Long Grove Turkey Trot 5K Race Report / Ugly Race Shirt Contest/Giveaway WINNER
Happy Thanksgiving! Who else started their day with a run or race this morning?
I ran the Long Grove Turkey Trot 5K with my running club friend, Chris. Awhile ago, Chris asked if I would pace her for a 5K under 28:59, so we looked at all the Thanksgiving Day races and choose Long Grove, without knowing much about it.
Chris went to packet pickup yesterday and had to wait about an hour to get our bibs and her tech tee/my fleece! I guess this is a big race! The people at packet pickup warned her to come early to park and to start near the front of the race if she had a time goal. So we did! We got there in plenty of time to get a decent spot, see another running club friend, Dave, and his family, and get a warm-up in.
As Chris’s pacer, the thing I was most nervous about was crowding on the course. The race was sold out, I think with a cap of 2000 people, both for a 5K and 8K, which started at the same time and ran a lot of the same course. So we started as close to the front as we felt comfortable. There were a few twists and turns in the beginning, and a small part on a narrow trail, but we were mostly on open roads and crowding was not a huge issue for us. Phew!
Our race goal was to come in under 28:59, but we decided to aim for 9:00 minute miles to build ourselves a bank. As per usual, I took us on a positive split course (geesh – not a very good pacer!). The course had a small U then an out and back. Mile 1 was around the downtown area and out on to an uphill on quiet street, in 8:47. Mile 2 was a downhill through a residential neighborhood in 8:55 and mile 3 was the uphill (from mile 2) with a downhill finish (from mile 1) in 9:15 with 8:30 pace for the last .1. Chris worked her butt off. It was windy, and her asthma was kicking in. She asked me to run ahead of her so she could chase me, so I kept looking back to make sure she was close by. Toward the end, we ran more side by side. She told me she felt crappy and I said “then you know you’re doing it right!” I tried to be encouraging without being too annoying… hee hee.
We finished in 27:51 which is a minute and 8 seconds faster than her goal, and with an average pace of 8:59! We were both so excited when we finished, we were hugging and crying a bit. Ha ha. Then we loaded up on the awesome snacks they had, grabbed our race gear to put on, and watched Dave and his family finish the race.
Posing at the start banner after the race
I get so pumped racing with my friends and seeing them meet their goals! And I am so honored that Chris asked me to be her pacer! I am really proud of how well she raced today. I hope I get to be her pacer again sometime.
And I also loved seeing all the different people out getting some exercise in Thanksgiving morning. We saw a lot of funny costumes and hats. And there were many walkers, and even someone doing the 5K course in a regular wheelchair (not a racing one)! It was very cool to see so many people being active (and a nice day for it – sunny and in the low 50s!).
Thank you so much to everyone who entered the Ugly Race Shirt Contest/Giveaway! I appreciate that you guys took the time to take a picture and share it with me. And I loved seeing all the shirts and hearing what you thought was ugly about them! Here is a collage of all the entries with blog linkups corresponding to the numbers (click image to see larger):
- Gina (featuring Luca) @ mileWON
- Rachel @ Running in Real Life
- Kelly @ Running Kellometers
- Erin @ Eri-thon
- Maggie @ Mag Mile Runner
- Ashley @ Hop Skip Jump
- Anne R
- Charlyn (featuring CB) @ Pain is nothing
- Kimberly (featuring Miles) @ Healthy Strides
- Michele @ Running for Oreos
- Chris L
- Muddy Monk*
I used Random.org to draw the winners name (based on a spreadsheet of entries and blog/Facebook shares) and the winner is Kimberly @ Healthy Strides!
Kimberly, please email me (kilax@ilaxstudio.com) and let me know your pick of the $25 giftcard – Amazon, iTunes or Target.
*Muddy Monk posted three shirts and I choose the creepiest one. I didn’t make it very clear to only enter one shirt and I apologize for that!
Themocracy
Congrats to you and Chris! That’s amazing! I bet you’re an excellent race buddy! 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving, Kim!
Thank you! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!
Oh man, that clown one is by far the worst! I think I would have to burn it if I got it! I think I’m going to have nightmares just thinking about it. Just kidding! (kind of.)
Congrats to Chris on a great race! That is so great that you were able to help your friend meet her goal! That really is so rewarding! Running really is a great activity for all different types of folks!!! 🙂
Can you imagine if that had been a clown in the cornfields? AHHH!!!!
How was your vegetarian Thanksgiving? 🙂
Oh man, clowns are like my least favorite scary thing. Yikes!!
I am postponing our vegetarian feast until after my exam so I can focus the right amount of time onto the food prep. 🙂
Congrats Chris!!
#12 is just scary wth. lol
Great job on the race you two! You are a wonderful pacer 🙂
I planned to run this AM but stayed up too late last night and drank a bit too much wine so I slept in. Oops.
I’m glad Chris submitted the duathlon shirt. That thing was so ugly I think I threw it out as soon as I got home. I hope race directors see this post and realize that they need to make good shirts. Or maybe they’ll keep making bad ones so we’ll talk about them.
Thanks 🙂
I like orange and all, but traffic cone orange on a tshirt? At least you would be visible?
awww congrats to you too for beating your goal!! Great of you to do the pacing!
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Wow way to go. Remind me to have you pace me!!
Yay! I love this recap! I raced with my friend Ashley this morning who was running her first 5K. Her goal was to finish the race without running and my goal was to be as positive as possible and to stay with her the whole time. We met our goals! 🙂
Congrats on meeting your goals!
Great job! I bet you would be the best pacer!
Aww, thank you! 🙂
Here’s how I know I still have a lot to learn about running… about half of that I didn’t understand! 😉
BUT i’m super impressed with how fast you guys ran! You continue to inspire me to keep running and see what’s possible!! Happy Thanksgiving. I’m thankful to have met you and discovered your blog this year.
Ugh! Sorry about that! I just remembered a cool guide to Runner’s Jargon that I sent my friend Gina when she started running and now I cannot find it. Wah!
Thank you so much! I was so excited for Chris. And Happy belated Thanksgiving! Very excited to have found your blog too. I feel like I am learning about Chicago all over again, and from fresh eyes (mean that as a compliment :)).
Congratulations on a great race!!! Love the collection of ugly race shirts, there are some really bad ones in there. I would have voted for #2 and #5 as being the worst of the worst. Hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving and are enjoying Black Friday!
I think helping a friend meet a goal is even more rewarding than reaching a goal myself. Good job as a pacer!
I think so too!
Oh that’s so cool you could help pace your friend! I had never even thought of that! I’m trying to focus on distance now, more than speed, but maybe I should think about a pacer at some point next year.
It was really cool to see so many people out running (or, in the case of the Lincoln Park turkey trot, not running…) on Thanksgiving morning – what a fun way to start the day, and feel a little less guilty about all that Thanksgiving eating 🙂
A pacer can really help you stay on track and no go out too fast… unless it’s me. LOL. But we met her goal 😉
I do love seeing all the people out! It’s inspiring! 🙂
Nice job as a pacer. Over a minute faster than goal. Sweet!
Nice report Kim and congrats on getting your friend in under the goal and by a nice margin. Sounds like a great race which All Community Events seem to be. Their swag is good too.
I worked at the Evanston Fying Turkey (6am to 11am) and that was the start to a long long day as I then worked at Target 8.45pm to 6am for Black Friday, first few hours were crazy.
I therefore cancelled my planned run today 🙂
Thanks! I do like their swag. A few people did not like the brown pullover, but it’s super comfy cozy 🙂
Gosh! I hope you took a nap in between all that! How was work?
Are we meeting early to run on Sat? 🙂
Congrats on a great race and helping her hit her goal!!
I’ve done races on Thanksgiving the past two years, but this year I’m doing a 5K on Saturday, so I decided not to overdo it and just do my own solo easy run on Thanksgiving morning.
Sorry I flaked out on you!
No problemo! I totally get it! But I expect you to tell me every time you come up north so I can bug you about potential runs/hangouts 🙂
The best way to start Thanksgiving is with a run! I ran solo but it was still the perfect way to run with my own thoughts and reasons to be thankful.
awesome job
Brilliant contest idea. #10 is a hideous combination of colors.
Thanks 😀
You sound like an excellent pacer! I have paced people in a few races and it is so much fun! I have yet to recap my last two pacer races but I’ll hopefully get to those soon.
That clown shirt IS super creepy!!
Way to rock that trot! I’m so happy that you were able to make such a good time, especially on a crowded race like that. You totally earned your to-furkey (lol or whatever you ate for Thanksgiving!!).
That is what we made (on Sunday – we celebrated a few days late ;)).
Packet pick was brutal last year as well. Too bad they haven’t figured that out. Glad you enjoyed my hometown trot and congrats to both of you for surpassing your goal pace!