A Great Way to Start a Day of Feasting
If you’re an athlete, you love to eat. It’s one of the main reasons I run so much, so I can eat what I want without having to worry too much about putting on weight. Thanksgiving, however, throws me under the bus every year. I love sugary desserts, and can’t resist going whole hog on that one day of the year (well, except for Christmas and my birthday, of course).
The solution: run the annual Turkey Trot in the morning and start the day of feasting with negative calories. Dallas supposedly has the largest Thanksgiving Day run in the country, drawing over 36,800 runners and walkers last year. With temperatures in the low 60’s at the start this year, I have no doubt that the 5K and 8 mile races drew an even larger crowd. I was sick this year and didn’t run, but my better half, Michael, took some awesome photos of the event.
Things always get started off with pre-race warm up exercises.
Some people really get into the warm up, especially the kids.
The event begins and ends in front of City Hall, which was featured in that fine 70’s sci-fi flick, Logan’s Run (yeah, the one with Farrah Fawcett).
Everyone and their dog comes out for the big day. There are lots and lots of dogs. And strollers.
It’s more fun when you run it with good friends.
Come on, Dude. Really? You’re kind of missing the point.
If you want to race, you better start up front to escape the masses. This guy’s serious about burning off his pre-feast calories.
A sprint to the 5K finish is a fight to the end for these guys. It was neck and neck all the way to the end.
Someone forgot to tell him you never run in cotton on a warm day.
She makes it look easy with both feet off the ground in her super fast minimal shoes.
Are they giving thanks, or just posing for a photo? I love people who run in costumes, but have no desire to do it myself.
There’s always one Dead Head in every crowd, in every city.
You gotta love a guy who runs barefoot wearing a t-shirt advertising beef. Muy macho. I wonder if he’s listening to Metallica, too?
The eight mile course has a puke-inducing uphill finish. Bon appetit, guy with the banana!
Here’s the real reason most people run the Turkey Trot: to drink beer and bloody Mary’s in the cemetery afterwards with their friends. It’s carbs!
And if you can’t join them, you can at least give them a hand.
Some people remind us just how much we have to be thankful for, and to remember those who can’t be with us.
Here’s to another year of eating and turkey trotting with good friends. I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Omg, that guy with the banana just lost his appetite!
Yeah, I couldn’t resist including the photo. I feel like puking on that hill every time I run the race, so I can sympathize with the guy losing it. Plus, bananas are gross, so the two kind of go together (in my twisted little brain, at least).
Great photos! I’m amazed by how often you get folks with both feet off the ground. It seems like that shouldn’t be happening all that often!
I know! Everyone wants their photo taken in “mid-stride,” but it’s hard to catch.
ahahah! The guy throwing up is genius! I do Barry’s Bootcamp here in LA, and if you pull a greenie like that, you get a free t-shirt – just means you’re working out super hard!
I love that! I’ve never “pulled a greenie” myself, but I’ve dry heaved at the finish line and at the top of steep hills. Bootcamp scares me!
For years I was a “Type-A” runner and I fondly remember my own Turkey Trots every year in Clearwater, Fl. A 10K is such a wonderful way to start a day! Sorry you were unable to participate this year.
Aren’t most runners Type A? All my friends are! I actually don’t like huge crowds, and this particular race is very difficult to run because of so many walkers, strollers, and dogs — who all have every right to be there — so I didn’t mind missing it. I much prefer small trail races these days.
This post has got me all turned around. Exercise – on a holiday? But I’m coming round to the idea of the all-you-can-eat-Turkey-cos-you’ve-been-good bit afterwards 🙂
It makes stuffing your face that much better when you know you started your day burning off 8 miles worth of calories. (We don’t count the beer in the cemetery afterwards as calories, either . . .)
Awesome photos of the people running – wow! I don’t think I’ve ever run like that. Ever.
Me neither! Maybe in my dreams!