34th Annual Webster Turkey Trot

Run: 4.4 miles in :26:52 min. @ 10:00 a.m.

Weather Report: Partly Cloudy, 27°F, 77% Humidity, Winds: CALM; feels like 27°F.

Another personal first, I will be spending the earlypart of my Thanksgiving Day running in this year's 34th Annual Webster Turkey Trot. Logistically speaking, the Trot is one odd bird of a race, given its distance of 4.4 miles (alhtough, there ia also a 2.5 mile version). The site of the run, Webster Park, is a location familiar to me from my days as a Cub Scout Pack leader and a professional sports mascot, with its camping areas and large fields, perfect for Easter egg rolls.

The weather at race time was much cooler than I had anticipated, but in the end I was glad I went with three short sleeve shirts, that top one (from the Pirate Toy Run a few weeks earlier) was added at the last minute as Anne and I made our way to the race start (pictured below).



The cold weather is illustarted by the picture below. I actually had to start the car earlier this morning due to the frost. It's not that we're not used to cool weather, but we had been told the last few days about how nice the weather was going to be for Thanksgiving (and we foolishly believed the weather folks!) THe sunshine was great, though.



It's always nice to see the inflatable Fleet Feet Rochester finish line, especially after turning a coner and "BLAMMO!" there it is! The last 1/4 mile was down a grass hill, along a field and finally through the chute...



And here I (finally)come...!



I once again felt very strong coming down the finish, but felt my greatest error, in the interest of a high place finish, was starting too far back in the back. It took me quite a while to make my way zig-zagging through the walkers in my effort to move up. It was also challenging when, at two different points in the final two miles, both the 2.5 and 4.4 races joined, seperated, then joined back up for the last half mile. Again, some of the mid-pack 2.5-ers tended to hold up some of the mid-pack 4.4-ers by going very slowly down the finish, thus slowly the 4.4-ers... Oh, well... C'est la vie!

Embrassez votre été invincible!