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%2086%20Reindeer%20Run%205K?sort=2

BEFORE MY START

My 86^th race of 2018 was the Reindeer 5K held on Dec 8^th at Northeast Baptist Hospital in San Antonio.  This was the inaugural event for the 5K which supported local Reagan High School Spirit Team.   There was also a Winter Fest  holiday event – kind of a fair – with booths, food, music, items for sale by vendors, etc.  All the runners, with their entry, got a wristband for entry into the fair.  For we South Texans the weather was pretty darn chilly; cloudy, overcast, 45 degrees with a stiff wind blowing making it feel much colder.  We also had quite a bit of rain on the night before, with lots of local area flash-flood watches in effect.  People were quite bundled up.  “Real winter” people in other states probably would have thought this was spring weather, lol.  Start time of 8 a.m.  I arrived with about an hour to go, got my packet and then went over to the nice warm lobby of the hospital and sat in there for a while until the light of day came.  Then it was back over to the race area to get some pre-start photos.  My friend Bernadette was doing this one too; this one was her 100^th race of the year.

Athlete Guild doing timing and results

Our MC, Dave

Dave with the lady who ended up being first woman finisher

Winner lady - not a cold weather wimp apparently - with me, the ultimate cold weather wimp

With friend Donald.  70+ and going strong.  He beat me in today.

Various Participants, Volunteers, etc

With friend Lynette

With Bernadette - this was her 100th race of the year - and Lynette

Reagan High School Mascot - Reagan Rattler

Santa let the Elves have a run day today

National Anthem...officer holding flag

Race Director giving us info on the course, etc.

ON THE COURSE

We had a slightly late start as some people were still registering. This was a fairly small race with 69 finishers.  The event had a lot of competition on this day as there were about 8 other races around the local area.  The course took us in front of North Central Baptist Hospital, then a route through the Reagan High School Grounds out to a turn-round point and then back the way we came.  Until I did this event, I did not realize just how big the Reagan High School campus grounds are; very nice campus to run on. There were a couple of small inclines but the course was mainly pretty flat.  The course also included diverting off the roads very briefly to do one lap around the really nice high school track, and then back out on the road again for the last ½ mile.  I ended up with a chip time of 33:04, good enough for 2^nd in my age group.

Course volunteers

The sign says 'speed hump ahead."  Don't have to worry about that at my pace

This was overall winner, heading back to the finish already.

Bernadette heading to the finish

We did this little turn-around point twice

Water stop volunteer.  No beer.....  

Water stop volunteer

One lap around the track before we did the last part of the road course back to the finish

AFTER MY FINISH

First thing, went back to my car and got my wet base-layer shirt off, toweled dry and put on a nice, warm dry shirt…ahhh, much better, since that wind was still blowing, although it had gotten a bit warmer with the arrival of daylight.  Then wandered around taking some after-photos.

My friends Chris and Tia.  Tia's first race after a long recovery from an injury.  Welcome back to racing, Tia!

The finish line, with all the stuff around it being setup for the Winterfest event.

Happy finishers, supporters, etc.

Overall woman winner - dressed for warmth now

And then they both placed

As usual, Bernadette placed.  Lynette is pretty speedy too.

Dave making himself look good between two lovely ladies

Way to go, Donald. Winner 70+ group.  31 minutes and change.

Happy age group placers with MC Dave

EPILOGUE

Inaugural event nicely done.  Small is okay, made it feel like a very nice ‘community social run/walk’ for the runners, walkers, and all the supporters who were out there for their personal family/friend participants.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.   Very nice well-thought-out course to take in most of the campus grounds.  Nice quality race shirts and nice medals for age group winners.  A very friendly ‘community party’ atmosphere.  Most certainly would recommend this one and definitely would do it again.  Maybe next year on a day when it doesn’t have so much competition with other events.  Just for example, I only found ONE race being done on Dec 15, the week after this one, and that one is in Canyon Lake, about an hour’s drive from San Antonio.   So hopefully, a less competitive day next year, and I bet they get more participants, as they should; this is a good one to do and, with the flat course, also ‘beginner runner’ friendly too.

Mucho thanks to all the people who made this one happen for us:  organizers and volunteers, sponsors, vendors, North Central Baptist Hospital and Reagan High School folks for the use of their grounds and facilities, the law enforcement folks out there directing Winter Fest traffic and making sure everyone was safe, and anyone else I may not have mentioned here.  Big shout-out for what all of you do so we participants can have an event.