The Turkey Trots Recap

My husband and I decided to sign up for the Erie Turkey Trot since we were able to go home for Thanksgiving this year. I had originally planned to just run the 10k, but he pointed out that it was only $2 more to run both the 5k and the 10k. So we decided to attempt to run both. I’ve never run 2 races back to back before so I wasn’t really sure how that was going to work out. Ragnar would probably be the closest in comparison, but even then I had several hours in between legs.

My brother-in-law has run this race for the last several years and he was kind enough to pick up our shirts and timing chips. We weren’t able to pick them up ourselves since we got in late on Tuesday night. I thought it was a little odd that we couldn’t pick them up on Wednesday. Also this was the first race that I’ve done where there weren’t bibs.

Love this race shirt!

I didn’t get into these races expecting to PR, mostly I just wanted to have fun. The moment that I go home to Pennsylvania and eat things out of the ordinary for me I start having stomach problems. This trip was no exception.

Race Morning:

The 5k was to start at 8am and we didn’t want to have to walk too far so we got there a little over an hour early for a good parking spot. We saw my aunt as soon as we arrived. She’s been running this race every year for as long as I can remember and ended up placing 1st in her AG.

The weather was perfect, especially for Pennsylvania where they normally have lots of snow already this time of year. The temperature was in the low 50s with some wind, which only bothered me a few times. We saw a beautiful sunrise which I neglected to get a picture of unfortunately. After finding the porta potties, we went back to the car until closer to the start time.

5k race:

My only real complaint about this race experience was the start of the 5k. They didn’t have signs or anything as far as where to line up for your pace, so immediately when the gun went off people were walking. I spent the first mile maneuvering around people and running over in the grass trying not to trip over sticks. It wasn’t very enjoyable and I wasted a lot of energy. Now I know for the future to start closer to the front if I choose to run the 5k again. Although honestly I think I will just stick with the 10k. I had planned to run this race as a warm up for the 10k, but my adrenaline kicked in and I went faster than I had planned.

Splits	Time	Cumulative Time	Moving Time	Distance	Elev Gain	Elev Loss	Avg Pace
1	7:49.9	7:49.9	7:45	1.00	—	7	7:50
2	7:33.6	15:23	7:30	1.00	—	—	7:34
3	7:35.4	22:59	7:31	1.00	—	3	7:35
4	1:04.6	24:03	1:00	0.14	10	—	7:28
Summary	24:03	24:03	23:46	3.14	10	10	7:39

My husband rocked and was in front of me the entire time. It wasn’t until the last-minute that I caught up with him and ended up finishing 4 seconds in front of him. I finished 5th in my age group (out of 145).

Then we went back to the car to relax and have a snack before the next race.

10k race:

I was pretty tired from the first race so really I just wanted to finish the 10k in a reasonable amount of time. I had hoped to do better of course and it was no where even close to a PR, but it was still a fun morning. I was glad to be able to share this experience with my husband.

Splits	Time	Cumulative Time	Moving Time	Distance	Elev Gain	Elev Loss	Avg Pace
1	8:25.4	8:25.4	8:18	1.00	—	—	8:25
2	8:09.9	16:35	8:04	1.00	—	7	8:10
3	8:19.5	24:55	8:16	1.00	—	—	8:19
4	8:24.0	33:19	8:23	1.00	7	—	8:24
5	8:35.2	41:54	8:32	1.00	—	10	8:35
6	8:40.6	50:35	8:40	1.00	—	—	8:41
7	2:32.6	53:07	2:26	0.31	9	—	8:12
Summary	53:07	53:07	52:39	6.31	15	16	8:25

I finished 8th in my age group (out of 36).

Afterward we stopped by the little after party at Rainbow Gardens. Then we went home to shower and eat all of the food. I would love to make this race an annual tradition. Maybe one day Haylie will run it with us too.

Pumpkin Roll!

  Did you run a Turkey Trot this year? Do you like racing with friends & family?