Laveen Turkey Trot race report

I know this is a little late, but what can you expect from a guy who has only posted twice in like the last three months. The tardiness is worsened when I mention that this race took place the Saturday before Thanksgiving, not the week of!

I had been looking forward to this race all year long. I volunteered to help out at the race last year because my knee was acting up. Had I ran, I would have won by about 4 minutes. So, I was really looking forward to this race not anticipating this year's field to be much more competitive. Plus, my top runner from the high school time I coached this fall (we'll call him Pedro, who made huge gains over the season) was running, and I wanted to see if I could still beat him.

The course consisted of a lap around the high school, then over to the park and around the lake (which, by the way is one of my favorite places to run), and then back to the school. I knew starting out that the course was going to be long because we were starting on the track about 150 meters from where the map showed the start, and ending about 50 meters after the marked finish. The map indicated the course was 3.11, so we were adding about another 1/10th of a mile. Oh well, not a big deal. I always like getting more for my money.

Pedro and I took off in the lead, and stayed there for the first mile, with another high school kid right on our heals. At the one mile mark, this kid passed us and quickly took off. I didn't think he'd be able to hold it, so I let him go. Not long after that, Pedro dropped off, and I was alone. Running around the lake was so quiet. There were a few people fishing, but not much else going on, and the distance between me and Pedro was increasing. I reached the 2 mile mark at 13 minutes, which was right where I wanted to be. I was hoping I'd be able to start making up some ground on 1st place, but he was too far ahead. I finished in 2nd place, about 30 seconds behind 1st. Pedro crossed about 20 seconds later.

I ended up getting a medal for placing first in my age group (30-54). When they called me up, I disappointed another runner who happened to have the same first name as me, and actually looks over 30. He obviously thought I was as young as I look. Sorry, Reed.