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%2034%20Big%20Red%20and%20Barbacoa%205K

A couple of the photos may not have come out so well;  sorry about that – I am certainly no professional photographer with skills; but at least all the photos are free to save.

BEFORE MY START

My 34th race of 2017 was the Big Red and Barbacoa 5K held on May 21 at Comanche Park in San Antonio.   This race benefits SA Eagles Athletics Club, a nonprofit organization designed to expose youth to the sport of track & field and running in general.  Since 1937, the drink Big Red has been a Texas brand.  There is also an annual Big Red and Baracoa festival, bringing the community together to celebrate traditions, Big Red, and barbacoa, a form of cooking meat that originated in the Caribbean with the Taíno people, from which the term “barbecue” derives.  Start time of 8 a.m.  I arrived at the park around 7:15 a.m. and got a few pre-start photos.

With my friend, Bernadette, who runs even more races than I do in a year - and she places in just about all of hers.

Our MC, Mark Purnell, doing his usual great job

With friend Ceci - she usually is an RD for the iaapweb races, but today she got to run.  Very speedily too, she placed in her age group.

Her 'beau', Roge, also got to run today and he too placed.

Race Day registration volunteers

These volunteers were busy getting all the sausages ready for the post-race activities

AND SOME OF THE OTHERS...

People behind me in the start area

Old Glory flying proud as the National Anthem is sung

6 seconds to start time...

...and we are off....

ON THE COURSE

A mix of cement and asphalt paved trails in the park, along with a short part of one of the asphalt park roads near the start and finish.   An out-and-back course that was very well thought out and, in my opinion, a much better 5K route than the one normally used at this park.  Our local weather folks were still predicting possible rain in the area, so we had lots of cloud cover and it was a bit humid, but not as humid as was the race I had done the day before. There was also a bit more of a breeze blowing on this morning, which was helpful. 

My friend, Terry (pink shirt) and I were pretty much near each other for the whole course.

Got a photo of this guy heading back.  I think he was the overall winner in 18-something.

Me still going to the turn-around point and Bernadette already heading to the finish

I have made the turn-around and am now heading back.  I could just see Terry's pink shirt way up ahead of me.  I figured I would not catch her today, she had her mojo going on.

I surprised myself and found my own mojo for the last 1.2 miles.  I did catch up to my friend, Terry, got to the finish line, and then got a photo of her coming in

AFTER MY FINISH

Nice touch at the finish, chilled small hand-towels given to everyone, felt very refreshing. Put that on the back of my neck, got some water, and wandered around getting some photos.

Three happy finishers.  My friend Ed, who is in my age group, placed 1st in our age group and I placed 2nd. Terry placed in hers too.

Team Iaap - these are some speedy folks, so I think iaap in their case means 'it's an amazing pace"  

Right after I finished, I felt exactly how this young lady on the right did, lol.

This is one speedy little dog....I saw them heading for the finish way before I even got to the half-way point. The guy in the red shirt was our music man and also did the awards ceremony.

Bernadette enjoying one of the post-race treats available for us.  Interesting she picked a popsicle color that matched her shirt.

A nice, cool pavilion to relax under after the race

The three top in my age group, 60 - 69

Top overall male and female masters

Team Iaap had the largest team at the race

My friend, Minie, place in her age group.  One of those speedy iaap people, lol.  The awards were these license plates.  No hiding your age group, lol, if you display these.

Thank you volunteers!  These were some of the folks doing all the work to get everything ready for we participants for before and after the race.

One of the official photographers and then me with the two official photographers.  I am sure their photos will look much better than mine.

EPILOGUE

This is a very nicely done event. I did the inaugural one last year and came back for seconds this year.  I think this year’s had a few less participants than last year, probably because this was the same weekend as Beach to Bay Relay Marathon in Corpus Christi, which is a huge event for Texas and very popular, so a lot of our local runners were most likely down there for the weekend.  Even so, a very nice turn-out, really good course, fairly decent weather for late May in San Antonio, and nice post-race goodies that included Big Red and Kiolbassa sausages. Definitely would do this one again and would recommend it to my fellow runners.

Mucho thanks to all the people who did all the hard work to make this one happen for we participants, including iaapweb for course set-up, timing, and results, the two photographers out there getting photos and video, Big Red company, kiolbassa, and all the other sponsors, and all the volunteers, vendors, etc.  Thank you so much, we runners and walkers could not enjoy these events without what all of you do for us.