There’s nothing better than a race before stuffing yourself on Thanksgiving.

I just read in this article about how popular running on Thanksgiving is:

In 2009, I ran my first turkey trot & I did it in Central Park in Schenectady.  In 2010 & 2011, I did one in my hometown.

In fact, the 2010 turkey trot was my 5K PR for 4 years until very recently. In 2011, that same race, changed its course. I was injured in 2012 and then last year, my favorite local turkey trot went NON-TIMED.

Until this year, I ran 5Ks on Thanksgiving.

But this year, I am going for the big one…in Troy and a 10K.  About 10,000 runners total with about 1,500 in the 10K.

I know nothing about the course except for the map below:

I participated in the Turkey Trot Training Challenge and enjoyed it a lot.  Unfortunately I could only go to the Monday training runs. Nevertheless, running with a group at least once a week, definitely improved my pace.  It also was helpful to run on hills since I tend to avoid them on my own.

The best part was meeting new runners.

I doubt this race will be a PR 10k due to the crowds and the hills but I hope to have a good race.

Here’s my 10K racing history –

2012:

• Camp Chingachgook 10k – 1:09:07

2013:

• Hmrrc Winter Series #3 (10k) – 1:08:18
• Helper’s Fund 10K – 1:06:10
• Monster Scramble <10K – 1:03:18 (short course!)

2014:

• Spring Run Off 10K -1:00:51
• Camp Chingachgook 10k – 1:04:54
• Great Pumpkin Challenge 10K – 58:28 – PR

Proof that despite getting older, I am getting faster.

 Happy Running! Do you run on Thanksgiving?