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%2010%20Ermi%20Be%20Great%20by%20Choice%205K
A couple of the photos came out a bit blurry, sorry about that, I am definitely no professional photographer, lol, but at least the photos are free.
BEFORE MY START
My 10th race of 2017 was the ERMI Inc. Be Great by Choice 5K. Held on Feb 17, 3 p.m. at Lady Bird Johnson (LBJ) Park in San Antonio, this event supported the Travis Mills Foundation. “Never give up. Never quit.” is the proverb for Travis Mills, retired United States Army Staff Sergeant, wounded warrior, motivational speaker, and advocate for veterans and amputees. His organization,The Travis Mills Foundation, is on a mission to benefit and assist wounded and injured veterans. ERMI is an acronym that translates to End Range Motion Improvement. ERMI, Inc. is a leading US medical device company specializing in treating outlier patients with severe motion loss. This 5K was in conjunction with the ERMI convention held in San Antonio. There were probably about a hundred or so participants.
LBJ Park is only about 3 miles from where I live, so got there pretty quickly. With about an hour to start time, I took a few pre-start photos.
Before the event started, there was a little bit of warming up by a few people playing wiffle ball, badminton, etc.
Veterans group Team RWB San Antonio at the event
Mark Purnell did his usual great job as MC. If you have an event...hire this guy, he is good!
Father-and-son, John and Mark
Various participants, volunteers, supporters, et al
These folks are wearing the nice tech tee gray shirts participants got
Our law enforcement guys, riding on the course for us, making sure we were all safe
ON THE COURSE
Course was out-and-back from and to the main area of the park. Paved off-road trails. With a 3 pm start and the milder winter weather we’ve been having in San Antonio, it was pretty warm for this time of year – about 74 degrees at start time. However, I prefer warm weather running over colder weather – I usually do the majority of my training runs after work instead of in the morning – so I was feeling pretty good. I ended up doing negative splits for the back half of the course, with a finish time of 35:18; probably would have done 34-something, but I stopped a bit more for this one to get a few extra on-course photos. Also, near the start and on the way back to the finish, there was quite a pool of water across a bridge that was over the park creek, so we all had to slow down a bit to negotiate that; some ran right through it, but most of us chose to get traverse the bridge by stepping along a row of upright stone blocks on either side of it – which meant single file for that part of the course. All good though, even with the course ‘water hazard”, nice course on a pretty nice day, and done with lots of pleasant company.
First walk break....
Second walk break, near the turn-around point...leave it to my friend John to have us go up a small hill, lol, to make the turn-around...
After that last photo of my friend, Karen, it was then non-stop running for me back to the finish.
AFTER MY FINISH
Beer and sausages post-race, oh yeah!
And then wandering around chatting with lots of nice people and taking random photos of the participants, supporters, volunteers, etc.
I took 3 photos of this little family, trying to get one where all 4 of them were looking up. The first two came out a bit blurry...success on the 3rd one!
The guy in the black shirt is the inspirational Travis Miller - Wounded Warrior, Person Extraordinaire, and a very nice guy.
Finally, with my friend Karen. My job at all the same races we do is to crack her up at least once. Tickle tickle! I think my work here is done.
EPILOGUE
Small event, very nicely organized and nicely done. Awards to only the top finishers - which was ok, I get the budget thing, and would rather see most of the funds go to the foundation anyway, good cause – and really nice quality tech tee race shirts. Also got to meet in person Travis Miller, which was a real privilege; class act guy and one very motivating Wounded Warrior. I don’t know if this is just a one-time event 5K for San Antonio, but if ERMI every comes back, I most certainly would do this one again.
MUCHO THANKS to everyone who made this event happen for us, ERMI, Purnell Racing, volunteers, all the law enforcement people, sponsors/vendors, volunteers, etc. - all the many people who made this one happen for all we participants.
Hope you enjoyed the report and photos!
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt