For years my sister and I would run our local Turkey Trot 5K race. It was fun to see people in town for Thanksgiving, be a part of physical activity on a day dedicated to expandable pants, and of course the awesome long sleeved t-shirt was great too. As the years went by and the race got big and popular the fun diminished. Crowds of people created a kind of chaos that forced runners to get shoved into each other, kids got trampled, and reaching the starting line took a special kind of patience.
Standing in the November morning cold waiting for a 5K to start by a time that I could normally run twice as far, eat, then shower became very undesirable. My sister and I sat out a few and now we miss our annual long sleeved tee! Maybe we needed some time away or maybe we just miss the idea of overcoming craziness – isn’t that what runners do anyway? Whatever it may be, we’ve had some serious talk about partaking in our old family tradition.
We might avoid the major mayhem by doing a pre-run then joining the walkers. We could even talk our Mom into earning her first Turkey Trot t-shirt. Or we could get really crazy and run with the masses just like the good ol’ days. Whatever we decide the ultimate tradition on Thanksgiving day will remain in tact – running and family time will happen. -trvw
Love it! I’ve been running/walking in our turkey trot for 8 years. This year my sister doesn’t want to participate, which bums me out. Well with the change of times none of my siblings nor myself will be home for Thanksgiving this year.
But the dear friends I will be with were already talking about finding one to walk in this year since I’m sidelined from running right now.
With or without them I will carry on a tradition that I believe in.
Congrats to you to for getting back at it!