INTRO

I am Scott aka Scottydog, runner since 1983, cancer survivor, retired Air Force, 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.

SHORT VERSION REPORT

Race #24 for me in 2013.  Finish time for me:  32:46 chip time.  Since this is Fiesta month in San Antonio - 10 days of party and parades and events, April 18 - 28, 2013 - http://www.fiesta-sa.org/ - this race supported the scholarships Fiesta raises. El Rey Feo "King Larry Benson" and his court attended the race.  How one of our local leading citizens become El Rey Feo each year:  they have a contest to raise money for student scholarships and the person who raises the most money is El Rey Feo.  This year, that person is Larry Benson, of the family that owns the Benson car dealerships.  The Benson family - local citizen Tom Benson is the owner of the New Orleans Saints - are great folks and do a lot for the San Antonio community and are great folks.  For this event there was also a 'decorate your shoes" contest for Fiesta and a runner with the best pair of 'Fiesta decorated shoes' won a prize. This goes to a tradition during the parades when the Fiesta Royal Court ladies riding the parade floats wear those long gowns and the crowd shouts  out jokingly "Show us your shoes!" to see the type of shoes they are wearing that are hidden by those gowns, and the ladies oblige by lifting their feet and showing their shoes - some of which are quite originally decorated and fun to see.

LONG VERSION WITH PHOTOS

Held by Carrera Races - <cite>www.carreraraces.com/</cite>- at Éilan in San Antonio -http://www.eilan.com/ - a very pretty community of hotel/spa, residences, business offices, etc.  Located on La Cantera Parkway across from Six Flags Fiesta Texas.  I got to the site with about 40 minutes to start time and did my usual thing of getting some photos before the start.

BEFORE THE START

Some of the Eilan office/resident buildings.  The design/style of the buildings reminded me of some times I had spent in the Mediterranean/Greece area during my Air Force days.

Our start/finish area was in front of this hotel/residence building

Looking down at the fountain from the steps above

El Rey Feo Larry Benson and his court

Me with El Rey Feo and his Prime Minister

Other participants and supporters pre-start

Right after we started, first thing we did was climb a hill almost right out of the starting gate.

After the hill, we proceeded on a winding road and passed in front of a community hotel,climbing another small hill/incline just past the hotel.

Eventually I would get over to this road, the long downhill on the course

Just before going on the long downhill, I was at a point where you could see The Palladium - an IMAX theater at a shopping center called The Rim, that is near Eilan community.  The design of the theater is like buildings of ancient Greece/Rome.  This view reminded me of those old-time movies about ancient Rome that would open with a panoramic view of the city from afar.

Starting Loop 2, and then on to the finish. As you can see, the crowd had thinned out considerably from the initial start photo taken on this hill.

Notice the guy pushing the stroller.  More on him later.

After that last photo on the course, I tucked the camera away and trucked on into the finish.  At the 2-mile marker I started my chrono to see how fast I could get my 1.1 mile in with nonstop running.  I crossed the finish line, glanced at my chrono...and was SHOCKED to see that I had done the last 1.1 mile in 9:37. Not speedy for many, of course;  but for me, who usually does 11+ per minute training miles, this was smokin' for my old arthritic body, lol.  My overall finish time was 34:46 chip time, averaging 10:35 per mile. I have been quite consistent lately, finishing my last 3 5Ks in 32-something for each one, even with all my photo stops along the way.

AFTER THE RACE

OK, if you are one of the 'dream sequence" looking folks in my post-race photos, my apologies;  because I am an idiot at times and have a tendency of forgetting post-race to wipe my sweaty camera lens off.  If you are ever at a race with me, PLEASE remind me post-race to wipe my lens!    Thank you very much!  Even with the "witness protection" look, I think you can figure out who you are.

Here is the Stroller Pusher Guy, whose photo I took on course as we started the 2nd loop.  I was near him for a lot of the race and he was quite inspiring, a Wounded Warrior amputee pushing that stroller up those hills we had to do!   One time as we ran together on the course, I told him he really inspired me being out here.  He laughed and said "All I need is 5 toes!"  Post race we chatted, sharing some of our military experiences. When I told him I had a screw that went all the way through my knee, he said, "Well, in my case, if my leg is bothering me, all I have to do is take it off.  I don't think you can do that when your leg bothers you."  lol.  This guy is just so positive and has a great attitude, I really liked him.  He also has a lovely and supportive family.  I got a photo of him and family post-race.

Also, post-race, I found the two most important post-race goodies people...The Beer Ladies!  With a bin chock-full of cold beer on ice.

Oh yeah, went down niiiice, after a hilly 5K!

There was also a wine option, served by this lovely volunteer

And lot of other post-race goodies, like these brownies sampled by this lovely-lady participant

Thanks for your service!  Had a nice chat with these ladies - Army nurse on the left, Air Force lady on the right - who were enjoying some of the post-race goodies.

Two lovely "sisters", one of whom got an AG award

More "Happy Finishers" and Supporters and Volunteers enjoying the post-race festivities

EPILOG

One of the best and most-fun events I have ever done in San Antonio.  Hope Carrera Races keeps this one going every year and hope that it grows in number of participants.  Really good cause, nice course, nice post-race goodies. Also, a VERY nice touch by Carrerra:  because this is a Fiesta race, at packet pickup, they had a multitude of color selections for the nice-quality tech tee race shirts - so you had your choice of yellow, blue, green, red, orange, lime green, etc.   Since I work for University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA - Go Roadrunners!), I chose orange and blue since those are the school colors.  If you are ever in San Antonio for Fiesta, definitely do this event!

Oh no I can't see them either! Th pics are always the best part!

Put that beer down and fix your post lol!

That's much better. Sorry if you had to waste a lot of time with that, but picture #s 12, 33, and 47 still don't show. Wow, that's so many pictures!

Don't know why you can't see those pics.  My wife got on her laptop and said she can see them all.  Two friends of mine e-mailed me and said they could now see them all too.

I sure wish this place would just let us cut-and-paste photos, no links, etc., would sure be so much easier!  Especially for a technology idiot like me!

Weird. I can only see one picture. Just one. And I can't see anything in Scottydog's other post. It must be something to do with being so far away from ya'll.

Yay pictures are showing up! I can see all of them! Whata cool race, love the race shirts!

Wow Scotty!  You can pick up the pace when you want to.  Pretty darn impressive.  Speaking impressive, the soldier with the stroller...wow.  That would have been one of those amazing races to be at.  The architecture in the pictures, the views along the course, inspirational people and moments, beer....oh...and a race!  Thanks Scotty!