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:

http://s166.photobucket.com/user/scottydog69/slideshow/2018%20Race%20Reports/2018%20Race%20Number%2063%20Gruene%205K%20and%2010K?sort=2

Full report below.     

BEFORE MY START

My 63^rd race of 2018 was the Gruene 5K on Sep 8.  There was also a 10K.  Held in the historic little town of Gruene (pronounced GREEN), Texas, with start and finish at historic music and dance hall Gruene Hall, which has seen many famous singers and bands perform here; some even got their start here.  This is a very popular local area event; there were about 1200 or so participants.  Start time of 8 a.m.   I arrived about an hour before start time, got my race packet, and then had about 30 minutes before start time to get in a few photos.

Welcome to Gruene

Packet pickup area and post-race party area; part of the grounds of Gruene Hall

Race day volunteers

Our MC (right), Mark, with two lovely ladies

Various participants, volunteers, etc

ON THE COURSE

There is a stormy rain front moving around in our area – lots of thunderstorms the day before the race, especially up in Texas Hill Country.  It’s pretty much been raining off-and-on all this week, but Mother Nature was kind and gave us a cloudy, overcast day with the sun coming out on occasion.  It did not rain or storm on us at all.  5K and 10K started together.  We proceeded out to a nearby very nice neighborhood, did a loop through that and then headed back toward the finish area.  As we came back to the start finish area, the 5K folks turned into the finish chute while the 10K folks continued onward, down a pretty large hill and then to a turn-round point, and then at the very last part of the race had to climb back UP that steep hill to get to the finish.  From what I understood later, some people I guess decided to switch distances while out on the course – so the timers did not get notified of this since these participants were already out and running – so the results got kind of really screwed up because of that, since those that switched on the course were, of course, not showing as switched in the database. I felt sorry for the poor timers, must have given them quite a darn mess to deal with.  As for me, I did not really worry about results, had seen some speedy guys in my age group who were also doing the 5K, so knew I probably would not place anyway.  I just kicked back and enjoyed myself.  I ended up finishing in 33:52 chip time, 34 minutes on the nose gun time.

I ran with that lady in black until my first walk break.  She was a 10K participant and did the whole course barefooot.

This was a dog-friendly event.  All the dogs were well-behaved...and I quickly ran out of the dog biscuits I was carrying

AFTER MY FINISH

Because of the threatening storms, it was really VERY humid and with a high dewpoint, so it was quite muggy out there.  Being a fatter guy, I sweat a lot (so I won’t explode, as one comedian once said of himself, lol) so I was drenched and feeling ‘steamy’ by the time I crossed the finish line.  Luckily I was able to find parking pretty close to the start/finish area, so I shuffled to my car and sat inside for about 10 minutes with the a/c running and drinking my ice water I had brought.   Ahhh, very refreshing.  After that, out to take some photos of the ‘happy finishers’ – what I call the after photos because more people are smiling after they are done than before and on the course, lol – and whomever else…supporters, volunteers, vendors, etc.

With friend Jason, who did the 10K

Yay for post-race beer! 

My barefoot running friend finished the 10K in about an hour

Oops!  I got the guy in 'witness protection' mode...

OK, that's a bit better..even the dog is looking at the camera now, lol

Looks can be deceiving, lol.  At the finish of the 5K I was chasing the gentleman on the right.  He finished about a minute ahead of me.

With the lovely Sherri, race director.  Poor lady had her hands full, with those crazy results due to some of the participants switching races with no notice

Athlete Guild timers finally getting a break from the craziness as most of the people had left by this time.  Rick kindly verified my 5K result for me.

Thank you volunteers.  Out there until the very end.

EPILOGUE

This is a really nice event with a nice course, put on well by local area running management company Athlete Guild.  Some nice quality race shirts, a nice course – at least for the 5K, not sure how the 10K folks felt about their course, lol – and a really nice after-party with Shiner Bock beer, sausage wraps and various other treats and give-aways from vendors, sponsors, etc.  Have done this one in the past, will assuredly do it again in the future, and would recommend it to others.

Much thanks to all the people who made this one happen for we participants, including Athlete Guild and all the volunteers for this event; Gruene Hall for the use of their facilities and grounds; the local law enforcement that was out there for us; and, of course, all the many sponsors/vendors who help pay for all the costs of putting on a race.  Also, thank you to anyone I may not have mentioned here that was there for us too.  Much appreciated that you do all this so we participants can have an event.