Beginners and Beyond

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Report and Photos:  Super Hero Dash 5K (Read 3 times)

scottydawg


Barking Mad To Run

    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%2039%20Super%20Hero%20Dash%205K

     

    A couple of the photos may not have come out so well;  sorry about that – I am certainly no professional photographer with skills; but at least all the photos are free to save.

     

    BEFORE MY START

    My 39th race of 2017.  Super Hero Dash 5K on June 10 was held at Max Starcke Park in Seguin, Texas. I have run in this park before, but it has been a while so I decided to come down and do this one, as I really like running in this park.  It is a very scenic little park, with a golf course adjacent to it, and nice views of the Guadalupe River as you run or walk along. The beneficiary of this 5K is the Guadalupe County Children’s Advocacy Center and Trinity Oaks, an activity camp for abused/neglected children. I think this was an inaugural event, and a pretty small one with 37 participants.  Start time was 8:30 a.m.    The morning was just beautiful with a bit of sun, a bit of cloud cover, pretty low humidity and dew-point, temp about 65 – 67 degrees.  That is ‘spring-like’ weather for Texas in June, lol.

    My wife, Gail, did this one also.  We arrived at the park with about 40 minutes to go to start time and I wandered around taking a few photos.   Lots of people had some kind of “Super Hero” attire as there was a contest for best super hero outfit.  My only super hero gear was my “Flash” socks with capes.

     

    AthleteGuild person, course setup, timing, results, etc

     

    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: 

    A couple of the photos may not have come out so well;  sorry about that – I am certainly no professional photographer with skills; but at least all the photos are free to save.  J

     

    BEFORE MY START

    My 39th race of 2017.  Super Hero Dash 5K on June 10 was held at Max Starcke Park in Seguin, Texas. I have run in this park before, but it has been a while so I decided to come down and do this one, as I really like running in this park.  It is a very scenic little park, with a golf course adjacent to it, and nice views of the Guadalupe River as you run or walk along. The beneficiary of this 5K is the Guadalupe County Children’s Advocacy Center and Trinity Oaks, an activity camp for abused/neglected children. I think this was an inaugural event, and a pretty small one with 37 participants.  Start time was 8:30 a.m.    The morning was just beautiful with a bit of sun, a bit of cloud cover, pretty low humidity and dew-point, temp about 65 – 67 degrees.  That is ‘spring-like’ weather for Texas in June, lol.

    My wife, Gail, did this one also.  We arrived at the park with about 40 minutes to go to start time and I wandered around taking a few photos.   Lots of people had some kind of “Super Hero” attire as there was a contest for best super hero outfit.  My only super hero gear was my “Flash” socks with capes.

     

     

    Some of the participants, volunteers, etc

     

     

     

     

    Super Hero poses from them....

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    ON THE COURSE

    We started on the road in front of the park’s main pavilion, did a short bit in the park, then went under an overpass to the other side of the park, where we did an out-and-back, getting nice views of the river and the golf course along the way.  Then back under the overpass and returned to a finishing point where we had started in front of the pavilion.  I did my usual run/walk thing, taking two walk breaks and then after my last walk break, I don’t know what the heck got into me but I was feeling pretty good and really took off – well, ‘took off’ for me, lol, against my usual running pace.  Maybe it was the wide open road and ‘uncrowded” conditions, not having to “navigate” in-and-out among lots of participants; I pretty much had the whole road to myself on the way back.  Whatever it was, I felt great.  .  Normally I do between 32 – 34 minutes for a 5K; I finished this one in 31:47, did negative splits for the back half, and averaged 9:43 per mile.  Dang, I haven’t run under a 10-minute mile since I was in my early 40s (I’m 63 now).

     

     

     

     

     

    Doesn't that log on the right of the photo look like it's trying to swim away?  lol.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    I think this guy was the overall winner....16-something...

     

    Thanks course water stop volunteers!

     

    My better half heading to the turn-around point...

    http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u83/scottydog69/2017%20Race%20Reports/2017%20Race%20No%2039%20Super%20Hero%20Dash%205K/017_zpsc2fdfuaa.jpg

     

     

     

    Ahead of me...time to do some catching up!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    AFTER MY FINISH

    I did a bit of a cool-down walk, drank some water – what, where’s the beer?  Wink, got some photos and chatted with some of the other participants, and then decided to walk out on the course and walk back in with Gail….but as I turned around, she was already coming in.  She walked the course, finishing in 45:15, averaging 14:34 per mile; dang.  She was very happy with that.  Yeah, I do better with run/walk; walking a 5K I usually do about 18 minute miles, lol.  Gail is a much better walker than I am.  So back to getting more photos.   And here are some of the ‘happy finishers’, volunteers, etc.

     

    Done!  Where's the beer?  

     

     

    Small world!  In chatting, this lady and I found out we both worked at UTSA.

     

     

     

     

    This guy, like me, is former Air Force.  We had a nice chat, two guys telling war stories, lol...

     

     

     

     

    Gail made it in....and me with "Frank", which was 'awarded" to my shirt for motivating...two little monsters, Frank and I..  

     

     

    This pup was very excited...especially when he found out I had treats, lol..

     

     

     

    The volunteers, organizers, staff, etc...

     

     

    Close up....my wife is a Scentsy vendor....so here is "FrankinScentsy" at home with us...

     

     

    Nice race shirt....Not something to run in for me, as it’s cotton and I sweat like crazy when I run in cotton and get the darn thing so soaked, it gets heavy, lol. Nice design though, and I will definitely wear this one, I like it.

     

     

     

    The post-race goodies included various fruits, water…and donuts.  So many darn donuts that the organizers gave anyone who wanted one a full box to take home.  Gail and I each got one…nice to have the occasional donut treat when you want one.

     

     

     

     

     

    EPILOGUE

    As said, a pretty small event, but organized very nicely, and everyone was very friendly.  The course was really good – love running in this park when I get down here – and the race shirt is pretty nice too.     Would I do this one again?  Most definitely, and I would recommend it to my fellow runners too.  For you speedy folks – this is a really good PR course if you are shooting for a PR.  Since it was a small event though, no chip timing – timing was ‘old school’ with the timer recording the times as each of us crossed the finish line.  Some of us ‘old dog’ runners could relate to that, lol, and had a nice laugh about it, as we reminisced about our ‘old days” and races when we first got started.   All-in-all, a very enjoyable event. 

     

    MUCHO thanks to all the people who did all the hard work to make this one happen for we participants,  Athlete Guild for course set-up, timing, results, etc; all the volunteers, sponsors, our law enforcement officers that were on the park roads for us, water stop volunteers, course marshals, etc.   Without all of you willing to be out there, there would be no races for we participants.  So thank you very much for your time!

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

    GinnyinPA


      Looks like a lovely course, though a bit hilly perhaps?  Nice  time. If they'd had AG awards, you probably would have won.

      scottydawg


      Barking Mad To Run

        Looks like a lovely course, though a bit hilly perhaps?  Nice  time. If they'd had AG awards, you probably would have won.

         

        No hills, just a few inclines, nothing you could really call a  hill.

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