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%252021%2520Confetti%25205K?sort=2

Full report below.    

BEFORE MY START

 My 21^st race of 2019 was the Confetti 5K held on April 13 at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas.  This was the 3^rd year this race has been held and I have done all of them since it started, so this is now one of my ‘streak’ races that I will hopefully continue to be able to do each year it is put on.  This is a very popular local event and the race sold out at its limit of 1,000 participants.  Our weather forecasters had predicted possible thunderstorms in the early morning, so I don’t know if all 1,000 showed up, but there was a heckuva lot of people at this one.  We actually ended up having fair weather for the event, which included a kid’s run, with some sunshine and temps of 66 degrees.  It was, however, very humid as storms were gathering and slowly moving into the area.  But Mother Nature was kind today and the storm did not reach us until after the race.  Kid’s race at 8:30, then the wheelchair participants got an early 15 minute start at 8:45, and the rest of us started at 9 a.m.  I arrived with about an hour to go until start time and got some pre-start photos.

On the campus of Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio

Ainsley's Angels before the start.  Amazing group of people.  Proud to call them friends.

I see my speedy walker friends here at several races that I do.  

Various participants, volunteers, vendor, sponsors, etc

In the steaming humidity, this guy did the course in this outfit

These two ladies have on this year's race shirt

Race Director Liz and friend

Local TV-News crew from KENS-5 TV in San Antonio.  They asked me to do a 5-minute interview with them.  Hope I was photogenic enough.. 

Participants on wheels getting ready to go.  They got a 15-minute start before everyone else.

Registration on site for an upcoming 5K against domestic violence

Getting ready to go...looking ahead of me and behind me.  When the gun went off, a cannon shot a LOT of confetti which participants ran or walked under and through and over after crossing the start mat

ON THE COURSE

This is one of my favorite local race courses.  Our Lady of the Lake campus is very scenic with rising ‘towers’ and the course also took us on a loop around the man-made lake at nearby Elmendorf Park, where we crossed 3 short bridges, giving us nice views of the lake.  The course is pretty much mostly flat, with a couple of up inclines that you can’t really call a hill at all.  For a 5K I usually take 2 walk breaks and then run nonstop the last 1.3 miles in.  Today, however, that humidity got me a bit, so I took an extra walk break and ended up being about a minute slower than I usually am for a 5K.   Also I was sweating like crazy too in that humidity, so I put part of the blame on my  sweaty fat butt, which sucked up part of my short line right into it and for that last ½ mile making me look like Chester in Gunsmoke as I ran along.  😉   It w was all good though; enjoyed myself.  I ended up 6^th in my 60-69 male age group with a chip time of 35:24.

About a mile to go from here. 

AFTER MY FINISH

Another reason I like this race so much….great after-party, with a ton of goodies, including sausage-on-a-stick, Shiner beer, and vendors giving away a lot of free stuff.   There was also a food truck on-site with a variety of offerings.  Finisher medals too for every participant. I wandered around munching on sausage and drinking my beer and getting some photos of the happy finishers, supporters, vendors, etc. The rain finally did arrive but, as said, at least it waited until most people were off the course.  We had quite a downpour for a while, and I heard on the news after I got home some our local areas actually got hail and had a tornado watch going on.  Glad THAT didn’t happen while we were on the course.

Met a queen after I finished

Me and the Queen and my big finisher medal

With friend Roy. I have on last year's shirt, Roy has on this year's.

Yay beer!  And you can see the dark clouds were starting to move in post-race

With friend Ralph

Umm, yeah, a lot darker now...

Crazy weather, this is how fast the clouds were moving..it was dark it was light, it was dark...

Here come the clouds again...

The rain arrived.  Standing under tents, hoping it passes quickly.

My friends Cecilia and Roge, co-owners of local race company iaap, which puts on some pretty darn excellent race events themselves over the year.

We got a pretty good soaking for a while, there. Howevever, there was a YMCA right down the road from the university; so, as a Y member, I was able to stop there, take a nice hot shower and get into some dry clothes before I drove home.  Nice......

.......then after I got home I took a cue from my kitties here...and was pretty much lazy for the rest of the day, lol.

They only moved to turn over a bit.   Me too, lol.

EPILOGUE

Will most assuredly continue to do this one.  Great race location, great course, nice quality tech tees, finisher medals, great post-race goodies, the university opened its doors to us, so no porta-potties, actual indoor restrooms and water fountains, etc, music playing, local news crews on site…this is one well produced event.

Mucho thanks to everyone out there who made this one happen for we participants; Race Director Liz, who I know works her butt off each year to make this all come together, along with all her volunteers; the university staff for allowing us access for this event; all the sponsors and vendors; the law enforcement officers that were out there for us; and anyone else I may  not have mentioned here. Thank you all so much for what you do so we participants can have this event.

So, did your interview end up getting on air?

Yes, it did.  My friend, lol, said she woke up on Sunday morning after having quite a few drinks the night before and the TV was on and the first thing she saw was my interview.  She said she thought "OMG, I am seeing Scottydog on TV, I must still be drunk!"   lol.

Now you're even more famous! Does the 1 cat not like cat beds?

Brilliant, there is a Texas Team Beef. Not sure how it works, I know they get clothing and a roast at the holidays.