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.

Below is yet another of my photo reports.

Link to photos only:

https://s166.photobucket.com/user/scottydog69/slideshow/2019%2520Race%2520Reports/2019%2520Race%2520Number%252046%2520Scorcher%25205K?sort=2

Full report below.    

BEFORE THE START

My 46^th race of 2019 was the Summer Scorcher 5K held on July 20 at Mission County Park in San Antonio, put on by Soler Sports.  Fairly small event with about 200 or so participants. Race start time of 7:45, with a kids race going on before the main start.  Mission County Park 1 is a nice facility with a couple of pavilions, restrooms, a kitchen and food preparation area, and other amenities.  It borders along the Mission Reach section of the San Antonio Riverwalk trails.

Start/finish area

iaapweb for timing, results, etc

I think this one chair had some type of sleep power, lol 

Race Director Tony with friend

Food preparers

Race day volunteers

Our sound guy

Bike lead guy and friend

Various

 ON THE COURSE

 Starting from the main area of the park, we went onto the Riverwalk trails, with some nice views of the river.  Down a long incline and then crossed a bridge to get to the other side of the Riverwalk. Normally we turn right after the bridge and going up a short hill, but this time we turned left at the top of the hill.  I was wondering why the course change, but then saw a sign notifying about Riverwalk repairs, so that was why. We proceeded to a turn-round point, and then back the way we had come out.  This was quite a hilly little course, with a long incline climb to the turn-round point and then back the way we had come, with our downhill at the start now being a long up incline to finish up.  I ended up with chip time of 33:36. My friend Woody was first in our age group, with 26-something. It was VERY darn humid out there on the course, with temps at just about 80 degrees already.

About a half mile.  We did not run up the stairs, thank goodness

Winner heading to the finish

AFTER MY FINISH

This event is certainly named correctly, it was pretty darn warm.  I was sweat-soaked after my finish.  Got a bottle of water and a banana and then went and sat in my car for about 10 minutes with the a/c on, eating my banana and re-hydrating and just chilling my self for a bit.  Then back to the race area for some after photos.

Two tired old guys resting after the 5K

My friend Albert was happier when he got his age group medal

Finisher medals for all finishers, these ladies displaying them

Various

Thanks, food preparers and servers!

First in my age group

The finisher medal all finishers got

EPILOGUE

This was a bit of a different route for the normal 5K courses used at this park.  A tad hillier than the other 2 courses that are routinely used for 5Ks at this location, and slightly less views of the river.   Even so, nicely laid-out course and a bit challenging – especially for slow old people like me, lol – on the hills.  I noted this in my mind, and plan to do some future training runs using this course.  Nice quality race shirts and nice post-race goodies that included Kiolbassa grilled sausage and Shiner beer.  There was also a post-race water balloon battle, lol, with water balloons exploding everywhere, all in fun and fun to watch too.  I enjoyed myself and would do this one again and would recommend it to others.

Mucho thanks to all the people who made this one happen for us, including Race Director Lisa, all the volunteers and food preparers, law enforcement folks out there, people who came to support their runners and walkers doing the course, and thanks to other people not doing the event but who were using the Riverwalk trails doing their own thing, thanks for your courtesy and patience to we particvipants out there; and, of course, to all the race sponsors, iaapweb for timing and results, and anyone else I may not have mentioned here.