Tamarac Turkey Trot 5K 2008 Race Report

While I was bright and shiny for this morning's Turkey Trot -- -- I had to coax this smile out of Jerry:

He was a little less than excited to get out of bed before 7 am on Thanksgiving in order to go run, so I had to be enthusiastic for the both of us.

It was a good morning for the Trot -- nice and cool -- and the crowds were ready for the morning's race. I think this race gets more popular each year, and this year there were about 2,000+ runners. Maybe more. Still no start mats at the beginning, but you know, it seems to be standard practice at these 5Ks to issue timing chips but not have start mats -- whatever.
So, the gun went off at 7:30 and we were off! It was incredibly crowded the entire race, but especially so in the first mile, and it didn't really thin out until the 3rd mile; still, we were able to keep a sub-10:00/mile pace which is what Jerry wanted. His primary goal was just to run the entire thing, his secondary goal was to finish under 33 minutes, and his tertiary goal was to finish under 30 minutes. He met his first two, and only missed the 3rd by a few seconds. Here are the splits:

1: 9:52
2: 9:27
3: 9:14
.17: 1:27

Total Race Time: 30:02

Here's Jerry after the finish:

I think he could have done the sub-30, and when I asked him in the last 10th if he wanted to push hard to the finish, he was pretty tired, and simply said, "no." Of course, afterward, I think he wished he would have, but he still ran an excellent first 5K, and I'm really proud of him. He's being blase about it, but I think secretly, he's proud of himself as well.

Now, we have food to make for Thanksgiving dinner this afternoon, there's the parade, the dog show and football to watch, and later there will be dinner, drinks and good times to be had, so I should be off so I can enjoy all of it.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving Day! Peace out.