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/2019%20Race%20Reports/2019%20Race%20Number%203%20Adult%20Teen%20Challenge%20Freedom%205K?sort=2

BEFORE MY START

My 3^rd race of 2019 was the Adult & Teen Challenge Freedom 5K held on Jan 19.  This event supports Adult & Teen Challenge, a program to help people with addictions find freedom from their addictions and go back to their families and communities as productive drug free adults.  Weather was kind of blustery, with a steady wind blowing and off-and-on gusts up to 30 mph.  Not too bad though, as it was a very sunny day and the temp at the 9 a.m. start time was about 47 degrees with a “feels like” of 44.  The event was held at local San Antonio park O. P. Schnabel, a part that is part of San Antonio’s “greenway system” of parks for off-road activities.  There was also a kid’s run at 8:30 pm and a Toddler’s run/walk too.   I arrived with about an hour to go to start time – stored my gear in a locker at the YMCA located in the park – nice to be a member, so I could take a hot shower afterwards and changed clothes before going home – and then headed over to the park’s main pavilion to get some pre-start photos.

Event started and finished near this main pavilion in the park

Athlete Guild did the timing, results, etc

Congressman Will Hurd in attendance, here with Captain America

Various participant, volunteers, supporters, etc.

 Lady who beautifully sang the National Anthem before we started

Thank you, young lady. Here with one of the race organizers

ON THE COURSE

5K was an out-and-back on a mix of asphalt/concrete trails in the park.  It did include a downhill  incline and then a downhill on the way out – which became uphill for us on the way to the finish – and then a downhill to the finish line.  This park has a lot of trees, which was nice since that gave us a windbreak from the wind. Salado Creek – or maybe It’s Leon Creek – flows through the park near some of the trails.  For this 5K there was a total of 181 finishers, 95 male, 86 female.  I ended up 2^nd in my age group (60 – 69 male) with a chip time of 33:04.  I think there were only 2 or 3 in my age group.

This was also a dog-friendly event

Our downhill on the way out; uphill on the way to the finish.  When you got a bit past the end of the ramp, right turn, and there was Part 2 of the hill to climb.

AFTER MY FINISH

Wind was still blowing pretty good, so I was thankful that I had brought a dry shirt to change into.  After that, wandered around getting some after-photos of the happy finishers, volunteers, supporters, etc.

Just some guy casually taking his porcupine for a walk in the park, lol.

There was also a very friendly lemur present.  Darn..even a lemur looks better than I do in a photo, lol.

This was the lemur's human. Lots of folks lined up to get photos (free) with Lemur

This lady in the black coat looks an awful lot like my wife, Gail, when she had brown hair.  Gave me a double-take for a minute when I saw her.

"Hulk" and I ran to the finish line at the same time...he got ahead and beat me in by about a minute. 

Bernadette, 2nd in her age group

Me and Bernadette with friend Don

EPILOGUE

This is a nice event at a nice location for a good cause.  All kinds of stuff going on for a smaller event; DJ playing music, lots of various freebies handed out by many sponsors, and various goodies to munch on pre-and—post race. Nice quality cotton tee race shirt, nicely designed.   Also ‘semi-indoor’ restrooms at the park instead of porta-potties, nice.  I have done this one in the past, will continue to do it in the future when I can, and would recommend it to others.

Mucho thanks to all the folks who made this one happen for us; all the organizers, volunteers, sponsors, Athlete Guild that did course setup, timing, and results; photographers out there for us;  Park Police officers that were out there for us; and anyone else I may not have mentioned here.  Thank you for what you do so we participants can have a race.