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 a slideshow of just the photos:  http://s166.photobucket.com/user/scottydog69/slideshow/2016%20Race%20Reports/2016%20Race%2042%20Tutu%20Dash%205K

BEFORE THE START

This was my 42nd race of 2016.  The Tutu Dash 5K was held in O.P. Schnabel Park, San Antonio, on 9/3/2016.  A fun run with medals given to all finishers as they crossed the finish line.  Awards went to only the top male and top female finisher.   I 'dressed for success" with my own personal brand of tutu, lol...

My  lovely wife joined me at this event - not dressed quite as elaborately as me, lol.

After that, got my timing chip and then went around getting some more photos.  Apparently my Tutu Outfit was a hit; as I wandered around people kept wanting to get photos with me.  And I got photos of several of the people there.

Our MC.  He did a great job.

The guys who did our course setup, timing, and results

One of my local "running crushes", Margaret with one of my canine pals, Rocky

This one was a bit blurry...

The 'selfie" I took with my old-time camera came out a bit better

Getting Ready to Start

ON THE COURSE

Mainly an out-and-back course on paved trails in the park, with one part being a little loop-around before we began heading back to the finish.  This was a different course than normally used for 5Ks in the park, so this was a nice change.  This was a very well-thought out course by whomever set it up (I suspect it was my friend Jose of iaapweb.com) and from talking to people after the 5K, it good a lot of good comments.  I hope in the future Race Directors use this 5K course more in this park instead of the one most regularly used, which has quite a few more hills than this course did.

Runners on the trail across from me, where I'd end up soon

Heading toward the finish now...

I jokingly told this young man that I was an Old Man and I knew he could beat me into the finish.   He did too.  He did great, ran about the full last mile and finished right ahead of me.

This was a downhill for us on the way out...uphill on the way back.  After we got to the top of this, it was right turn, a bit of flat, and then downhill all the way to the finish.

Looking back where I just was...

After that, I trucked on into the finish, and ended up with 34:14 chip time, which I was very satisfied with!  Slowly but surely getting back to my pre-injury race times.

AFTER THE FINISH

Got some water, a bit of a cool-down walk,  and then time to get post-race photos!

Me and the young man who beat me in...he did great!

With his family

Hey, where was this stroller when I needed  a ride up that last hill? 

Team RWB (Red White & Blue) a veteran's organization of which I am a member also.

My speedy friends Tanya and Bernadette

Their tutus look much better on them..

Me and the beautiful Mini of iaapweb.com

I made two new friends at the event....Akita dogs Utah and Indiana

Friend Karen with my wife, Gail

EPILOGUE

And a happy time was had by all!  At least it seemed that way to me.  Lots of smiles and laughter, an excellent course, really nice weather for San Antonio for this time of year - in the 70s at race time with the humidity a bit lower than normal for this time of year, and ample amount of shade on the course was nice too - and this park is a great venue, have a very large pavilion, restroom facilities, water fountains, etc.  MUCHO THANKS to all the folks who worked to get this one done for us - iaapweb.com, the law enforcement folks out on the one park road we had to cross, all the volunteers, and all the sponsors.  Definitely would do this one again!  Don't know how I'm going to top that outfit, though.... 

Your outfit is awesome!

Your outfit is great!

I love the outfit.  Is there a story behind having a tutu run, or was it just that somebody decided it would be fun?  Nice that so many people participated in the costumes.

Does raise some funds for a local children's charity.   I think this was the 3rd year it was done, and it is a lot of fun.  Medals to all finishers, and a prize to the top male and female finisher, but no age group awards, so more money can go to the charity, and we were all good with that.  Just a pretty laid-back fun run, with lots of smiles and laughs.