When you run a race two years in a row, it makes it an annual tradation, right?
Well, this was the second year that I ran the Garden city turkey trot with a few of my cousins. Last year I ran the race with Kasey’s siblings, Ryan and Hallie, and this year Kasey joined us as well. We signed up for this race as soon as registration opened, so we would be all set for thanksgiving morning.
I wasn’t able to get to the advance bib pickup, as I had tickets to see a concert with my brothers, but thankfully Kasey was able to snag all of our bibs and our shirts the night before the race.
When thanksgiving morning arrived, instead of hanging out in my PJs I was up bright and early, heading to a charity spin class before the race that my friends gym was hosting. It was a good class, and the teacher was even in the thanksgiving spirit, wearing a turkey costume as he coached us through the hour long class.
Once the spin class was over I headed home to change into a warmer outfit, and then picked up my cousins and we headed to Garden City for our turkey trot. It was a chilly thanksgiving morning, coming in at 36°F, but at least there was a clear sky. I opted to wear UnderArmor cold gear leggings and long sleeve shirt, layered with a RunDisney food and wine half marathon long sleeve tech shirt, which featured chef mickey and felt appropriate for thanksgiving. Dad made me a bacon egg and cheese biscuit as I headed out the door, and I was thankful to have something to eat before the race. While this was heavier than what I usually eat before a race, it was good for today since I would not be running my race pace.
Parking was easy enough, and after we bundled up we started our walk to the start area. We headed into the school gym so that we could wait for the race to start in a heated room. Plus, there were indoor bathrooms, so we hopped on line for those. As it got closer to starting time it was clear that while Ryan had gotten into the men’s room, Hallie and I were not going to get into the ladies room before starting time. So, we headed outside into the cold air and got in the significantly shorter line for porter potties. Kasey let us know that we needed to get a pre-race photo, but the best one we managed to take had porter potties in the background, so we added photos to our post race to do list.
It was a five mile turkey trot, and the four of us planned to take it easy and enjoy the race together. The national anthem was sung, and the start line shuffle began. Once we began running, the first mile zipped by and everyone was doing great. There was a little bit of course crowding, but the field had spread out by the time we got to mile 2. This race allowed dogs and jogging strollers, and it was fun to see the pups running with their owners and families all out together for the holiday. So many runners were rocking shirts from fall marathons that they had run this year, and I enjoyed seeing so many races represented.
About Halfway through the race Hallie was doing great, so to make sure she would be able to finish strong we agreed that we wound walk through the upcoming water stop. As we entered mile three there was a drone recording as we headed into a more residential area to run, which was cool to see. We reached the first water stop and took a walk break for a moment, and we all checked in. Everyone was feeling good, and we only had another two miles to go. We ran by Adelphi University and stopped for a quick photo to send to my brother, as he is a student there.
As we approached the last mile of the race, we ran under the start line before making a loop around St. Paul’s School, which is the central location for the start and finish area. In that last mile, Kasey and Ryan began to get a little competitive with each other, and pressed ahead of Hallie and I in their quest for the finish line. Hallie and I took an easier approach, watching them run off as we walked through the final water stop area.
We enjoyed the last mile, and Hallie did a great job finishing the race strong! The two of us headed into the finisher area and collected a bagel, water, and banana as we looked for Kasey and Ryan. The finish line area was crowded with all of the finishers, but we were able to find them. We had instructions from my aunt to try to get a good Christmas card photo of my cousins, so we took a minute to take some photos before walking back to the car.
When I dropped by cousins off Aunt Karen made my Thanksgiving dreams come true, and had cinnamon buns waiting for us. Of course I invited myself in and chowed down on a few before heading home to prepare for the rest of Thanksgiving Day, which I would split between my family and Dennis's family.
As for who won the trot to the finish line – I believe it was Ryan, and both he and Kasey came in about a minute before Hallie and me. I suppose this means there will have to be a rematch at future runs. Hallie and I managed to finish in under an hour, which was an improvement over last year’s time! I hope that we are able to continue running this race in years to come, and maybe even convince a few more of our cousins to join us.