Thanksgiving isn't all about Football and Feasting... in New England at least, it's also about joining friends and neighbors, little kids and college students home for break, grandparents and recent grads... for that happy tradition, running in the local Turkey Trot.
Every year I scan results from dozens of races to see all the familiar names, including Newton North alumni, runners from my running club (CSU), and folks who are fixtures on the Boston running scene. After the excitement of fall marathons and the intensity of cross-country championship meets, it's just a fun day of racing for the entire running family.
Turning first to the Boston Volvo 5K Road Race, it looks like Team Chebot had a good day, with Dan Chebot taking third place overall (16:11), followed by Scott Cole (14th, 17:58), and Jesse Chebot (44th, 20:00). Scott and Jesse are cyclists these days, not pedestrians, but everyone runs on Thanksgiving!
(I should also note that Dan might have had a little fatigue in his legs from competing in the USATF Pacific Association XC championships last Sunday, where he finished 57th overall with a time of 33:43 for 10K.)
Over in Watertown, NN assistant coach Shawn Wallace finished second overall at the Donohue's 5K Turkey Trot, running 16:52.
My CSU teammate (and NSRP regular) Terry McNatt usually has a talent for finding the race with the deepest, most competitive field -- seemingly determined to deprive him of his Thanksgiving portion of glory -- but yesterday he helped himself to first place at the AMPT Earn Your Turkey 5K race in Wakefield, winning by a full minute with a time of 16:34.
In Somerville, another friend of NSRP (and CSU and Concord Academy and Tufts XC), Tyler Andrews ran into a buzzsaw of competition but emerged with a fourth-place finish (first in his age group) at the 14th annual Gobble, Gobble, Gobble 4M race in Somerville. Tyler blitzed the course in 20:39 (5:10 pace!) and was well ahead of several luminaries, such as BU's Eric Ashe, who finished 10th. In the same race, NNHS alumnus John Blouin finished 27th in 22:56.
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If you didn't run a Thanksgiving race and are feeling left out, here's a reminder that Brookline H.S. is hosting their 2nd Annual Warrior 5K XC Run at Larz Anderson Park on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. on the same course that the team uses for high school meets. You can re-experience all those thrilling Brookline-NN meets on the very same hills run by the McArdle brothers, Barnicle, Gibson, Polgar, Burnstein, and the rest.
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The automated results had me at 3rd because the guy I was racing beat me to the second mat, but I totally had him at the real line. The officials gave me second overall at the awards ceremony, so that's what I'm counting. The sprint finish was as thrilling as a race for 16:11 and second place could be, but I'm happy I was able to dig it out for the extra $25 to marathon sports!
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