enforcement officers and course volunteers that were out on the course for our safety; to Paul for not only laying out the course, but also being the lead bike pacer for the speedy folks; to local race management company iaap for the timing, course layout (safety cones, directional markers, etc) and results lists; and to anyone else I may not have mentioned here.   Without you, no event for us, so thank you very much.