After many years of volunteering and working at the Turkey Trek 5K at Pemberton Park on Thanksgiving morning, this was my first year to just show up to run and hang out with friends.
The Turkey Trek is on technical trails, so I knew that my time would not be as fast as the road or crushed-stone trail 5Ks I’ve run this year. I made my goal to beat my past two times at the Turkey Trek 5K (33:06 in 2022 and 32:24 in 2020).
I picked up my race shirt and bib at the Wicomico Civic Center the day before the race, and on Thanksgiving morning, I met up with some Eastern Shore Running Club friends for a photo. It was in the 40s, and I wore a long-sleeve shirt and shorts, along with some Brooks Thanksgiving socks.
I knew I would need to be in the lower 10s in order to meet my goal, so I was happy to run the first mile in 9:58. A lot of times, I will take walk breaks during a run, and there is nothing wrong with that and it can actually help, but for this race, I ended up running the whole time.
New this year was Mr. Gobble Gobble, a runner dressed up as a turkey who started five minutes after the group. I saw that the runner was Chris, so I figured he would pass me, but I didn’t expect it to be so early.
When I was at about 1.57 miles on my watch, I heard “Gobble gobble,” and my reaction was to say “Oh no!” as Mr. Gobble Gobble passed me. It was all in fun, though, and I continued along.
I felt great, and the course was also clearer than usual. While it was still rooty, of course, the roots were more visible than normal, which made it easier to avoid and/or get around them.
After running the next two miles in 10:18 and 10:13 on the familiar course, I finished the race in 31:49, a 10:08 pace on my watch (and a little slower per mile on the official results since I ended up with 3.14 miles on my watch).
Participants could choose from post-race apple or pumpkin pie. I enjoy both, and since I purchased a pumpkin pie to have at home, I had apple pie at this event.
Since my only other race remaining in 2023 was a pacing race, in which I already knew what my finish time would be, this was my last race for time of the year, and I was proud of how it went.
Splits
Mile 1: 9:58
Mile 2: 10:18
Mile 3: 10:13
Last part (watch had .14): 1:18 / 9:29 pace
Finish time: 31:49 / 10:08 pace on watch
She Runs by the Seashore 