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%20No%2028%20Carnival%20of%20Venice%205K%20and%20Half

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

On April 28^th, my 28th race of 2017 was Scallywompus Carnival of Venice Half Marathon and 5K.  Part of the 2017 Fiesta San Antonio activities this event was a night-time race held at Brackenridge Park Golf Course.  8 pm start for the half and half relay and 9 pm start for the 5K. I was doing the 5K so got to the race location just in time to see the half people start taking off.  Got a few photos of them and then wandered around getting photos of the 5K folks, volunteers, supporters, etc.

With my two wives - Gail, the love of my life on my right - this beautiful lady has a LOT of patience, being married to me for 32 years; -  and my 'running wife', lol, Bernadette; we do a lot of the same events over the year; so many that I probably see her at events more than any other runner.  75 races for me last year; 89 races for Bernadette.

Bwaaaahaaahaaaa.......spooky...

...and out of the shadows....

We haven't even been drinking and here we are already blurry...

Volunteers at the finish line area

..including these Air Force trainees

ON THE COURSE

It was pretty darn warm and humid, with temps in the upper 70s, low 80s, but thankfully a nice breeze was blowing which helped cool us off a bit. Both of the courses were loop courses and both were pretty flat.  For the 5K we started on part of the golf course paved trail and then did an exit out of the front entrance of the golf course parking area, went down a paved hike-and-bike trail past a nearby park, then a short bit onto a nearby paved dead-end road, and then back onto the golf cours paved trails to loop around the golf course and back to the finish.  Parts of the course were QUITE dark, so pretty much everyone was wearing headlamps. In some of my photos that is all I got, lol, headlamps, like little UFOs of big fireflies flitting through the night. When we finally got back to the finish, we discovered the 5K course was just a tad long, about 3.3 instead of 3.1.  As I was getting near the finish, I just started laughing at myself a bit, cuz I was looking at my watch and – knowing what I usually do a 5K in – I was telling myself ‘Umm, I know I’m slow, but for a 5K even I am not this slow.  I do think this course may be a bit long. Well, nothing to it, just gotta do it and get it done.” And then I laughed out loud at myself and kinda got a weird look from the guy at that time running next to me, lol.   My friend and Race Director, Bart, told me later after the race the 5K people were supposed to cut across part of the grass at one point; but we never did that, so we got extra distance added on.  No big deal, it was all good – at least for me anyway, I had no heartburn with it, and most people I talked to post-race did not either – and it was a nicely laid out course. I ended up with a finish time of 35-something.

Sometimes all you saw were lights.....spooky...

AFTER MY FINISH

Drank some water and some Gatorade, did a little cool-down walk and then started getting some photos.  As I was doing that, a friend of mine had found where the post-race beer was and brought me one…sweet.   So I sipped beer and took photos. Scallywompus events are really great and lots of stuff going on after them…which is why their race motto is “Come for the race. Stay for the party.”   And they aren’t kidding either.  Really nice after-parties.  This one has music, games, beer, wine, and some kind of mixed-drink concoction.  Since I was driving – so I limit my beer intake whenever I drive myself to an event, drunk driving is just an asinine thing to do – my wife, who came along for the party, enjoyed some of those other drinks.

Our MC

A deer friend of mine...pretty speedy too...he placed in his age group

Thanks for the beer!

EPILOGUE

As mentioned, Scallywompus has some great events over the year, with lots of stuff after.  Also, award groups, depending on participant turnout, usually goes 4 places deep and sometimes even 5, for each age group, very nice.  Bart also usually includes a ‘competitive walkers’ category too, so the walkers don’t compete against the runners, also very nice. Always a good quality race shirt too, usually tech-tees. These are just very fun events.   Definitely recommend these events to our local area runners and if you a runner or walker with plans to come to San Antonio in the future, definitely check out Scallywompus on the web and also the Alamo Beer series of races. You will not regret doing one of their events.

MUCHO thanks also to all folks that made this one possible for we participants; the sponsors, all the volunteers, law enforcement out there for us, iaapweb for timing, results, and of course, the one-and-only Bart Childers who gets these all going for us every year. Events could not happen without all of you willing to give your time for us runners and walkers.    THANK YOU.

Hope you enjoyed the report and photos!