INTRO

I am Scott aka Scottydog, runner since 1983, cancer survivor, retired Air Force, employee of University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), friend of dogs, fun-runner, and all-around 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.  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, hence my nickname “Scottydog.” Here is yet another of my Race Reports With Photos, and my thanks to all the people I interacted with for their graciousness and good humor in letting me take photos of them.

This was my 60th race of 2014.   Race start time: 6:10 PM.  Between 400 and 600 runners and walkers, maybe even a bit more than that, this has become a very popular local race.  Weather was cooperative, low humidity, low dew-point, temp in the mid-60s.  I ended up with a finish time of 33:27.

BEFORE THE RACE

Event was held on the campus of Northwest Vista College, a 2-year college that is part of the Alamo Colleges System.  The start and finish was near a scenic little lake on the campus.

One of the first people I met after I got on-site was Santa Claus...I guess the 'good' had to be there to help counter the 'bad"

Prior to the start a costume contest was held.  I wandered around the area before that, getting photos of people in their various costumes and of some people not in costume either.

The 3 people in this next photo are wearing the tech-tee race shirt participants got

A few of the Northwest Vista running team.  The college was a recipient of some of the funds from the race.

ON THE COURSE

Out-and-back on campus roads.  The race last year was in McAllister Park, which is a nice park but has some really narrow trails, which caused a bit of a problem for so many people.  This race has grown a lot since it first started, so moving it to the campus was a big help as the wide roads allowed more room for everyone.  As long as I have lived in San Antonio, I actually had never visited this campus.  Who knew this campus had so many hills and that the RD would find most of them for us for the course.   My legs were not so appreciative of that, as on Saturday morning I had gone to Lackland and done a run with some friends and we pretty much did 4 miles of running the pedestrian/troop walk  overpasses (there are 5 of them), so I'd already had my hill work for the day.  Oh well.

By the time I made the turn-around point and headed back to the finish, the crowd had thinned considerably

But not the hills...

AFTER THE RACE

Got a photo with this lady.  She and I ran into the finish together, encouraging each other.  I kept telling her I was old and she surely could get to the finish ahead of me; she kept telling me I had been running longer than her so with my experience could surely beat her in.  At a certain point closer to the finish we both said "Let's go!" and we were off and crossed the finish line together, just about stride-for-stride.  Nice!  Army Strong and Air Force Retired..umm...not so strong, lol.

After that, wandered around taking lots of "Happy Finisher" et al photos.  Several folks enjoyed the post-race sausage rolls - you can see those in some of the photos - and there were other goodies too.  I wasn't hungry so passed, but I downed my share of water...that was a bit of a tough course.  Enjoyable too.

This was a popular area...you could get your photo taken here with various props

I jokingly told these folks that with the wall behind them, they all looked like they were in a lineup....should have got them all to hold their numbers up.

EPILOG

This one continues to be one of my favorite races every year.   Lots of great pre-and-post race activities, always nice goodies (no beer this year though...bummer....maybe the Devil made the RD do that ), lots of great costumes, lots of FUN.  Definitely a keeper on the race calendar!

Looks like a fun event!  Space blanket guy gets around.  lol

Looks like a fun event!  Space blanket guy gets around.  lol

Haha! Yes, he does

Where is Bernadette?

She had already committed to a previous race being put on by a friend of hers...and also had a separate one on Sunday too.