Beginners and Beyond

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Photos and Report: Give Love 5K for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital (Read 34 times)

scottydawg


Barking Mad To Run

    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.

     

    SHORT VERSION REPORT

     

    This was my 15th race of the year.  Give Love 5K was held on March 8, 2014 at Eilan - http://www.eilan.com/ - a San Antonio community that blends luxury apartments, office space, hotel and spa, shopping, and amenities. The race supports St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital Central and South Texas - <cite>www.stjude.org/</cite>‎ - which is affiliated with St. Jude's Children's Hospital founded by Danny Thomas. So a cause very personal to me as (a) I am a cancer survivor and this hospital takes care of children with cancer; and (b) when I was in the Air Force I was stationed for a while near Memphis and volunteered at St. Jude's Children's Hospital. The event was put on by Carrera Races and iaapweb.com, two very good local racing event companies. About 200 or so participants for this event on a dark-skies day threatening rain.  I ended up 1st, 2nd, AND 3rd in my Age Group (60-69), since I was the only one IN my age group, lol.  So I garnered another medal to be donated to the cancer kids at the Children's Hospital of San Antonio.

     

    LONG VERSION WITH PHOTOS

     

    Before The Race

     

    Got there with about 45 minutes to go until start time.  Eilan, as said above, is a 'luxury' community, encompassing hotel, apartments, businesses, dining, etc.  Very colorful buildings with a sort of "Mediterranean" look...

     

     

     

    The "Care Bear" was there...

     

     

     

    The Alamo City Red Raiders youth team kindly came out for us to be our course volunteers

     

     

     

    Participants, supporters, etc.  Everyone is SOOO beautiful!  Of course, I don't wear my glasses when  I run or race..

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    These beautiful folks give you a pretty clear view of the pretty nice, long-sleeved tech-tee shirts each participant got in his/her goodie bag.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    These folks were our Race Day registration volunteers and handed out the timing chips.

     

     

    Our lovely Race Director, Virginia, giving us race instructions/information before we start

     

    Getting ready to start

     

    On The Course

     

    I have raced in this location several times before so knew what to expect.  This was a 2-loop course around the community complex and there were a few hills of varying size along the way, including one almost immediately after the start and another just before we finished,  as we had to go up a small incline to get over the finish mat.  Race Directors and Course Planners have a warped sense of humor.

     

    The first hill near the start line

     

    At about the 1/2 mile point, maybe just a tad beyond that...

     

     

     

     

    Another hill coming up ahead of us

     

     

    Starting the 2nd loop

     

     

    A couple of our water volunteers

     

     

    For the 2nd loop, the back of the pack where I was had seriously thinned out on this hill from the crowd it was on the 1st loop.   It also started drizzling on us a bit for those of us left on the course for the 2nd loop.

     

    After that last photo, I ran nonstop for the last 1.2 miles into the finish.  I noticed my time at the Mile 2 marker and my last 1.1 mile in was done in 10:32, my fastest part of the course.

     

    After The Race

     

    Go find the goodies! And apologies for the 'misty' look in some of the photos,  and the 'water bubbles' in places, it was raining a bit on us post-race and my non-retractable camera lens kept getting wet, even after I wiped it. Thankfully, it was not a cold rain with a temp in the 50s.

     

    Carrera races always has beer at their events, oh yeah!

     

     

    Noosa yogurt, "modeled' here by Race Director Virginia's brother, one of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet.

     

    "Sweet Potato" chips

     

    Chocolate chip and regular croissants

     

    Bar-b-que sandwiches

     

    Red Velvet cupcakes

     

    Aches and pains?  These folks can help

     

    And, of course...some of the 'beautiful people' post-race...minus one, in the first photo below..

     

     

     

     

     

    This was one of the speedier guys..I was still doing the race and he lapped me during his cool-down!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     photo givelove5k061_zpsdc36dba5.jpg

     

     

    This lady ended up being first overall woman

     

     photo givelove5k064_zps85a0f29b.jpg

     

     photo givelove5k063_zps66dbcb29.jpg

     

     photo givelove5k062_zps6a173afe.jpg

     

    My speedy friend Bernadette was overall women's masters

     photo givelove5k065_zpsb5e541fd.jpg

     

    The "Lapper Guy" with the other guy who also lapped me on the course.

     

     photo givelove5k060_zpsd86e8c1d.jpg

     

     

    EPILOG

     

    As usual with Carrera and iaapweb.com, a very nice event for a good cause.  Challenging but very nice course in a scenic venue..from the tops of the course hills you could see quite a lot of the area surrounding the community complex.  Weather was not very cooperative with the rain, but at least it was cooperative with the temperature and we sure weren't dealing with the weather the poor 'real winter" folks to the east of us are dealing with. Much thanks to all the sponsors there for us, all the volunteers, and to Eilan management and for the patience of  all the residents and hotel guests  there for allowing us to take over their roads for a while.

     

    Next up for me: Donovan's Run St. Patrick's Day 5K on March 15, followed by iRunTexas (a good local running store) St. Patrick's Day 5K on March 16th.

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

    LRB


      That is a really nice area!


        Chocolate chip and regular croissants

         

         

         

        Want! Smile

        GinnyinPA


          Looks like a nice course and lots of goodies afterwards.  Those chocolate chip croissants do look good.Having rain on your parade is pretty rare in your part of the world, so I imagine you were not as unhappy as you might have been if you hadn't been battling droughts the past few years.

          JerryInIL


          Return To Racing

            You need to get a tutu, Scott.

                

            Pinktastic


              Another great race in the books, Scotty!   Congrats!   Those croissants look YUMMY!    Thanks for sharing!

              But The Smile That I Sent Out Returned With You.


              Will run for scenery.

                Great job, SD.  I always love checking out your pics of happy people.

                Stupid feet!

                Stupid elbow!

                Jack K.


                uʍop ǝpᴉsdn sǝʇᴉɹʍ ʇI

                  You and the Care Bear, good stuff.

                  happylily


                    I'm pretty sure I remember this location from past RRs.  It looks like a pleasant course, despite the rolling hills.

                     

                    Another great report, Scotty! The people of San Antonio are so good looking and happy looking too. Must be due to your presence in the community.

                     

                    Congratulations to all of you dogs on number 1, 2 and 3 AG!  And as always, your friend Bernadette rocks. If I'm half as good a runner at her age, I'll be happy. She's quite an inspiration to older female runners.

                    PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013

                            Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013

                    18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010


                    SheCan

                      D'oh, Scotty, I almost missed this report!   Great pictures as always.  I particularly like that huge, pink care-bear!  Nice pictures overall, though it does look a bit cool & damp.  Congratulations on race 15 of the year, and on 1ST, 2ND & 3RD place!  LOL!  Okay, where was everyone in your age group that day anyway?  I'm a little disappointed in SA!  Anyway, at least you made it out that day.

                      Cherie

                      "We do not become the people who this world needs simply by turning our backs on anyone we don’t like, trust, or deem healthy enough to be in our presence. "  ---- Shasta Nelson


                      Don't call me Buttercup!

                        Chocolate chip croissants AND bbq? I need to do this race. LOL    Looks like a great time, as always, Scotty!

                        Slow and steady wins the....  wait a second! I've been lied to!