2017 Haddon Township Turkey Trot 5k: Race Report

Another year, and another Haddon Township Turkey Trot in the books.  I love this race because it's in the town where I teach, so I get to race a lot of my students.  A lot of people from Who's Up run it too, so there are always a lot of familiar and friendly faces.  The race course is almost pancake flat, and the post-race donuts and breakfast sandwiches are included in the race fee.  What's not to love?

Some race reports from previous years:

2012
2013
2014
2015
2016

This was technically my second race since Broad Street last May, but I was sick during my last race and didn't run very hard.  So it had been awhile since I'd really pushed myself in a race.

I seriously didn't know if I would break twenty minutes, which is usually my benchmark time for the 5k.  I know I say that a lot, and I always manage to come in under, but all the signs pointed to me straying north of this benchmark in this race: not having raced in so long, not having trained at all for the 5k distance, and probably having gained some weight since last spring when I was in decent shape for Boston.

I got to the Pour House at 7:30am, early enough to snag a good parking spot.  Met my dad shortly afterwards and then hung out for the next hour and a half talking to my dad, saying hi to students and friends, and doing a brief warm up run.

At 9am, a thousand South Jersey runners walked two blocks down the street from the Pour House to the starting line.  At the start, we charged back down Haddon Avenue, made a left onto Cuthbert, and another quick left onto Park. 

The start.
Photo by Patrick Rodio

At mile two, I caught up with one of my students.  I joked that if he couldn't beat me, then he was in trouble.  He hung with me for awhile, and we both began to reel in another one of my students.

When we made the final left turn back onto Haddon Avenue, the first student of mine had fallen behind, and I was now running with the second student.  I ran neck and neck with him to the finish, but he outkicked me in the last hundred yards and beat me by two seconds.  It was a thrilling finish.

Trying to catch up to my student (in red) in the homestretch.
Photo by Patrick Rodio

So it looks like there was enough muscle memory in my legs, as I finished the race with a chip time of 19:31.

Given this race's size, I've never placed in my age group, let alone won, but that's exactly what happened this time.  I even got a plaque for my efforts:

I also posed with my dad under the Pour House sign, which has become a tradition for us.

Then I posed with friends from Who's Up:

Mental note: finish chewing before posing for a picture in the future.

Another year down and new memories added.

2017 Run the Bridge 10k: Race Report

I haven't done a race since Broad Street last May.  I had grand plans to sign up for all of my usual fall races this year, but one by one they came and went without me ever having pulled the trigger.  It would seem I have lost my running mojo.

I finally signed up for a race I did for the first time last year: The Cooper Norcross Run the Bridge 10k in Camden, NJ.  I ran it last year in just over 41 minutes, which still stands as my 10k PR.  It was a thrilling race that ended in a photo finish with a fellow runner from Who's Up on a perfect fall day, so I have good memories from this race and was keen to relive them.

Unfortunately I was just getting over being sick and I wasn't able to run to my potential.  I considered dropping out completely, but I couldn't bear the thought of a DNS, or wasting the $50 entry fee, so I managed to pull myself out of bed on Sunday morning and head over to Camden.  I told myself to just start the race and if I needed to I could always stop at the halfway point which is very close to the finish area.  But then I couldn't bear the thought of a DNF either, so I finished the whole thing.

Philly running friend Willa and I got to the starting line on the NJ side of the Ben Franklin Bridge just as the race was about to begin.

We placed ourselves into the sea of people as best as possible because there weren't any signs for paces or corrals (or at least that we could see).  At 8:30 the race began.  I set off at about a 9 minute pace, and Willa quickly pushed ahead of me.

I never run with a phone, but since I knew I would be running slowly, I decided to bring it with me so I could take pictures on the bridge. 

The first half of the race is an out and back on the bridge, the only time foot traffic is allowed on the main area of the bridge (except when the Pope is in town).  When I got back to the Camden side and crossed the halfway mark, I was still going pretty slowly but decided I felt good enough to finish the race, so I continued to slowly plod through the streets of Camden.

Around mile 4, I saw this guy:

At mile 5, employees from the Haddonfield Running Company were manning the water stop, so I got a selfie with Shawn:

And finally, after 52 minutes of running, I entered the outfield of the stadium, and shortly thereafter crossed the finish line.

I was just happy that I finished after all and I didn't start a major coughing fit en route, though my deepest apologies go to my fellow runners who had to witness my snot rockets, both their frequency and the sheer volume of snot expelled. 

The winner finished in 31 minutes.  Everyone from Who's Up finished well ahead of me as well.  Willa finished in 47:17.

There was a beer garden at home plate pouring Yards Brawler and Pale Ale, and I got myself a Brawler and hung out for a bit with Willa and Erik.

I love this race and hope to continue to do it for years to come.  I was feeling lousy both from being sick and from the prospect of getting out of bed so early on a Sunday morning, but it's true that you never regret a run once it's over.

It was definitely a novelty to stop so often during a race to take pictures and not worry about a time or pushing myself hard at all.  I can see why people like to do it, but for me, the true appeal of signing up for and running a race will always be pushing myself as hard as I can.  I really missed that this time around.

My next race will be later this month - the Haddon Township Turkey Trot, which I do every year.  After that, who knows?  Hopefully 2018 will bring a renewed vigor to my running.