Beginners and Beyond

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Report and photos: Race #20 of 2018 - Viva SA 5K! (Read 10 times)

scottydawg


Barking Mad To Run

    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

     

    A couple of the photos may not have come out so well; sorry about that.    All in all though, I think they came out fairly well.  I am certainly no professional photographer with skills; but at least all the photos are free. 

     

    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%2020%20Viva%20SA%205K?sort=2

     

    Before My Start

    My 20th race of 2018 was Viva San Antonio 5K put on by Junior League of San Antonio on March 24.  There was also a 10K.  Start and finish at HemisFair in downtown San Antonio near the Tower of the Americas.  HemisFair Park was originally built for the World's Fair when it came to San Antonio.  The park has been renovated - and part of it are still being renovated - and now contains a small splash pad, new playground area, upgraded facilities, and so forth.  A very nice park adjacent to the San Antonio Riverwalk and Alamo Street.   The 10K started at 8 a.m. and the 5K started at 8:10 a.m. From where I live by the airport a relatively quick and pretty straight down route to the race area.  I arrived with about 45 minutes to go to start time and wandered around getting some pre-start photos.

     

    With friends before the start.  Wearing a race shirt of one of my  favorite local races of the year...Too Hot To Handle 5K.

     

     

    With friend Minnie (I always spell her first name wrong, lol), a lovely lady and co-owner of iaapweb.  So get to work Raf...Minnie is watching! 

     

     

    The lonely start line before everyone got lined up

     

    One of the iaapweb (timing, results, etc) folks, friend Rafael

     

    Our MC/Announcer.  Thank you sir!

     

     

    Various participants, volunteers, etc

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    On The Course

    Started on the cobblestone/brick path at Hemisfair, then onto a paved road taking us down to one of the many access points in this area to the San Antonio Riverwalk.  Down to the Riverwalk trails and headed toward local Blue Star Contemporary area (artists area, local Blue Star Brewery, bike shop and other businesses).  A little past Blue Start was our turn-around point and then back the way we had come, finishing up at Hemisfair.  For the 10K folks their turn-around point was Brackenridge High School, a local school that borders the Riverwalk.   This course was mostly flat with a couple of inclines that you could not really call hills.  I ended up finishing in 33:54, good enough for 3rd in my age group. The Riverwalk trails are not the widest so for a HUGE race the pat can get pretty crowded.  For this event, with the number of participants we had  it was just fine.  I never had any problem maneuvering around people when I needed to and where I was at any given time I never saw anyone get blocked, fall down, etc.  Where I was, everyone around me seemed to be in pretty good spirits and there was actually a lot of joking around, smiles and laughter.  Of course with my running pace I was not exactly with the very speedy people either, lol; seems to me we mid-pack and back of the pack folks seem to have a lot more 'fun' than those really speedy folks who actually RACE the course at top speed; we seem to be able to enjoy the course more because we can actually see what's around us, lol. Just my opinion.  Anyway, the course was good; kudos to whomever laid this one out for us.

     

    Getting ready to go.  people in front of me and behind me

     

    With my friend Bernadette in the start area

     

    Tower of the Americas right behind us

     

    On the Riverwalk

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Made the turn-around and am now heading back to the finish

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    After My Finish

    Got my timing chip removed and then stood near the finish to get a few finish photos of some of the people I had run and interacted  with on the course.  Then it was off to get some post-race goodies and take more photos of "happy finishers", supporters, volunteers, etc. that I encountered post-race.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Nice post-race:  a lovely lady and a beer.  My very speedy and lovely friend Tanya here was first woman finisher overall in the 5K

     

    Mike Osterhage, co-host of  a morning show in San Antonio on KSAT-TV, was our announcer for the awards ceremony.  Thanks, Mike!

     

    Two lovely ladies of the Junior League.  Lady on the left was our Race Director.

     

     

    Splash pad at Hemifair with a little one enjoying it.  I was tempted to get in there myself, lol, 68 degrees for our morning event.

     

     

     

    Yay, medals.  Bernadette placed 1st in her age group.

     

     

     

    On the walk back to my vehicle.....this is a nice quiet and peaceful little spot along the Riverwalk, just down from the River Center.

     

    EPILOGUE

    Very well organized event by the Junior League and, for a Riverwalk course, as said previously, a very well thought out course for the riverwalk location.  Nice post-race goodies that included Corona beer and craft beer from a brewery in Seguin, Texas (about an hour from San Antonio); various energy bars, sugar cookies, popsicles, free goodie souvenir handouts from some of the sponsors, and so forth. Post-race was very nicely done.  Pretty nice tech tee race shirt too.  Definitely would recommend this one and definitely will do it again in the future.

     

    Mucho thanks to all the people who made this one happen for us:  Junior League of San Antonio, the many volunteers and sponsors, police officers out there on the course for us, iaapweb for timing and results, and anyone else I may not have mentioned here.  Without you, no race for us, so thank you very much!  Also thanks to the users (walkers, other runners, and cyclists) of the Riverwalk on race morning who were not participating in our event but kindly moved aside  to give us the right-of-way as we came upon them so we could continue our event unimpeded.

    "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt

    Half Crazy K 2.0


      Is there a story behind taco guy? Your events always look so fun.

      scottydawg


      Barking Mad To Run

        Is there a story behind taco guy? Your events always look so fun.

         

        He is a character, all right, lol.  He likes the costume races and has quite a few varied costumes for some of our local races.  He has a lot of fun.  Pretty darn speedy too in those costumes.

        "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt