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

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 to save, share, etc.   J

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

Photos Slideshow is here: 

https://s166.photobucket.com/user/scottydog69/slideshow/2019%2520Race%2520Reports/2019%2520Race%2520Number%252056%2520Mascarita%25205K?sort=2

BEFORE MY START

My 56th race of 2019, was the Mascarita 5K held on October 19^th in San Antonio at VFW Post 10, the oldest VFW Post in Texas.  This VFW sits right along part of the San Antonio Riverwalk.  Put on by Adiamo Race Productions, this event helps support the local non-profit Yoga Day, which is dedicated to teaching free yoga to underserved people of all ages in San Antonio with the mission of empowering people to live healthier and fuller lives.  This event is part of a series of races Andiamo puts on over the year.  You can register for each race individually or you can register for the whole series.   At the beginning of the year I knew I had pacemaker surgery coming up, so I just registered for this one and not the series, as I would have some down-time during the days of some of the other races being put on, due to appointments, etc, for pre-surgery, surgery, and post-surgery, plus house foundation repair, and other things going on this year in the personal life.    Race start time was at 7:30 am. – a nice early start – so I got there early to find parking, since there is a lot of construction currently going on around the VFW. It was still a bit dark when I arrived, but I managed to get a few pre-start photos.

VFW lit up in the early am.

Waiting for the start

These two are wearing the race shirt

Doggie photo op

Race Day volunteers

ON THE COURSE

The course was an out-and-back on the San Antonio Riverwalk from the VFW to a turn-round point on a road that goes to local Brackenridge Park, and then back they way we had come to the VFW.  Maybe about 100 or so participants, as there were several local races on this same day, so the local runners on this race day were spread out over all these races. I’ve done this course so knew what to expect:  a nice river path along the “Museum Reach” part of the Riverwalk, taking in a view of a local museum/art gallery,  “The Pearl” area, that has lots of shops, stores, parking, etc – lots of the local area running clubs do their weekend running down here – and some nice views of the river along the way.  10-year age groups, in my case 60 – 69, so I didn’t even come close to placing.  I ended up with a time of 36:26 and was pretty happy with that, considering I only had my pacemaker put in just this last August.  One day I hope to be back to my pre-pacemaker times of around 32 – 34 minutes for a 5K, but this was a nice indicator I am making progress.

About a half mile in.  This was near the area called "The Pearl

At this point, I had made the turn-round and was heading back to the VFW.  This is just a tad over halfway

This actually is part of the San Antonio River...one of the 'dryer parts' in warmer weather, lol.  When it rains, however, this thing fills up

My friend in Pink, moving so fast she blurred my photo. 

Back in The Pearl area

About a half mile to go from here..  The Riverwalk has paved trails on either side and the ones on the left are doing training runs.  We participants were on the right side of the river.

After My Finish

Finisher medals to all finishers – even the kids being pushed in strollers got one, which I thought was a nice touch for the kiddies.  Also, since this is the “Mascarita” 5K, all finishers got masks too – I passed since I hate wearing hats or masks, and I think they had a limited number, so might as well let someone else who wants one get one – and there was a photo op with some “Mascarita” professional wrestlers, which was a very popular post-race item.  The other popular item was the self-photo thingy, where you stood in front of the screen and after a few seconds, a photo was taken of you.  There was quite a line post-race for that.  The organizer fed us with some nice goodies, including lots of bottled water, a variety of breakfast tacos, coffee and iced tea, and various fruits, nutrition bars, etc, and there was even beer.   Good stuff.

With the VFW behind us

Clowning with friends and showing "Great Legs"

Happy finishers

View of the Riverwalk from the VFW terrace, with some other finishers coming in

Downriver from the VFW

VFW decorated for Halloween....with the last guy who did not pay his dues... 

Entertaining the partciipants

Photo-op with these 3 wrestlers

Group Photo

Thank you iaap local race company for course setup, results, etc

Thank you for the post-race goodies!

With this lovely lady who was one of the race organizers.  She is wearing the other color race shirt

The finisher medal

EPILOGUE

This is a nicely done event with a really nice course, quality race shirts, nice finisher medals, and a pretty good post-race spread.  Also had a guy there – I can’t remember his name, sorry – playing some nice music for us on his guitar, he was pretty good.  This is probably my favorite Andiamo race since it’s at the VFW, a Riverwalk location I really like, and the course is very flat.

Thanks to all the folks who made this event happen for we participants:  All the Andiamo staff and all the race volunteers, sponsors, law enforcement out there for us, VFW for being our hosts and allowing us use of their restrooms, and anyone else I may not have mentioned here.

I think there was an EMT also, but I did not see one even though I looked for an EMT post-race – not for any emergency but  since, with my pacemaker only recently implanted, my doc wants me to keep a record of my BP and blood oxygen level post-race for a couple of months, and since I was cleared to do races, the EMTs at the other races I’ve done post-surgery have all kindly done this for me.  Oh well, all good, I felt well post-race, other than a bit tired – but I get it, still early days for my getting active with the pacemaker.

Anyway, nice event; I would do this one again, have done it in the past, and would recommend it to others.