Festival Foods Turkey Trot

This was my 4th turkey trot and the anniversary of my very first 5k in 2008. Since that first race I have run many races of all kinds of distance, but the turkey trot is always my favorite because the weather is always cold and the people are always extra nuts.

This race was a nice 8k and I ran it in 36:18. This time far exceeded my expectations and I am very happy with the result.
my Festival Foods Turkey Trot - Fox Cities 2011 - 5 Mile Run results



We were in Appleton to visit my brother-in-law for Thanksgiving, so I thought it would be great to continue my turkey trot tradition in another town.

I got to the race about 30 minutes before the start. I had to park about .25 mile from the start area, which actually worked out perfectly for a quarter mile warm up jog. Unfortunately my Garmin 305 was totally dead when I tried to turn it on so I had to run with out knowing pace or distance.

I ran at a comfortable pace based on my breathing rhythm. I felt like I was running about 7:45 minute miles, but there were no mile markers or clocks along the course so I had no idea how fast I was going or what mile we were on.

Coming up to the finish line I saw 36:10 and I thought the clock must be wrong, I did not feel like I was running it that fast. If I had known how close I was to the finish I would have pushed it a bit to make it under 36 minutes.



After the race I got a free 6 inch pumpkin pie. If I had run about 10 minutes faster I could have finished in the top 5 and won a free turkey. Maybe next year.