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.”

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, so that's something, right? 

Here is yet another of my photo reports.  Full report below.     

Link to photos only:

https://s166.photobucket.com/user/scottydog69/slideshow/2019%2520Race%2520Reports/2019%2520Race%2520Number%252037%2520Barbacoa%2520and%2520Big%2520Red%25205k?sort=2

BEFORE MY START

My 37^th race of 2019 was Big Red and Barbacoa 5K held on June 9^th at Comanche Park in San Antonio.  This event supports SA Eagles Athletics Club is a nonprofit organization designed to expose our youth to the sport of track & field and running.  Nice turnout for a Sunday morning, about 400 or so participants. Race start time of 8:30 a.m., so it was already near 80 degrees by the time we started, and very humid.  I arrived with about 45 minutes to go to start time and got a few pre-start photos.

Our music man and MC

With friend Bernadette. I think this was her 40th race of the year

Two old guys and one young whipper-snapper

Opportunity to adopt a dog

iaap crew members

Various.....

This guy modeled the race shirt for me.  Thanks!

Getting ready to start

ON THE COURSE

Out-and-back course, starting from near the main pavilion area of the park.  As said previously, very humid, but thankfully the course was mostly flat, with just one short incline, and lots of shade along the way.  Even so, it got warmer pretty quickly – temp actually went over 100 degrees for us later in the day – so, after a hilly 5K I did on Saturday morning, I just took it easy for this one; usually I take 2 walk breaks for a 5K but for this one I took 3.  Ended up with 35-minutes and change chip time, which got me 3^rd place in my 65 – 69 age group.  Did not expect to place at all, so bonus, lol.

Made the turn-round and am on the way to the finish

This speedy guy had already finished and was doing a cool-down run

At this point, about 5 or 6 minutes away from the finish.

AFTER MY FINISH

Dang, I was hot and sweaty.  First thing, get some water, and then went and sat in my vehicle for about 10 minutes, sipping water and blasting the a/c for my cool-down. Felt pretty darn good after that and back to the start/finish area to get some after photos.

Happy finishers, supporters, etc.

With friend who was promoting her upcoming 5K, Winter in July 5K

With the Race Director

EPILOGUE

This is a very nicely organized event – hope next year the start is about an hour earlier though, lol – at a good location that has lots of facilities and really nice running/walking trails. Local race management company iaap did their usual great job with course layout, timing, results, etc.  DJ playing music for us and post race goodies that included – given the name of the event you can probably guess – barbacoa tacos and Big Red soft drink.  There was also water, various fruits, and so forth. T-shirts were pretty nice quality.  I registered late so did not get one, but that’s okay cuz I ordered a youth medium anyway and usually give it to a kid, so no heartburn at all about the shirt, since it did go to a kid, all good.  Have done this one in the past and will do it again, and would recommend it to others.

Thanks very much to all the people who made this one happen for we participants, all the volunteers; iaap for the course set-up, timing, and results; all the sponsors and vendors, including, of course, the primary sponsor Big Red; law enforcement folks out there for us; and anyone else I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all for what you do so we participants can enjoy this event.