This year was the 30th edition of the Thanksgiving Day Fredericksburg Turkey Trot, which started in 1993 and is operated by the Rappahannock Area YMCA.
I’ve run this race 17 times and timed it 12 years. Running includes virtually in 2020. 2005 was the only year I was not involved because of the wishes of an ex. Even bowing to her wishes, she still became an ex.
Every year since 1995, excluding 2000, I ran a race of marathon distance or longer the weekend before this race. So, my efforts have been more social than competitive. My best time was 20:30 in 1996 and last year was my slowest in 29:54.
Over the years, the race has used four courses. From 1993 to 2009, the downtown library was the venue and used the traditional River Run course. The SPCA Rescue Run in June now uses that course.
A course that used James Monroe High School and stayed below the college was used for the next two years. Then, the expo center in Central Park was the site of the 2012 and 2013 races.
In 2014, the race venue returned to James Monroe High School and used the current course.
While in Central Park, the race had about 4000 participants, and today, there were over 3100 registered runners in the 5km and mile.
Since I stopped working on this race, I hoped I would not have to get up before sunrise to participate. Working with the city, the race organizers agreed to have a 7:30 am race start. I was up at 5 am, wanting to get parked by 6:30 am.
I started my warmup at 6:42 am and did four repeats of walk 2 minutes and run 6 minutes. Since completing the Route 66 Marathon last Sunday, these were my first running steps. My legs felt much better than when I’d run a 50-mile race the previous weekend.
After my fourth repeat, I hit the porta pots near the start line. Amazingly, 15 minutes before the race started, there was no waiting line. After changing into my singlet, I jogged a little more before lining up at the back of the first wave for runners expecting to finish in under 30 minutes. I would be happy to finish under 30 and ecstatic about anything faster.
At the race start, it was 30 degrees with a 16-degree dew point, no wind, and mostly sunny skies. I wore shorts over compression shorts, a singlet over a long-sleeved shirt, a knit hat, a neck gaiter, gloves, and my Saucony Triumph 19 shoes. Where I lined up, I was the only person with shorts. It wasn’t that cold.
I didn’t see the gun go up, but the race started on time. Being at the back of the wave, I did not start my watch until I crossed the start mats, about 50 seconds after the gun.
The first wave had about 800 runners. Organizers had a 14-foot wide start line to thin the field.
In the past month, the city has repaved many roads on the racecourse. The new paving helped my legs feel fresh, and I went through mile 1 in 9:18, a little slower than my last 5km a few weeks ago.
Turning off Sunken Road onto Monroe Street, I descended a gentle hill. My patella didn’t like the extra pounding.
The course turns left onto William Street, heading into town. This road is a nice little section going through part of the business district. My second mile was 9:23.
Turning onto Charles Street, my legs were starting to revolt. I held back run running faster. I ran another challenging downhill before the turn onto Canal Street.
I ran the best I could in my third mile, a 9:07. Then, I headed down the home stretch toward the finish. My last .10686 miles was 53 seconds, the same as my two previous 5 km races. I’m happy with my 28:42 finish time.
596th place overall out of 2382 finishers, 405th of 1082 males, and 6th of 34 males 65 to 69. I was behind only five runners older than me.