Turkey Trot Race Report

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all my American friends!  And to my Canadian and other international friends…well, happy Saturday. 😉

My son (DS#1) and I did the Detroit Turkey trot on Thanksgiving Day.  It was the first time I’d done that race, and only his second 5k.  It was kind of a logistical nightmare for a while, since I’d forgotten until two days before the race that my husband was working the night before and therefore would not be off work in time to take care of DS#2.  That meant I had to bring him with us, but the problem was–what would we do with him while we ran 3.1 miles in downtown Detroit?!

Thankfully, I discovered that one of the moms on DS#1’s hockey team was running the Mashed Potato Mile with her two sons.  Since her husband was also running the 10k, she was happy to watch DS#2 while DS#1 and I ran the 5k at the same time.  Of course, this meant that DS#1 and I would have about 10 minutes to make it more than half a mile from the finish line of the Mashed Potato mile to the start line of the 5k.  But we knew we could do it!

The morning of the race dawned beautiful and surprisingly warm for a Detroit Thanksgiving.  It was in the mid-40s, and considering how many parades I’d attended in my childhood that were in the 20s or even teens, 40s sounded great! We arrived at Joe Louis Arena in plenty of time, but then, a bit of panic–my hockey mom friend texted me to say they were running late and stuck on the freeway.  They weren’t sure they were going to make it for the start of their race!

The boys and I went inside to pick up our packets, and we stood in (the longest ever) line for the bathroom.  The MPM was to start at 7:30, and we were still in line at 7:20 when she texted me again to say her husband dropped them off at the start and they were getting ready to run.  I made the decision to skip the bathroom, though I knew my bladder would be unhappy about it, and we met up with them for a couple of quick pre-race pics.

They quickly started their one-mile dash and the boys and I hurried to find the finish line. It was actually behind Cobo Arena on a street called Atwater, which I’d never been on, in all my years of living in and around Detroit! I hardly had time to marvel at the new sites (I love to discover new places!) before they were finishing the mile.  We had to run another two tenths a mile or so to meet them at the end of the gated area, then, after offering some quick congratulations to the mom and two boys, we handed off DS#2, and then DS#1 and darted down Atwater, up some stairs, down Jefferson and finally up Woodward to our starting point just south of Campus Martius.

Although we never went at more than a slow jog, we made good time and got to the start with about 5 minutes to spare.  I saw a porta potty and was determined to use it, but the line was too long, and they called the start of our race before I got to the front, so at that point, I gave up.  (Sigh.  My bladder was so unhappy with me for the entire race…)

We quickly found a spot and I got a shot of us waiting.

Okay, yeah, it’s blurry.  Sorry, there were a lot of people squished around us, jostling me! In fact, there were so many people that when they told us to start, we jogged for about 10 steps and then…

We stopped! There were just so many people. I had heard there were about 22,000 people there before the three different races, and I believed it. Eventually, we got going, but it was really slow.  I swear I could have walked faster than I was “running” for probably the first quarter to third of a mile.  That was frustrating, but I was there for my son, not to PR, so I just let him do what he wanted.  He ran slow with the crowd until things broke free a bit, and then we went at a steady, slow jog for most of the course.  It was really tricky to try to run the race with all the people going varying speeds.  Some were walking, some were jogging, some had dogs (!), and some were running and weaving around people in the process.

To be honest, I found it pretty frustrating, but what was more challenging was trying to maneuver around the people while always making sure I knew where my son was in the sea of humanity! I tell you what, that was a bit scary at times, but he’s a big boy (ten years old) and always stuck right with me.  I was very proud of him for never wavering and for staying focused!

When we got back to Woodward after a short jaunt down Griswold and (I think) Grand River, things got more fun.  People were lined up on either side of Woodward, having already staked out their spot for the parade, and they were very enthusiastic.  They cheered us and had signs to encourage us.  We turned around after about a half mile or so on Woodward, and that turnaround was really jam packed.  We pretty much walked around it.  Then it broke free and we ran again.  DS#1 and I were on the curb side this time, and we had at least a dozen people high five us on the way by.  The ones in front of the Fox Theatre were especially fun!

Right after we passed the theater, we turned again and made our way down Adams.  Just before we hit the curve toward Washington, a lady was yelling out, “Cookies ahead on the left!”  You should have seen the look of surprise on my son’s face! 😉  And sure enough…

Ha ha!  They had candy canes and cookies.  DS#1 looked at me and said, “Can I get a cookie?”  His face was so eager.  🙂  Of course I told him to stop and grab a few.

There’s nothing like the smile of a 10-year-old with a cookie. 😉  I had a few bites, too, and it was a great little surprise we enjoyed immensely.

Another fun part of the race was that costumes were encouraged.  They actually had a costume contest before-hand.  As we ran along, DS#1 and I enjoyed pointing out all the different costumes we saw.  After the race, we listed all the ones we could remember:

• Storm troopers
• Crayons
• People with “jet packs”
• Captain America, the Hulk, and other Avengers
• Batman
• Turkeys and people with turkeys on their heads
• Santa Claus
• Zombies
• Guys just out of the shower (these guys had shower caps and towels and that’s it! They were bare-chested as they ran in the 40-degree weather–and they looked damn fine doing it 😉 )

The costumes were definitely a big highlight. 😀

Eventually we ended up back on Atwater, but at a different part, and we found ourselves going in a tunnel.

The tunnel was fairly long, but we finally emerged, with DS#1 looking only slightly worse for the wear. 😉

At that point, we could knew we were close to the finish line, since we’d been there about 45 minutes earlier for the end of the Mashed Potato Mile.  I was encouraging my son, as I’d been doing the whole way, letting him know he was almost done, and then, suddenly…

We had to stop.  No lie.  We were at least two-tenths of a mile from the true finish line, but there were just so many people crammed into a narrow area to finish and get their medals, there wasn’t room to run. 🙁  I have to admit, I was pretty disappointed, because I was really hoping my son would be able to get a new personal record (which I really think he could have done, since it was only his second 5k!).  But I didn’t let him know that I was bummed about it, and instead we just laughed about “the finish line that wasn’t” while we walked with the throng of people.  It was easy enough to take pictures at that point.

We eventually, finally got to the finish, and we picked up our medals and bottles of water before heading to the waterfront for a quick picture.

On our way to find my hockey mom friend and DS#2, we ran into what DS#1 and I decided were the best costumes of the race…

They were obviously a father and his sons, and they were generous enough to allow me to get a shot of them with my little hockey player.  I laughed and told them it was the only time that refs would be smiling at my rather enthusiastic defenseman. 😉

After that, I found my hockey mom friend and DS#2 (who had had tons of fun playing with her sons), and then we got some post-race snacks before heading out to cheer on her husband as he finished the 10k.  Later, we went down to watch the parade…

But it was cold and the parade was taking too long, so we went home. 😛

All in all, the race was fun, but I’m not positive I’d do it again.  It was just so challenging, especially with a ten-year-old!  I know he had a blast, though, and that’s what mattered.  Next year, we might try again, but if we do, we’ll definitely go into it with a better understanding of what to expect.  And who knows…maybe we’ll wear costumes. 😉

Thanks so much for reading yet another long race report! 😀