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. 

Here is yet another of my photo reports.

Link to photos only:

https://s166.photobucket.com/user/scottydog69/slideshow/2019%2520Race%2520Reports/2019%2520Race%2520Number%252027%2520Girls%2520On%2520The%2520Run%25205K?sort=2

Full report below.    

BEFORE MY START

 My 27^th race of 2019 was Girls On the Run 5K graduation run held on  May 5^th at local San Antonio greenway park, Comanche Park.  Girls On The Run is a program that provides running training and self-confidence building over a designated period of time, culminating in a ‘graduation run’ at the end of the training session.  This is a very popular training program so this race just about always sells out. I think there were close to 1,000 participants for this one consisting of the girls in the program, family members and friends and various other runners and walkers like me participating in support of the program.   This is a ‘late-start’ event, with a start time of 9:30 a.m., so nice to sleep in a bit on a Sunday morning. Weather for South Texas was pretty darn near perfect for us: around 68 degrees at the start, sunshine, blue skies, and a touch of cloud cover, with a low dewpoint and humidity.  Felt pretty good out there.  I got there about an hour before start time – finding parking was the hardest part of this event, lol, with all the participants, supporters, volunteers, vendors, etc, out there – got my timing chip and then wandered around chatting with various people and getting some photos.

Welcome to the event

With friend and race directory, Sally

Thank you parking attendants for being there for us and dealing with all the parking craziness with this many participants.  These are tough ladies though, they can handle it - they are team members of the San Antonio women's Roller Derby team.  Had a nice chat with them.

Here, the girls could get their hair streaked in various colors

Our music man Paul and MC, Lana

Big pavilion for the event

Various participants, volunteers, supporters, etc 

National Anthem

Start crowd

 ON THE COURSE

 Love running at Comanche Park.  Probably the best park to do a race in.  Plenty of facilities at the main park area – indoor restrooms, water fountains, pavilions, etc – and trails wide enough to accommodate a lot of people.  Also, lots of shade along  these trails.  San Antonio got some major rainstorms Friday night and Saturday morning, and the trails can flood in places, but for Sunday they had just a ‘touch’ of water and a bit of mud at various places, not bad at all, so the race was good to go.  Because of the number of people registered, the start was done in waves.  I was waaaay at the back, so did not even cross the start mat until about 5 minutes into the race, which I thought was pretty okay with a big crowd, both runners and walkers.   Course was out-and-back with a couple of inclines, nothing you could really call a hill.  A bit crowded in some spots but did not seem too bad to me, everyone seemed to be going well.  I heard after the race there were a couple of participant collisions, nothing serious and no injuries, but where I was at any given time I did not see any.   I ended up with a chip time of 35 minutes and change, good enough for 1^st in my age group; and it helped that there were only 2 in my age group.

Heading to the finish, back at the 2-Mile mark

All the rain we had...water is not usually this high and fast.  At one of the 2 bridges we crossed

Course volunteers

Water flowing under the 2nd bridge we crossed

After that, non-stop to the finish - well, almost.  I did stop about 1/4 mile from the finish to give a dog a treat, lol. 

AFTER MY FINISH

Did a little cool-down walk, enjoyed some of the post-race goodies, which included baglels, various types of cookies, Gatorade Zero, bottled water, various fruits, and lots of other stuff that some of the vendors were giving out.  Sat and rehydrated and chatted with friends for a bit and then it was time to get photos of the happy finishers, supporters, volunteers, vendors, etc. 

iaap race management team - timing, course setup, results etc - and my speedy friend Bertha who I believe was first overall female

Age Group Winners

EPILOGUE

Nicely put-on event organized by Race Director and my friend, Sally Seeker, who does a lot of work just about all year round putting on this run that occurs twice a year, with the one in May being the major event. This race may be starting to outgrow Comanche Park, so when/if it finally does, hopefully a large venue to accommodate all participants can be found. Nice quality race tees, finisher medals for all the girls in the program, and age-group awards to the Top 3 in each age group.   This is a very busy event, but also one very enjoyable so I will continue to try and do this event in the future whenever I can.

Mucho thanks to all the volunteers that were out there, and to the vendors and sponsors and all the volunteers making this one happen.  Thanks to local race management company iaap for timing, course setup, race results, etc.  Thanks to the local police officers out there for us and thanks to anyone else involved that I may not have mentioned here.