INTRO AND SHORT VERSION REPORT

I am Scott aka Scottydog aka Scotty Dogg, 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.

This was Race number 26 for me for the year 2015.   Cino Ranch Rotary Camo 5K, held on May 23, 2015 in Katy, Texas,  was a Memorial Day weekend event that supported veteran's organization Team RWB (Red White Blue) Houston.  My wife, Gail, and I drove from home in San Antonio to Katy the night before the race - about a 3-hour drive with the crazy weather Texas has been having lately, and the traffic -  and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites on the Katy Freeway, a very nice place, and very convenient too, as Gail's conference was only 4 miles from the hotel and the race site from the hotel was only a 15-minute drive for me, sweet.  The weather cooperated on race day by staying dry - but it was VERY humid.  Katy is about 29 miles from Houston;  and, believe me, Houston-area humidity is SO much different than San Antonio humidity!  I could tell the difference right away, and especially when I started running on the course..gaack!  Normally I do about 32 - 33 minutes for a 5K but for this one the humidity got to me a bit; at one point I got slightly dizzy; well, I've been running for 31 years so I knew what I had to do - slowed down a bit, don't push it, even took an extra walk break..and took water in on the course..just making sure I didn't 'fall out'.  Well not my best effort - probably a combination of the late arrival in Katy, along with a pretty slight dinner before bed, and the humidity - but not too bad either, I ended up with 35:02 chip time, so not too far off the mark of my usual 5K time.  And with the extra walk break, I did get a few extra on-course photos, so it's all good.  After I finished, I walked around a bit, took in more water, and felt much better.

LONG VERSION REPORT WITH PHOTOS

Before the Start

Start/finish area was Villiagio Town Center on Westheimer Parkway.  With the good directions I got the day before from a guy at local area Luke's Locker running store, I was there in no time.  It's a pretty little place with shoppes, and a fountain in the center.

The empty start/finish line before everyone is lined up.

And, of course, some of the pre-race volunteers, participants, and supporters of the race and participants

These two ladies are wearing the race shirt participants got

The lady  here is the RD, Melissa; one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet.

Photo-bombed!

Doggie!  And family.  And yes, I had biscuits and did give a treat to the dog, lol

Some of Team RWB Houston

Behind me at the start area

and ahead of me...

On the Course

The course was pretty simple: we started in the parking lot area, went out onto the adjacent road -  4-lane street with each driving side divided by an "island" in the middle that had some really beautiful shade trees - and we went down to a turn-around with the island on our left,,  and then came back up the other side of the road, with the island and trees on our right,  and back to the start/finish line.   The nice thing was the street was and wide on both sides, so plenty of room for everyone.  The course was also VERY flat - so for my fellow San Antonio runners, if you can get used to the Houston humidity, this would be a really good 5K course to shoot for a PR.

Gil from Team RWB carrying the flag...

Wounded Warrior with the Flag...kudos to him!  Now if that doesn't tug your heart strings....

Bringing the flag into the finish

After the Finish

Water, water, WATER!  Where's the water?   The only thing I would even recommend changing for this race is just to have water right past there near the finish line for participants as they finish - especially needed for slow, fat old guys like me, lol, who really want that water right after being done and not have to go look for it.

Encountered an old friend, Vince - and he is one of the race sponsors too - who lives in Houston and whom I first met through the Runners World forums.

"Happy Finisher" photos  - I call them that because it always seems to me more people are smiling more after they are done than before and during the event, lol - and volunteers, supporters, et al....

Post-race pizza, oh yeah.  I had two slices

Luke's Locker ladies

Melissa and Chik-Fil-A Cow doing the awards ceremony

EPILOG

As noted above, that Houston humidity is a killer if you're not used to it.  San Antonio is farther from coast - about 2 hours or so than the Houston area, so I think we have a bit more drier air most of the time than those Houston area folks do.  I really admire the Houston runners who have do deal with that for just about every run!      Aside from the water and the  humidity, which of course the RD can do nothing about....unless maybe she has magic powers...   - combined with my late arrival in Katy and a pretty light dinner before I went to bed late that probably was a contributor to my lack of energy too - this is really  a great event and I definitely would do it again. Met some really great people, nice post-race goodies, very nice race venue, nice race shirt.  Mucho thanks to Team RWB Houston for giving me a warm welcome; to RD Melissa being my point-of-contact; to the guy at Luke's Locker who gave me such great directions to get to the race from my hotel; and to all the law enforcement out there for us and all the volunteers who helped make this happen.

And, of course, mucho thanks to.....

I had some problems seeing some of  the people in your pictures. It's like they were camouflaged or something. I don't remember Vince off hand, but it's always great to run into old friends unexpectedly.

Scotty- I'm glad you recognized how you were feeling and took it easy so that the end result is another fun completed race and Scotty healthy enough to keep going!

I used to ride horses out in Katy when I was a kid (right down the street from the race!), so it was fun to head about it again.