Beginners and Beyond

1

Report and Photos: St. Mary's University 5K For The Neighborhood (Read 21 times)

scottydawg


Barking Mad To Run

    INTRO

    I am Scott aka Scottydog, runner since 1983, cancer survivor, retired Air Force, employee of University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), friend of dogs, fun-runner, and all-around 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.  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, hence my nickname “Scottydog.” Here is yet another of my Race Reports With Photos, and my thanks to all the people I interacted with for their graciousness and good humor in letting me take photos of them.

     

    THE DETAILS

     

    Held on October 19, 2014, this was my 57th race of 2014 and my 2nd of the Oct 18 - 19 weekend, as I had done a race the day before on October 18th.  St. Mary's University 5K - website: https://www.stmarytx.edu/about/5k/ - was the university's first 5K run/walk.  Held as part of an ongoing effort to enhance quality of life through neighborhood revitalization.  I expected this to be a pretty small event but, wow, was I ever wrong.  When I got to the race site, my friend Mitch of iRunTexas that did the course set-up and race timing, told me that abut 700 had registered.  Pretty darn impressive for a 1st-time event and a lot of credit to the St. Mary's folks who really got the word out on this one. I don't know if all 700 showed up, but it must've been pretty close because  when I arrived, there was QUITE a crowd of folks at the start/finish area.   The weather was sunny, a tad humid but not too bad, and the temp was about 70 degrees or so.  I ended up with a chip time finish of 34:16.

     

    BEFORE THE RACE

     

    Since I had already picked up my packet and race number on Friday, I was able to sleep in a bit as the race start time was 9 a.m, and St. Mary's is only about a 30 minute drive from where I live.  Arrived onsite with about 45 minutes to go to start time and began my usual race day regimen of taking some pre-start photos.

     

    C'est mio, your host for this report.

     

    The lonely start line before race start.

     

     

     

     

    The volunteers were setting up all these goodies for folks to have before and after the race.  Lots of goodies!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    And of course, some of the participants, volunteers, and supporters....

     

    My friend Sally, in red shirt, did THREE races this weekend.

     

     

     

    These folks are wearing the race shirts that participants got.

     

     

     

     

     

    Army Strong!  I think the dog is their Sergeant....

     

     

    Two of the folks with iRun, a very good local specialty running store.

     

     

     

     

     

    And a back view...nice wings!

     

    Getting ready to start....

     

     

    ON THE COURSE

     

    And we're off!  The course was an out-and-back on the campus.  Pretty much flat all the way and nothing you could really call a hill, just some inclines...and we had to go up an incline to get to the finish line...and although they were small, my legs did feel them after my somewhat hilly 5K on Saturday in what is known as the Stoneoak area in San Antonio, which is a very hilly area indeed.   My friend Sally did TWO races on Saturday and then this one - and the 2nd one on Saturday was a beer race - and she almost always finishes way ahead of me, but today I managed to finish ahead of her, which is rare for me.   So she must've been feeling those inclines on the course.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    This is the path we went up to a fountain, circled the fountain, and then came back down this path onto the road and then back to the finish.   By the time I got to the fountain, it was a tad warm outside and I had a strong urge to wade right into it, lol. But  of course I didn't since I didn't want to get my running shoes wet.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Excuse me, volunteer lady, may I borrow that chair to sit for a bit?

     

    After that last photo I managed to run nonstop all the way back to the finish without falling down or running into anything - and those of you who know me and know about my 'running adventures"  know what I am talking about, lol.  I even managed to pass a few people along the way.

     

    AFTER THE FINISH

     

    The first photo is of the  President of the University and a faculty/staff member.  Of course, I made this photo a bit blurry to somewhat protect their identities from any students to whom they might have given a bad grade.

     

    Actually, I was sweating like crazy post-race and my old-man brain just kept forgetting to put my fingers in gear to wipe my lens off before I took a few photos.  So my apologies to those who got a bit of the 'witness protection' look in their photos.

     

    Supporters, volunteers, and "Happy Finishers" - ever notice how most participants are smiling more after they are done than before or during the race?

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    This guy ran wearing that horse's head....and finished in 23 minutes something.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    This is the "Atoms Family"....they won best costume group

     

     

    And as I was sitting and watching the awards ceremony post-race, I noticed that this morning when I got dressed, I put on two different running socks, duhhhh.   It only took me until the very last part of the event to notice, lol.

     

     

     

    EPILOG

     

    What a fun event!  Lots of friendly people, several of them in costume.  Nice race venue; nice course; nice quality race shirt; lots of race goodies to munch on; and all for only a $10 race registration fee!  I don't know how St. Mary's managed to keep the fee at only $10 and have all this stuff, but it's pretty impressive.   For an inaugural race, this event got a really good turn-out, also impressive.  I hope St. Mary's keeps doing this one because it is definitely a 'keeper' for  runners looking for a race on a Sunday to do.  Very nice choice of day too - Sunday - because San Antonio area tends to have quite a few racing choices on any given Saturday, so this one does not compete with those.    Mucho thanks to all the folks at St. Mary's, all the volunteers, all the sponsors, all the law enforcement out there on the roads for us, everyone who pulled together to make this one happen.  Y'all put on a great show!  Would definitely do this one again and most certainly would recommend it to my fellow runners.

    "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt


    delicate flower

      Looks like fun, Scotty!

       

       

       

       

       

      <3

      GinnyinPA


        That looks like a good event.  It may have been inexpensive in order to get more participation since it's a new event.  Good way to get noticed.

        FreeSoul87


        Runs4Sanity

          Looks like it was a fun event Scotty, I love how you have so much fun while doing so many races. Smile

          *Do It For Yourself, Do It Because They Said It Was Impossible, Do It Because They Said You Were Incapable*

          PRs

          5k - 24:15 (7:49 min/mile pace) 

          10k - 51:47 (8:16 min/mile pace)

          15k -1:18:09 (8:24 min/mile pace)

          13.1 - 1:53:12 (8:39 min/mile pace)

           26:2 - 4:14:55 (9:44 min/mile)

            That's a darn good spread for only a $10 registration fee.  Seems like a pretty good inaugural race.

            “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” - T.S. Eliot

              Muffinnnnnns!

               

              The horse head guy should have gotten in the pic with the other tutu-clad runners.

              B-Plus


                Great new race shirt! Those socks look close enough to me