Tacoma Parks Turkey Trot

Thanksgiving Day I ran in the Tacoma Parks Turkey Trot. Turkey Trotting has become a ritual for me the last few years. In the past I have run the Del Rey Turkey Trot in Alexandria, VA. This year we were in the Seattle area to visit my brother. Donna has just started training for a half-marathon and is doing great. She has not run in over a year and half but is working hard to get back in shape and take her running to the next level.

We headed out for the race about 8 am. We arrived at the race start about 8:45 to pick up our chips and swag which consisted of a shirt. There were about a 1000 participates in the race. Most of the people in costume were dressed in a manner that fitted the Thanksgiving Holiday, but one individual dressed as Wonder Woman. I thought it was a very tall lady, but my brother was convinced it was a man. I wish I had a picture so I could get a vote. But alas.

The race started at 9:35 and the first mile was pretty crowded with an elevation gain of about 100 ft in less than a half mile. My time for the first mile was just over 8 minutes. Considering that I did not warm up and the crowd I had to deal with I was not overly disappointed with that time. The second mile had a loss in elevation of about 175 and I completed it in about 7.5 minutes and I was pretty happy. We had been told that the final mile was a gradual uphill. That may be a gradual uphill to people in Tacoma, but to those of us flatlanders in DC, this was a hell of hill. Based on my Garmin, the final hill was 175 feet in 0.6 mile. Even the hills I run for my "hill workouts" are nothing like this.

Over all I ran the race in 26:14. I was shooting for 25:00 - 25:30 and I finished in the top 20%, so I am not unhappy. It was good to get out and run before eating too much.
Donna finished the race in 43:??. For someone who has not run much in the last two years and is just getting back in the swing of thing I was very proud of her. She will do great in March at the Shamrock Half.