Chicago Turkey Trot

At last an age group first place!

I had fun at the Grant Park Turkey Trot 5 km in Chicago this morning. I jogged slowly to the race start and got there very early because I was worried about check-in queues. It didn’t seem too cold to me, dressed in tights, long sleeves and my new jacket (which is so flimsy it looks like it would do nothing but is actually very wind proof). When I got there, having had trouble finding the right place because they were not yet set up, there were certainly no queues and I registered immediately. I got an XS size fleece as my race swag, which looked as though it might fit me, in contrast with the ridiculous things I have got at previous races on this trip.

I walked around the park in the hour I had to wait until the start. It was freezing. The wind was icy and I couldn’t find a way to get out of it. I walked by the lake, eyeing up the ducks, and wandered through some groves of bare trees. By the time I returned to the start area it was extremely crowded and the registration queue was extremely long. So was the bag drop queue, and I got even colder standing still so I decided to wrap my jacket around my waist.

The sun came out just before we started and warmed me enough to be able to remove my jacket, having just decided moments before that I would have to keep it on. So I ran with my new fleece and my jacket around my waist - I was all prepared for whatever weather was coming during my five kilometres!

I ran as fast as I could and made a conscious effort not to slack off. I picked out people ahead of me and tried to keep up with them. As you’d expect in a race like this, lots of people set out very fast and soon came to a halt but there were also some good runners. We sort of looped around the wintry park and then ran by the lake exactly where I had walked. There wasn’t much to look at. 

I wasn’t overjoyed with my time because I thought I could run faster, I expected to at least break 25 minutes but I finished in 26:08. Well, it was good enough for first place and I was near the front of the field so I shouldn’t complain.

At the finish we were given a cinnamon scroll, and then you could get free beer. I’ve never drunk beer before 10am before. As soon as I stopped running I was cold so I was glad of the two extra layers. I sat on the grass and watched people finishing. There were only a few runners dressed up as turkeys (and I saw one chef).