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

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. And for a few, when I asked someone to take a photo for me, I forgot to tell him/her how to focus the camera, duhhh..   All in all though, 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.   Also, sorry, some of the photos I got rotated; tried to save them in photobucket after I rotated them but then the image would not copy...so I just left them sideways...I think you can figure it out.    I did also put the IMAGE ADRESS link in for these photos, so if you click on that link it will take you to the photo.  

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%20No%206%20Kinetic%20Kids%205K?sort=2

BEFORE MY START

My 6^th race of 2017 was the Kinetic Kids 5K – there was also a 10K and a 1-mile walk – held on Jan 20^th at Wheatley Heights event facility and park in San Antonio.  This event supports Kinetic Kids, an organization that assists kids with disabilities – a personal cause of mine, having been born a March of Dimes baby.  Mother Nature was fairly kind to us for this event with temps in the mid-50s, cloud cover, and a bit of morning “misting’ but nothing you could really call rain.  Personally, I prefer running in bright sunshine and warm temps – yes, I am odd, lol – but this was okay too because it was not cold like my last couple of events with temps in the freakin’ 30s.  I was very thankful.   The 10K start time was 9 a.m. with the 5K time following them at 9:10 a.m.   The mile walk started after the other events.  I believe there was also a kid’s run.   I arrived a bit after 8 a.m., with about an hour to go to start time and wandered around chatting with other people there I knew and getting some pre-start photos.

With my speedwalker friend Bert, who walks about as fast as I run - probably faster, lol.

Ainsley's Angels - san antionio chapter was there today.  These folks are phenomenal - the runners run pushing special chairs that carry disabled persons.  Some of these folks are quite darn speedy too. This is a national organization with chapters in many cities.

Our MC getting set up

Bert with our Race Director

The start/finish area

Various participants, volunteers, etc. 

The 3 photos at the links below are of a very nice young lady with her daughter - I think it's her daughter - also a very sweet young lady. 

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u83/scottydog69/2018%20Race%20Reports/2018%20Race%20No%206%20Kinetic%20Kids%205K/IMG_1332_zpspvlgcabw.jpg?t=1516401418

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u83/scottydog69/2018%20Race%20Reports/2018%20Race%20No%206%20Kinetic%20Kids%205K/IMG_1333_zpsyxstrtmz.jpg?t=1516400776

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u83/scottydog69/2018%20Race%20Reports/2018%20Race%20No%206%20Kinetic%20Kids%205K/IMG_1333_zpsyxstrtmz.jpg?t=1516400776

This lady beautifully sang the National Anthem for us

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u83/scottydog69/2018%20Race%20Reports/2018%20Race%20No%206%20Kinetic%20Kids%205K/IMG_1350_zpsrt4abjfo.jpg?t=1516401659

This guy was at the New Balance tent and for a minute I thought it was Bill Rodgers, lol.

ON THE COURSE

Course started on the track at the stadium in Wheatley Heights.  We did about ¾ of a lap, then out one of the side gates, a short jaunt near the parking lot area and then headed for nearby paved trails. For the 5K the course was pretty much flat most of the way with just a couple of small inclines on the way.  From what a friend told me who did the 10K, they had a few more climbs than we 5K folks did. Course was out-and-back for both events, so we finished running back on the track.   I ended up with a time of 33 minutes and change, which was good enough for 3^rd in my 10-year age group of 60 – 69; I think probably because there were only 3 in my age group, lol.  All good.

AFTER MY FINISH

Post-race goodies included pancakes right off the grill, made by Pancake Haus, if I remember correctly.  A friend of mine told me they were really good – I would not know because I am probably one of the few runners – if there even are any more, lol -  that actually don’t like pancakes, so I will take his word for it; that, and from the line of people waiting to get them; it was the most popular stop after the finish.  There was also bottled water, bottles of Powerade, and some goodies being given away by some of the vendors and sponsors – one of them had cookies – my FAVORITE treat – and I did indulge in a couple of those – and various types of fruit and so forth.   There was also a post-race raffle of several items – none of which I won mainly because I gave my ticket to one of volunteer disabled kids – hey they stood out there for us all morning helping with everything so I figured shoot, let one of them have a chance at getting something, he/she earned it.  Wandered around munching on one of my cookies – mmmm good! – and taking some after photos of the happy finishers, supporters, vendors, volunteers, etc.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u83/scottydog69/2018%20Race%20Reports/2018%20Race%20No%206%20Kinetic%20Kids%205K/IMG_1371_zpsjokqohnc.jpg?t=1516401850

Athlete Guild folks, who did the timing, results, etc:  http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u83/scottydog69/2018%20Race%20Reports/2018%20Race%20No%206%20Kinetic%20Kids%205K/IMG_1381_zpsad6wdnw6.jpg?t=1516401850

My friend Tonya, first woman overall in the 5K in 20 minutes and change.

Me and friend Don, who is in my age group - and much speedier; he beat me in by about 10 minutes, lol.

My friend, Bernadette, as usual, was first in her age group:

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u83/scottydog69/2018%20Race%20Reports/2018%20Race%20No%206%20Kinetic%20Kids%205K/IMG_1386_zps4dpsuoj9.jpg?t=1516401854

Medal Winner: http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u83/scottydog69/2018%20Race%20Reports/2018%20Race%20No%206%20Kinetic%20Kids%205K/IMG_1387_zps77h2xklj.jpg?t=1516401854

WhatABurger Man.  WhatABurger is a very popular burgers, etc. eatery founded in Texas.  I am not a native Texan and probably one of the few people who actually don't like their burgers, lol.  Like the rest of their menu.

EPILOGUE

I have done this one several times in the past and will continue to do this one in the future.  The medal ceremony was very cool – if you got a medal there were some Kinetic Kids who had various disabilities by the medal table and when you came to get your medal one of them put it around your neck and then you got a photo with him/her.  Really hit home for the reason for this event, seeing these kids up close and personal.  They were very helpful, smiling, and cheerful….these kids have a lot of heart.  Nice venue for the race, nice course, nice post-race goodies – how about some waffles next time for me, though, instead of pancakes..    😉  Just kidding, of course, race director.  The only thing I would suggest changing is the time of the raffle. The raffle was done after the awards ceremony so a lot of people had already left, so our poor MC was calling numbers for what seemed like forever before he finally got some winners.  Have it before the medal ceremony and more people will probably still be there.  Nice medals, nice quality tech tee race shirts.  And, of course, a very deserving cause. Definitely would recommend this one to others.

MUCHO THANKS to all the people who made this one happen for us:  the organizers; law enforcement out there for us; all the many many volunteers at the packet pickup and those out on the course who stood there braving the cold for us; sponsors and vendors supporting the race; Athlete Guild for course setup; timing, results, etc. and anyone else I may have missed – apologies – who had a part. Without all of you there would be no event for we participants, so thank you very much!