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.  Full report below.     

Link to photos only:

http://s166.photobucket.com/user/scottydog69/slideshow/2018%20race%20reports/2018%20Race%20Number%2080%20UIW%20Unified%20in%20Wellnes%205K?sort=2

BEFORE MY START

My 80^th race of 2018 was Unified in Wellness 5K held on Nov 18 at University of Incarnate Word (UIW) in San Antonio.  This event is a fundraiser for the university food pantry and promotes wellness: physical, emotional, social, spiritual, occupational, environmental, and intellectual health. Race start time of 8 a.m.  After a pleasant Saturday in the San Antonio area in which temps hit the 70s and a nice sunny day, a cold front with rain threatening moved in on Saturday night.  Mother Nature was kind, however, and the temps during the event were pretty mild – upper 50s – with a bit of a wind blowing.  I decided at the last minute to do this one, so drove down to UIW, a fairly short drive from where I live, got race-day registered and then had about a half-hour to wander around and get some pre-start photos.  This one had a fairly nice turn-out – maybe a couple of hundred people, mostly UIW students who got course credit – I don’t know what course – for doing this event.  I think the majority of participants were walking and the runners were in the minority.   For those that did run, there were some pretty darn speedy student runners there, that’s for sure.

With friends Ralph and Bernadette.  This was Bernadette's 94th or 95th race of the year, so I think she is going to make her goal of doing 100 races for the year.

Race day volunteers for packet pickup and registration.   Thanks!

Various participants, etc.

Getting ready to start

ON THE COURSE

I have done several races on UIW and the course was usually a double-loop course paved roads of the campus, along with a short part of the course being on campus trails at the back of the university.  Adequate for a 5K but pretty boring. The course for this event was totally changed and ended up for me personally being the best course I have ever done at UIW. Hope every local race director gets with whomever laid this course out and all use this course for any future 5Ks at UIW. Instead of a loop course, it was a point-to-point course with a little bit of everything, e.g., paved campus roads, campus walkways through parts of the campus, a bit of grassy ‘cross-country’ area, and the UIW campus off-road trails, some of which I had not been on before, and extend way back on campus grounds. We finished up on paved surface with the finish line being near the UIW track and the football field.  Really well thought-out and laid-out course, very enjoyable.  After a 5K I did in Boerne, Texas, the day before this one, I was still feeling pretty good and managed to do this on in 32:56, good enough for 1^st in my old-man age group.  Timing and results were done by my ‘buds’ from local area race management company Athlete Guild.

When I first saw this lady on the course cheering people along, my old eyes thought she was in a Batman suit, lol.  nope, just wearing black.

Thank you race course volunteers

The first trail we were on

This was near the campus football field and track

As I was heading to do the last 1.5 miles, these folks were already making the turn to go to the finish line.

My friend Albert coming up from behind me

Heading behind the campus baseball field

After that, nonstop running to the finish.  The last part of the course was on our second set of trails and then back behind the baseball stadium, around another building and then right to the finish.

AFTER MY FINISH

After finishing, the wind started picking up and the temp started dropping a bit – that “cold’ front starting to move in a bit more aggressively – so was glad I had brought a dry shirt to put on under my running shirt to keep comfortable.  Wandered around and got a few photos and chatted with friends and then was on my way home to get out of my sweaty gear and get a nice hot rejuvenating shower.

Athlete Guild Guy with the Race Director

Thanks for a nice event, Race Director!

With friend Albert after he finished

The dog brought in his humans safely.  

Winds started picking up a lot after we finished - cold wind too! - as you can see from the flat atop the Athlete Guild finish line equipment

Happy finisher Ralph

Musicians near the finish line, playing for us

With the Race Director

Various participants, etc.

With friends Bernadette, Lynn, and Albert

We all placed

Walking back to my parked car.   Part of the San Antonio River flows right through the campus

The team name of the UIW teams is "The Cardinals"...so here was a statue of their mascot on the campus

EPILOGUE

As said, I really liked this course and would definitely do this event again and recommend it to others.  It was put on by the Unified in Wellness group at the university and I think this may have been their inaugural event because the one thing did notice was no water-stop anywhere on the course.  Several people I talked to post-race also mentioned this to me; so that’s the one thing I would recommend they and next-time, a water stop table with cups of water. This is especially helpful for the mid-and-back-of-the-pack people who are out there on the course longer.  There were also no post-race goodies – like various fruits and so forth – probably due to a small race budget, which I get. Other than that, very nicely organized event and a nice quality long-sleeved tee for participants too.

Thanks to all the people that made this one happen for us, including all the volunteers, law enforcement, organizers, UIW staff, Athlete Guild for the timing and results, and anyone else I may not have mentioned here.  No event for we participants without you, so mucho gracias!