Beginners and Beyond

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S.A. Roadrunners July 4th 4-Miler (Read 9 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

     

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

     

    Link to photos only: http://s166.photobucket.com/user/scottydog69/slideshow/2017%20Race%20Reports/2017%20Race%2045%20SARR%204th%20of%20July%204%20Miler

     

    A couple of the photos may not have come out so well;  sorry about that.   Plus, at times post-race I forgot to wipe my sweaty lens - duhhhh -  so there might be a smudge or two on some of them.     All in all, I think they came out fairly well.  I am certainly no professional photographer with skills; but at least all the photos are free to save.  J

     

    BEFORE MY START

     

    My 45th race of 2017 was the San Antonio RoadRunners 4th of July 4-Miler held at Mission County Park 1 in San Antonio.  Start time of 7:30 .m.  This is a popular annual event of the largest local running club in San Antonio.  Always a pretty nice turn-out for this one, especially considering there are also several more local area 4th of July races being put on too.  This year there were 456 participants.   I arrived with about an hour go to start time, found a pretty good parking spot close to the start/finish area, got my stuff together and then went around taking some pre-start photos.   The Mission County parks are pretty parks with pavilions, restroom facilities, picnic tables, and some nice scenic views as they are adjacent to the Mission Reach part of the San Antonio Riverwalk.

     

    Welcome!

     

     

    Athlete Guild doing their thing - timing, course setup, results, etc.

     

     

     

    Towels icing down and waiting for the finishers

     

     

    Race Director Erik and co-Director Kristine

     

     

     

    And others.....

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Two survivors...

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Getting ready to start

     

     

    ON THE COURSE

     

    July in Texas, so very warm and humid.  This event was no exception.  We did not run along the Riverwalk trail – would have been very crowded with this many participants – but on the road in front of the park, doing 2 miles out and 2 miles back, with some views of the river along the way.  Before I was even to the 1.5 mile mark, the leader was already heading back to the finish.  That guy was flying, finishing in 21:55, averaging 5:29 per mile or thereabouts, wow.  Especially impressive on a hot day as it was already about 80 when we started, with crazy humidity and high dew-point.  As for me, I probably had my worst 4-mile time ever.  Did okay to the halfway point, but then I just ‘melted’ and got a tad dizzy for a second – I think I probably did not hydrated near as much as I should have – so I decided heck with it, I was just going to walk more than I normally do, not push it, and just get it done.  The bad on this was it took me longer to get done; I ended up with 52:20 chip time – 13-something per mile; my usual time for a 4 miler is about 44 – 46 minutes.  The good on this was it took me longer to get done, so I got to take more on-course photos than I usually do.  Well, I’ve been a runner long enough now – 33 years – to know that you just have days like this sometimes so you just deal with it as best you can, keep putting one foot in front of the other, and get done.  In all the races I’ve ever participated in during my 33 years, I have never been DNF in any of them - thanks to lots of dumb luck and probably being stubborn and stupidly pig-headed at times, lol – and, although it took me longer than expected, I got this one done too.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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    About a half-mile to the finish from this volunteer

     


      AFTER MY FINISH

     

    Small towels in ice-water given to finishers after crossing the finish line – nice.  Got one of those, then walked to my nearby parked car and sat in that for about 10 minutes with the a/c on and drinking water, and felt much better after that.  Then it was back out to get some after photos. I drank a couple more bottles or water and even enjoyed a post-race cold beer, which went down very nicely as I sipped it slows and went around taking my photos, and felt just fine. And wouldn’t you know it – AFTER the race was over, it was THEN that Mother Nature gave us a pretty nice-feeling breeze…she couldn’t have sent it our way during the race?  That beyotch…  Tongue

     

    We are done!  With my friends Albert and Petey Dog

     

     

    And more.....

     

    This little kitty was running on the course with us.  I saw him just a little past Mile 1.  This lady walker picked him up and carried him the whole course.  The kitty is going to be adopted by this young man, nice.  Someone asked what he was going to name him and my friend, Whit, said "Well, he did the course...probably Racer."   lol.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    MC Bob Ratliff

     

     

     

     

     

     

    yay beer!

     

     

     

     

     

     

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    The band was still at it...

     

    ..and the even had some groupies...

     

     

     

     

     

    Current and past presidents of San Antonio Roadrunners

     

    For most of the course I was in proximity of my friend Sally

     

     

     

     

     

     

    With friend Scott Wood, co-owner of Athlete Guild

     

     

    EPILOGUE

     

    The San Antonio Roadrunners always put on a pretty good show for their events – well organized, pretty nice courses, pretty nice race shirts, usually lots of post-race goodies and, for their larger events like this one, usually some door prizes too – none of which I won, darn the luck.  For their 4th of July events, the RoadRunners have had a few different ones over the years, and this is one of their better ones, in my opinion.  Good pre-and-post race facilities, nice course with plenty of room for everyone to maneuver, and only a couple of minor inclines – nothing you could really call a ‘hill’ for those that do regular hill training on much bigger hills.  I’d definitely do this one again and would recommend it to others.

    MUCHO thanks to all the people who did all the hard work to make this one happen for we participants and were out there for us:  Athlete Guild for the timing and course set up, all the volunteers,  law enforcement officers out there for us – and especially during this difficult time for them, as one of their own was killed in the line of duty earlier this month, and another seriously injured; my heart goes out to all our officers out there – and to our firefighters too who also recently lost one of their brothers - and to the families of the victims – and, of course, all the sponsors who helped support this event, etc.  Without all of you doing what you do, there would be no races for us participants, so thank you very much for what you do!

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

    Half Crazy K 2.0


      Heat & humidity are miserable. It just looks hot in your pictures. I was surprised to see some women in tights or capris.

      Zelanie


        Glad you got another finish in, Scotty.  Adjusting for conditions of the day and how you're feeling is how you've been able to do so many races!