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%2046%20Honor%20Ride%20and%20Run%205K

A couple of the photos may not have come out so well;  sorry about that.   Plus, at times post-race I forgot to wipe my sweaty lens - duhhhh -  so there might be a smudge or two on some of them.     All in all, I think they came out fairly well.  I am certainly no professional photographer with skills; but at least all the photos are free to save.

BEFORE MY START

My 46^th race of 2017 was the Honor Ride and Run held on July 8^th at Traders Village in San Antonio, a locale for shopping/various events/games/rides/amusements/and various eateries.  This event honored our military members, both active duty and veterans. The event included a 5K and an Honor Ride of veteran motorcyclists from Traders Village to Fort Sam Houston and back.  My event, of course, was the 5K.   The 5K started fairly late in the morning for Texas summer – 9:15 a.m. start time – so it was pretty warm out there.  I arrived at Traders Village with about 45 minutes to go to start time and wandered around getting a few pre-start photos.

Welcome to the main pavilion at Traders Village

I have arrived.  As it was an event honoring our military, we were encouraged to wear red, white, and blue.  My white shoes and Superman red-and-blue cape socks were ready, lol.

My friend, Paul, was the bicycle course guide for the lead runners.  Getting stretched out before he climbs on the bike..

Motorcycles awaiting their riders for the Honor Ride

With friend Ray, who also did the 5K, and one of the Honor Ride motorcycists

iaapweb folks that did the course setup, timing, results...

With iaapweb friends

Some of the participants, volunteers, etc.

This kid....he is an inspiration...

Getting ready to start...it is very bright out here, lol.

ON THE COURSE

Pretty warm – around 82 degrees at start time – with bright sunshine.  The course was two loops through a cone-marked course around part of the massive Traders Village parking lot.  Pretty wide open spaces on a white concrete surface – and with the sun reflecting on that made it very bright out there – with one part going alongside some of the Traders Village buildings, which gave us at least a bit of sun respite for that part, which was nice.  I was actually feeling pretty good and oddly enough it did not feel really very hot to me at all – must be some of those 90+ degree runs I’ve been doing at times after work – and my run/walk went pretty well.  I ended up 7^th male out of the 18 male entrants – this was a fairly small event – and had a finish time of 34:02.  The first loop I did in 17:04, the 2^nd loop in 16:57, so had negative splits, nice, but just by a tad; I tend to run a pretty even pace most of the time.  I was quite satisfied with my results, especially on a warm morning. My speedy friend Ray was the overall winner – he did it in 21:49 – and he carried the flag the whole way too, jeez. He won by 3 seconds, with the 2^nd guy coming in at 21:51, what a finish for those two!

And what is your excuse again for not getting off your butt and getting out there to do something?  This little lad did great!

We went by these corn fields....I kept thinking, lol, I hope no Children of the Corn are in there...

At least we were moving...our course marshals stood there in the sun until the last runner was done.

A whole lot of concrete

Ahhh, shade...we did this part twice for a brief sun respite

And then it was back into the sun...

One of our on-course spectators, lol.

AFTER MY FINISH

Got water from the finish line volunteers, took a couple of photos near the finish line and then went back into the pavilion to sit down for a bit under the shade.  After that, wandered around and got some after-photos.

The unofficial photographer took a photo of the official photographer

A-peeling finish line volunteers

yes, this lady did beat me to the finish.     No, she was out there supporting everyone, bless her heart.

Had some live music..these guys were pretty good too...

More participants, etc....good to be done...

Yeah, beer...thanks, Ray!

The winners.  The top 4 males and the top 4 females got awards.  None of the females stuck around for the awards though, go figure.  So here are the Top 4 males, along with a volunteer lady and one of our MCs, on the right of the photo.

Some live music...these guys were pretty good too...played my favorite music...classic rock..

There was also a classic car show going on...can't imagine the work that goes into these cars.

EPILOGUE

This was a small 5K event – I don’t think it was advertised very well, I did not see it listed on any local race calendars, and only found out about it inadvertently from a friend’s post on Facebook.  Too bad, because this is a really nice event in a pretty good location – huge pavilion to be under before and after the event, indoor restroom facilities, a nice change from the usual porta-potties at races – large grounds to wander all around and explore and, if you came prepared and brought money, credit card, etc – lots of shops were already open with plenty of merchandise – some of it quite “odd” unique, and different too, lol – and various types of food and drink. I hope next year they advertise this one a lot better on several local race calendars, it is definitely worth doing and I would do it again and would recommend it to my active friends.

MUCHO thanks to all the people who did all the hard work to make this one happen for we participants and were out there for us:  iaapweb for the timing and course set up, all the volunteers,  law enforcement officers out there for us – and especially during this difficult time for them, as one of their own was killed in the line of duty earlier this month, and another seriously injured; my heart goes out to all our officers out there – and to our firefighters too who also recently lost one of their brothers - and to the families of the victims – and, of course, all the sponsors who helped support this event, the Traders Village folks who were out there for us, and everyone else who had a hand in getting this one organized for us.   Without all of you doing what you do, there would be no races for us participants, so thank you very much for what you do!