Ann Arbor Iron Turkey Trot; 11/12/11

This was, again, a last minute decision. A colleague was running the Iron Turkey and was all over me to do it, I wasn't sure but it was going to be my last chance of a race before the big Turkey Trot so I decided to go for it, even though it was going to be a farther race than I had ever ran before. The race was being held at Hudson Mills Metropark, so we thought we would leave nice and early and get there in plenty time.

The Iron Turkey Trot means that you run in the 9am 5k then the 10am 10k, totaling 15k, so all we had to do was get in there and go for. The first bloody problem of the day was actually getting into the park, we queued up for at least half an hour to get within sight of the park, traffic was a nightmare and traffic control, almost nonexistent. We got parked and I had to sprint over to the registration area to collect my number, forgetting that I also had, as it turns out, two bloody tshirts to deal with, one for the 10k & one for the Iron Turkey. I ended up running back to try and meet Bren, who was parking the car, dumping the shirts and running back to try and catch the start. It was a hellish way to start a race.

Anyway, got to the starting line of the 5k with a couple of minutes to spare. as they delayed it due to the traffic fiasco going on. The start was incredibly fast and I put in 7:56 for my first mile. The course was tight, but very scenic as it meandered through the park and across a couple of bridges. There was one lingering hill that I never really enjoyed, but what the hell. The 5k was one revolution and I finished in a respectable time.

I had about 30 minutes to kill between races so I grabbed a quick snack and spent most of the rest of it trying to get into the restroom, again not much fun. The 10k start was mobbed, more so than the 5k even. I wanted to start a little slower as my legs weren't quite recovered from the 5k, but I got into the swing of things and kept going. This time we would be doing two laps of the same course as the 5k, which would be my first real experience of multiple laps on a long course. It was cool seeing Bren half way through, I managed to throw her my hat and it buoyed my spirits. The same long nasty hill awaited me, but twice this time, and knowing it didn't make it any easier. The nice race director decided that the final 200m should start uphill on a scree path, which really sorted the men from the boys. I finished, I was knackered.