The Turkey Run

The communications company Sprint has its worldwide headquarters in Overland Park, and this year, their campus played host to the 19th annual Thanksgiving Day 5k Run and Family Stroll. Jill and I signed up some time ago, figuring it would be a novel way to start the holiday, and so here we were, at 9am on a cold Kansas morning, lining up with some 5,000 other runners, walkers, kids and dogs to run a few miles and pre-empt the inevitable weight gain that would surely follow over the remainder of the holiday.

Although there were signs that indicated where competitors should line up (7:00 pace, 8:00 pace etc), it seemed like as many people ignored these as paid attention. The first mile or so was frustrating and difficult as we wove in and out of traffic. It reminded me a little of the Gobbler Grind start, except at that race, there were far less runners and it settled down a lot quicker. Also, while the Grind had its share of slow runners, there were few walkers, and no kids or strollers to manoeuvre around.

It took about 5 minutes to cross the start line. Unusual for an event this size, there was no chip timing system in place. You could either time yourself, or try to do the math based on the start and finish clocks. I of course had my trusty $12 stopwatch, not that it was hugely important. I had agreed to run with Jill for the entirety, so I had no personal pace goal. Jill however was looking for a PR, so I decided to act as her pacesetter. This was good, because it meant I still had something to work towards, albeit a quite different task than usual.

The course was so-so; rolling hills throughout, with some decent downhills to finish. There wasn't a lot to see unless you have a thing for parking garages or office buildings, but, after the early chaos, it was a pretty stress-free run. The weather, while cold at the start, warmed up appreciably and was rather warm by the end. The finish line provisions were surprisingly good for such a short race, with donuts, several different juices and pops, fruit, yogurt and bagels all available. Finally, we were more than pleased to be given excellent long-sleeved shirts at packet pickup yesterday, and, as two of the first 500 entrants, we also received a black embroidered stocking cap each, so all in all, it was well worth the effort, and the relatively low entry fee. ($18 each).

As usual, I'll talk about stats in a log blog (outstanding poetry --ed), but the experience was relatively smooth and, I'd say, a successful outing. As for Jill's PR? Well, I'll just say that if I ever decide to change careers, pace-setting apparently might be an option.