We kicked off Thanksgiving this year with the Flemington Turkey Trot 5K. Jen and Dad both ran this year, and Steve continued our semi-tradition and joined us as well.
This race has continued to grow over the years and ballooned the 4200 finishers this year. The start line is like a carnival. A crew showed up wearing lederhosen drinking beer out of giant steins. A guy wore nothing but a speedo and some chest paint (it was about 35 degrees). Gangnam style was blaring. At the last minute Steve showed up. The start line was jam packIed, but he hulked his way into the front so we could catch up a bit before the race started.
I planned to try very hard to go sub-18. It was a stretch given my fitness, but I figured it was a good goal. Everything went as I had hoped, and I ran 17:55 for my second fastest 5K ever (the fastest was 17:48 at this same race 2 years ago).
The first mile was 5:35, which was spot on. Mile 2 was slightly slower than I hoped at 5:52, but it also is mostly uphill. I was in a lot of pain by the end of mile 2, but I knew sub 18 was reachable, so I dug in and pushed on. I was pleased to hold pace with a 5:53 last mile.
Everyone else had good runs, too. Dad is just now coming off his injury and has not yet been able to do much speed work, but he still ran a nice 23:19 for 6th in his age group. Steve was a little behind that and apparently had an excellent time run with turkey costume guy. Jen again showed how easy it is for her to break 30 minutes despite having to walk a bunch of the beginning with the huge crowds.
It was a great way to kick off the holiday, and I am glad the semi tradition lives on.
This race has continued to grow over the years and ballooned the 4200 finishers this year. The start line is like a carnival. A crew showed up wearing lederhosen drinking beer out of giant steins. A guy wore nothing but a speedo and some chest paint (it was about 35 degrees). Gangnam style was blaring. At the last minute Steve showed up. The start line was jam packIed, but he hulked his way into the front so we could catch up a bit before the race started.
I planned to try very hard to go sub-18. It was a stretch given my fitness, but I figured it was a good goal. Everything went as I had hoped, and I ran 17:55 for my second fastest 5K ever (the fastest was 17:48 at this same race 2 years ago).
The first mile was 5:35, which was spot on. Mile 2 was slightly slower than I hoped at 5:52, but it also is mostly uphill. I was in a lot of pain by the end of mile 2, but I knew sub 18 was reachable, so I dug in and pushed on. I was pleased to hold pace with a 5:53 last mile.
Everyone else had good runs, too. Dad is just now coming off his injury and has not yet been able to do much speed work, but he still ran a nice 23:19 for 6th in his age group. Steve was a little behind that and apparently had an excellent time run with turkey costume guy. Jen again showed how easy it is for her to break 30 minutes despite having to walk a bunch of the beginning with the huge crowds.
It was a great way to kick off the holiday, and I am glad the semi tradition lives on.
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