The 1st Annual Earn Your Turkey...Trot Recap and Results



   Ever since I have gotten back into running, I have really wanted to participate in what is known as a Turkey Trot. A Turkey Trot is a race held on Thanksgiving Day that can be a variety of distances, but it usually is a 10k. The most popular of these is the venerable Manchester Road Race and the Atlanta Half Marathon. However, I have never been in the right place.

  

   So, I decided to do something about it and made the bold decision to host my own Turkey Trot. Once the decision was made all I needed was a course and some runners. My family had come into town for the Thanksgiving week and were up for a run, so they gave me my needed racers. And my wife Mel had charted out a pretty good 3 mile course around our neighborhood that didn't include the things that normally make their way onto a David Dark certified course (traffic, hills galore, shady individuals, vacant, condemned homes,  stray dogs, alleys, etc.), so I took some of that course and created a scenic, spectator-friendly, mostly flat (one big hill) , mostly traffic-free 1.5 mile course. So, now I had my course. All I needed now was for Thanksgiving morning to arrive and bring with it some good weather.

    Thanksgiving morning arrived with some gorgeous Fall weather and I woke up at around 8 am ready to officiate and race my very first Turkey Trot. I loaded up a gallon ziplock with White Lilly ( White Lilly if you would like to sponsor next year's race, just call) flour, laced up my Nike Air Pegasus +28's, grabbed my favorite nephew, Eddy IV, stretched, and headed out the door. We jogged the race course and marked the course at every turn with the flour. The course was now marked and we were very warmed up.

    The race was supposed to begin by 9:30 am, but many of the participants hadn't arrived by then. So, we waited!The weather for the race could not have been any better. By 9:45, everyone (11.5 participants!) had arrived, stretched, received race instructions, and lined up at the start where I explained the route again and told them I expected a clean race because my sister in law and my father were already jockeying for position with a little elbow action. I jumped to the back of the racers and gave them a three command start and we all took off.

   Emily and Eddy IV took early leads and stayed in the lead till we reached the first incline and Emily backed off, but Eddy IV continued to the top where he tapered off a little. I was running in third place followed by the other racers. I took the lead at around a half mile, but Eddy IV and his mother were close on my heals followed by Eddy III and Emily. We all hit the killer hill that is Buford Place and all of our paces really went down, but we all showed vast amounts of courage as we conquered the hill or mountain depending on how you look at it or where you are from. (It just may be 100 feet taller than the highest point in Florida.)

   At the halfway point of the race (this is hearsay and would not hold up in court according to L&O), I was in the lead, followed by Eddy IV, Amy II, Emily, Eddy III, Mel, Mom, Dad, and then the peloton: Forrest, Amy, and Celia. And this is where the race fell apart. The race director and his helper did not put an arrow pointing through Hines Terrace and expected people to keep going straight, but alas they did not. Places 1-3 raced the entire course. Places 4-5 cut through the Vineville Baptist parking lot and then came out on Hines Terrace. Places 6-11 thought they were supposed to turn (also hearsay) onto Hines Terrace and did so.

   Overall, the 1st Annual Earn Your Turkey...Trot was a grand success. I will be hosting another one next year on the same course, but with better markings. And maybe extending it to be a full-fledged 5k. And hopefully, we will again finish to a wonderful breakfast of brown sugar sausage, french toast casserole, and all you can drink juice and coffee like we did this year! First place received the job of being the grand marshal of the Thanksgiving dinner line and Eddy IV won those honors. He finished in a time of 13:52. and the other results are as follows:

Females:

  1st place female age group 5-8: Emily Dark

  1st place female age group 20-24: Celia Bass

  1st place female age group 25-29: Melissa Dark and Zygote

  2nd Place female age group 25-29: Amy Bass

  1st place female age group 35-39: Amy Dark 

  1st place female 55-59: Susan Dark

Males:

   1st place male age group 9-14: Eddy Dark IV

   1st place male age group 25-29: Forrest Bass

   1st place male age group 30-34: David Dark

   1st place male age group 35-39: Eddy Dark III 

   1st place age group 60-64: Ed Dark, Jr.

 

Eddy IV making a very brave case for 2nd place followed by Amy Dark, my brother's wife, who would come in 3rd place overall, but 1st female finisher.

Emily Dark showing us that running the tangents during a race is an old wives tale and that having fun during a race outweighs a medal any day of the week. She is followed by my brother Eddy who is looking strong as he rounds the bend about a half mile into the race.

Emily making a strong surge towards the finish line and a very hot breakfast of French Toast casserole.

Happy Racing,

   David