Turkey Trotting

I was trying to remember yesterday whether I've EVER run a race on Thanksgiving Day. It seems hard to believe that I haven't, since there are so many races to choose from, but there it is. Scanning the results of local turkey trots, it seems I was one of the only runners in New England who didn't race yesterday.

In Somerville, MA, the "Gobble Gobble Gobble 4M" attracted over 2000 participants. Five runners broke 5:00 pace, and 51 runners broke 6:00 pace. Yikes! That's some sauce for the bird right there.

Among the trotteratti were local club runners, current and former high school stars, travelers in town for the holiday, and of course hundreds (thousands?) of recreational runners out to burn a few calories in preparation for a big meal later on in the day. NNHS alumnus John Blouin ran 22:37 (5:42 pace) and only finished 30th. Former Brookline star George McArdle, now 25, ran 21:43.

There were races all around the area, and many of them gave hometown heroes a chance to win on home turf. In Braintree, Chris O'Day won the annual Braintree Boosters 5K in 17:05 over a field of 440 runners. In Weymouth, Mark Jordan won the Dreamcatcher 2M race by nearly a minute and a half (10:23) over Newton's Justin and Chris Keefe. The 2M? Why not suck it up and run the 5M?

There were 700 in that Weymouth 5M. There were another 900 people racing next door in Hingham. In Stow, L-S star Jake Shoemaker won a 5K over Nashoba star Coby Horwitz and 550 other fellow trotters.

And on it goes. So many races, so many runners.

I guess like the holiday itself, the tradition of the Turkey Trot itself is all about getting together across generations. People tend to run the same T-Day race year after year, and would no sooner change that routine than change the way they make stuffing or mashed potatoes.