Thanksgiving 09

Happy Thanksgiving! Its that time of year for most to stuff their faces & sports fans to watch football but us runners, we burn off our calories in advance. There's a turkey trot just about in every county & definitely in every state.

Today's agenda-a turkey trot!

With so many to choose from ( a sweet dream for me), I had to narrow it down using one of my many guidelines. Today, I invoked the been there, done that rule, which required me to travel a bit far.

With the umpteen number of races available, I narrowed it down to the following:

1. run Miami turkey trot 5k/10k- traditionally the one I choose. Since the 10k costs more & is merely a 2 looper, I usually go for the former. If I do well & place, the most I can get is a medal.

2. tamarac turkey trot- a 5k in which I have never had success, so I have no idea what I could have won. Through the grape vine, I heard trophies for first, the rest medals. Parking is on the level with Miami beach & downtown Miami-terrible.

3. Adolph & Rose Levis JCC turkey trot-inaugural event, much like a blind date- you don't know what to expect but satisfies the bt,dt rule.

4. Run for the pies 4 miler- also satisfies the bt,dt rule since I have never done it.

With 3 & 4 satisfying the bt,dt rule, next is the proximity rule, eliminating the latter. Plus, I am still recovering from injury.

I was hoping for an easy race among all nobodies, but naturally, that didn't happen. Mike (who beat me at the break through 5k) & Harrie (beat me last Sunday) showed up. Plus, with ten year age groups and no master title(s), my chances became slimmer when it was announced that over 400 showed up (333 finished)! The course was horrific because the start was the finish line (crammed in a narrow area) & you have turn immediately (within 100 feet). There were lots of turn arounds. Although slightly humid, it was cool & cloudy. Every one was told to advance to the starting mat, we waited nearly 5 minutes & then the air horn sounds, causing mass confusion because there was absolutely no warning, no count down, nothing! Come to think of it, may have been able to break 19 had it not been for that; only God knows. Although I lost the sprint battle against Harrie, I was blessed to be able to place at all considering the aforementioned. The winner of the age group was in the low 18s.

Honorable mention

* Louis gets 2 pl age 5k at Miami (estimated 4000 between both events)
* Carol P is 2nd overall female 10k at Miami
* George wins age at tamarac (1383 finishers)
* Ronnie wins the tamarac
* Sonia is overall female at the 4 miler (1364 finishers)