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.

Link to photos only:

https://s166.photobucket.com/user/scottydog69/slideshow/2019%2520Race%2520Reports/2019%2520Race%2520Number%252026%2520Race%2520for%2520Seniors?sort=2

Full report below.    

BEFORE MY START

 My 26^th race of 2019 was the Run For Seniors 5K.  There was also a 2.5 mile walk.  Held on May 4^th at Mission County Park in San Antonio, this event supports services for local-area senior citizens.  And if you are 60 years and older, entry into this race is FREE.  Always nice to get a free race with as many races as I do during the year. This is a popular event with seniors – and there were some younger folks there too – and several of the local area senior citizen centers provide shuttle bus transportation to-and-from the event for their participating residents. For South Texas the weather was darn near perfect after some crazy storms late Friday night and into early Saturday morning.  That all cleared out and at race time of 8 a.m., it was a pleasant 63 degrees, sunshine and blue skies, and low humidity and dewpoint.  I arrived with about an hour to go to start time and got a few pre-start photos.

Some of the iaap race management crew getting everything prepared for the event

Some of the race day volunteers, thank you!

The guy in the blue shirt was our MC

Zumba pre-race warmup

With a fellow survivor - he had pancreatic cancer and has survived it for many years now

Various others.   The "Lace It Up For Seniors" shirt some were wearing is the race shirt.

With speedy friend Ed, who was first in his age group

Go University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Roadrunners!  The university where I work.

Lining up for the start.  Quite a nice turnout for this event.

Love the guy on the phone in the crowd, lol.   "I'll be home soon, honey...gotta run now..." 

With friends Albert and Race Director Brittany - who used to be a co-worker with me at UTSA several years back

Clock down to ZERO.  Time to get it going

 ON THE COURSE

Mission County Park is adjacent to the Mission Reach part of the San Antonio Riverwalk.  There is a 5K route along the river but due to the slickness of the Riverwalk paths after all that rain, the course was don’t for this one on the paved roads nearby the park, an out-and-back route.  There were a couple of small inclines, but nothing you could really call a hill.   I was feeling pretty good and ended up with a time of 33 minutes and change, which was good enough for 3^rd male in my 65 – 69 age group.

On this road, the historic San Jose Mission, built in the 1700s, was on our right up the road from us a bit

I 'm heading to the turn-round running right into the sun.  This guy coming toward me out of the sun was the first overall finisher.

Made the half-way point and am heading back

This bridge behind me was the half-way turn-round point

Heeeey, I'm done! 

Closeup

Some folks finishing after I did, including some of the walkers of the 2.5 walk

AFTER MY FINISH

Did a little cool-down walk, enjoyed some of the post-race goodies and also got some photos of the happy finishers, supporters, volunteers, vendors, etc.  Goodies included various fruits, pastries, muffins, cupcakes, and other times.  I munched down a banana and a muffin and then wandered around with my camera, taking photos and chatting with friends and other participants.

My friend Albert was not that far behind me, maybe a minute or so.  70+ and going strong.

Goodies, courtesy of Selrico Services

Everyone in this photo placed...with Ed, Bernadette, Alfred....and me

My 26th race of the year today....#30 for Bernadette for the year

Enjoyed talking to these two Scots who now live in San Antonio.  I got to visit Scotland during my Air Force days.  Their Scottish brogue brought back some memories.

Yay team!

With another fellow survivor.  Another amazing survival...if I remember correctly hers was ovarian and the survival rate is not usually good for that.  May God bless her and watch over her.

Nice pavilion area at the park where they did the after-ceremonies

Medals volunteers

Medals

With my neighbor and friend Craig, who was a race volunteer today. Thanks, buddy!

EPILOGUE

Nicely done event by WellMed.   Nicely organized, nice course, nice post-race goodies – need some beer too, though, after 😉 – pretty nice quality cotton tee race shirt, and age group awards for top 3 in each age group.  Also a pretty inspiring event as you see out there on the course all kinds of runners and walkers who have overcome and are overcoming their own unique physical challenges.  Saw one guy with a walker doing the 2.5 mile walk and, God bless him, he was just moving right along.  I’ve done this one in the past and will continue to do it in the future.  The only thing I would change for this one is start the walkers about 15 or so minutes AFTER the runners;  with a 2.5 mile walk, several of the walkers were finishing ahead of some of we runners and it made for a crowded finish.  As we runners got closer to the finish line, I saw several runners get impeded by some walkers who just would not move over, even though runners were calling out "ON YOUR LEFT!!!" as they headed to the finish.  This is not good.  Other than that - which was pretty much out of the race director's hands, she can't control what people do on the course - very nicely done race.

Mucho thanks to Race Director Brittany Pratt and all the volunteers that were out there with her and for her. Thanks to local race management company iaap for timing, course setup, race results, etc.  Thanks to the local police officers out there for us on the course at various intersections and thanks, of course, to all the sponsors and vendors who are a big part of making this race happen.  Thanks to anyone else involved that I may not have mentioned here.