2007 Turkey Chase 10K

One of the great things about being a runner in this area is that on any weekend there is always a race to do, generally within 30-miles of where you may happen to be. Thanksgiving is no exception and this morning I started turkey day with a nice, pre-dinner 10K run with 7,000+ fellow runners in Bethesda, MD at the

25th YMCA Bethesda-Chevy Chase Turkey Chase. The first time I participated in this race was last year after being too lazy to get up that early the past few

years. Actually, it wasn't the getting up that was the problem but me being a chicken (turkey?) about the chilly weather. However, I had so much fun last year, despite the cold, that I decided to run it annually. My run went pretty well in 2006 with a 34th place finish out of 247 in my age group (151th out of 1,033 men, and tied for 174th out of 1,882 overall) at a time of 46:18 (avg. 7:28 min/mile). My personal record for a 10K is 44:29 (avg. 7:10 min/mile) set earlier this month at the Rockville 10K/5K.

Today was just perfect weather-wise. About 60 degrees and partly sunny at the start my myself and over 7,000 fellow turkey chasers. This race is the largest in Montgomery County and represented by many families. About 3,600 were registered for the 10K and a similar amount for the 2-mile walk/run. I wasn't expecting to do much today since I hadn't been eating well (for racing) and my training the past few weeks had been poor (very long runs on the weekends and almost no running during the week). Last night and the night before I woke up with really bad phantom pain in my hamstring, a left over for my injury a few months ago.

This race had a wave start (6:30/mile and faster, 6:30-8:00/mile half-fast, haha, and 8:00/mile and beyond). My plan was to start with the 6:30-8:00 group and see how it went. The course is very hilly and I knew that I'd probably start out too fast, which I did. Miles 1 and 2 went by in 6:45 and 6:56 respectively. Once the hills began, and I started to run out of steam, I did miles 3, 4, and 5 in 7:18, 7:46, and 7:24. The final 1.2 miles are pretty flat and I was able to pick up the pace to 7:03 and a major sprint for the last 0.2 at a 5:31 pace.

Around the start of mile 5, I heard a guy running next to me encouraging a fellow runner but I didn't see anyone. Then I noticed that a tiny girl (12-years old and maybe 80lbs) was running next to him. Now we were going at a good pace, so it was pretty impressive to see this kid. She was running with her firefighter dad and he was pacing her. I thought there is no way I'm letting this girl finish ahead of me but she was flying. Ultimately I pulled ahead and crossed the finish line about 7-seconds in front but, wow, what a race for her. Her chip time was only 1-second slower then me! My sprint to the end was driven by a 15-yeard old girl, who was determined to beat me. I had other ideas and we ran the last 0.2 miles shoulder-to-shoulder and she matched every bit of acceleration I threw in. However, in the end, she too went down and I beat her by literally 2 or 3 steps. My chip time was about 8-seconds faster. How pathetic is it that I'm getting any satisfaction out of finishing ahead of little girls?!?!? Man, am I lame. :-)

Speaking of kids, this race encourages participation of high school kids. When you register, you can select a school to sponsor and I did Northwest, Bria's school. It was interesting to see all the kids in my starting group and the number that passed me in the first few miles, only to run out of gas later in the race. All of the kids I'm speaking of looked like they ran track and were in good shape. I attribute most of their performances to lack of experience in pacing. It's so easy to let your adreneline get the best of you in the early stage of a race. Nevertheless, it was great to see so many kids in the event.

So how did I finish? Well I think I either set a PR or missed it by a few seconds (the results haven't been posted yet). My watch time was 44:37 with an average pace of 7:08/mi., so that would mean I missed a PR by 8 seconds, but this course is much tougher then the one in which I PR'ed. With the results now posted, I placeed 171 out of 1,748 men (34 out of 435 in my age group) in 45:57-gun time and 44:37 actual time. Overall I was 185 out of 3,317 finishers. So I did in fact miss a PR by 8 seconds, but that's just fine considering I didn't expect to run so well. The 2007 Turkey Chase was a great way to start the day and I'm looking forward to the 2008 event. Gobble, Gobble!!