Saturday, November 27, 2010

Turkey Trot

On Thanksgiving, my newphew Evan and I took part in the Pittsburgh Turkey Trot 5K.  It was his first Pittsburgh "trot" and my third. The forecast was accurate for once - 100% chance of rain and 36 degrees.  It was man vs nature, and we were not going to back down. The forecast also meant 100% chance that Grant and Spencer would not participate and I can't say I blame them.


Unfortunately due to the rain, I couldn't wear my turkey getup as the feathers are felt and would have quickly become a heavy sodden mess.

The race course was changed this year and we started from PNC field - the home field for the Pittsburgh Pirates. I was excited about that until I realized that the only part of PNC field we had access to was some dark loading dock/dumpster storage area!



Lovely conditions!
The race started slowly, as they all do.  I started my watch late and didn't capture that slow first bit. I hit a 6:56 first mile, then 7:05 for the next two, and finished the last bit at 6:50.  The turnaround was close to the 2 mile mark so I kept wondering if they had measured the course wrong.  I didn't want to turn it up too soon and discover the race was 4 miles and not 3.1 miles. When I confirmed the finish line was in sight, I sprinted and was glad to discover I had sprint left in me. And finally, I had thawed out!!



It was a fun run, not super speedy for either, but a good effort that made way for lots of turkey to follow.  I ran a decent but not fabulous 22:46, 7:20 average pace, 79th out of 1341, top of the 40-49ers.  The whole pack seemed pretty slow because I sure seemed to pass alot of people.  Maybe they were all hung over or saving themselves for Black Friday!  Results here.