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.

Below is yet another of my photo reports.

Link to photos only:

https://s166.photobucket.com/user/scottydog69/slideshow/2019%2520Race%2520Reports/2019%2520Race%2520Number%252048%2520SA%2520Summer%2520Series%25205K?sort=2

Full report below.    

BEFORE THE START

 My 48^th 5K of 2019 was the SA 5K Summer Series.  This series of 4 summer 5Ks benefits SA Youth, helping young people achieve academic success, develop their character, and promote healthy lifestyles.  The 5K today was the last one for this season’s series.  Event location was McAllister Park in San Antonio.  E-Dragon Productions, owned by the local Burciaga family of runners, organize these events, with local race management company iaap doing the timing and results.

I arrived with about 40 minutes to go to the start time and did my usual pre-start photo thing.

Start/Finish Line before all the activity begins

Our MC Lana

Various

Getting ready to start

 ON THE COURSE

Start time of 7:30 a.m., a nice early start which is nice for a warm July day; and this morning it was warm.  Our unusual cooler-than-usual July week ended this morning with high morning humidity and dewpoint moving back in and the temp already hitting the mid-70s by start time.  The course was nicely laid out over several of the paved trails in the park.  I ended up with 3.3 miles, mainly because during my walk breaks, I went back a little on the course at various spots to get a couple of photos and then had to go back in the other direction on the course. I was also very sluggish – I ate my oatmeal too late before the start time and boy, could I feel that in my stomach as I ran, since that stuff takes a while to digest – and I ended up with 3.3 miles in  a slow 38:46.  This was a fairly smaller race in number of participants so that still got me 2^nd in my 60 – 69 age group.

AFTER MY FINISH

First thing I did was get some water and a nice ice-watered down towel volunteers were handing at the finish, and then I went and sat in my car for about 10 minutes with the a/c blowing…that felt good and cooled me down nicely. Then it was off to get a few post-finish photos.

On the way back to the car....the deer in this park are very friendly, they are so used to people

Age group award

EPILOGUE

This is a nice series of races held during the summer months, with race locations being various parks around San Antonio. The kids are the ones who benefit from this program, and each are mentored by an adult running person during the year, culminating with this series of races.  For age group and other race award winners, placques nicely done by E-Dragon Productions.  Very reasonably priced too, and if you bundle the 4 races, you get a nice discount.  Definitely will do these in the future when they are held and certainly would recommend them to others.

Thanks so much to all the volunteers, sponsors, law enforcement out there for us, food vendors, and anyone else I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you all for what you do so we participants can have this event.