“We’re running a Turkey Trot…in July??”
These were the first words that came out of my 5-year-old’s mouth when I told her that we were going to head to McMinnville for the 2015 Turkey Rama Turkey Trot 5k. It is something a little different, yet not all that new – the McMinnville Turkey Rama (home to the World’s Largest Turkey BBQ) is in its 55th year of festivities and is going on a few year’s of incorporating an 8k and 5k to the mix.
Brian previewed the race and I took note of a few things in his preview. The first was:
Both courses are somewhat scenic and wind through nice residential areas. The 8K travels along the outskirts of town and participants are treated to amazing views of the countryside and hills. Make a day of it and enjoy the Turkey Rama festival, there will be plenty to look at and do. The run has the feel of a small town race, with the organization of a bigger one. It doesn’t get much better than that.
I love running in unique areas I don’t typically go to, so the opportunity to take in some new neighborhoods was OK with me. Also, since I was planning on running this with my family, any time there is a Carnival or activity afterwards, it makes things that much better.
The second part of the preview that I noted was:
This 8K has been the bane of my existence, a relatively quick and scenic if not particularly flat route. In training, it can go quite well, but I have yet to have a respectable time here, a thought often repeated by my local running friends. The last couple years they have offered a 5K course as well, which was fun but has a nasty hill.
Given the fact that super runner Brian has had issues with this course, coupled with the phrase “nasty hill”, made me a tad nervous. I have done hills before, but when running as a family, and needing to push a beast of a double stroller, hills are not always the most exciting thing on my list! We opted for the 5k and took off 15 minutes after Brian led the 8k pack out of City Park. The course was a large loop and the first mile was essentially a long straightaway heading west on 2nd St. This is a semi-busy road, but the roads were pretty quiet and there were very large bike lanes which definitely came in handy when pushing a double stroller. There was a small hill about halfway through that first mile, but it was over quickly.
We entered the neighborhood portion shortly after mile 1 and had an OK climb (made much more difficult with 80 pounds of children to navigate upwards). Even despite the uphill climb, the short, yet steep downhill onto Wallace Road necessitated both me and my wife grabbing ahold of the bar!. We passed the Michelbrook Country Club near mile 2 and marveled at the beautiful homes in the area. The final mile was generally flat (as was the vast majority of the race actually) and we cruised back into the park in good time. I was obviously much slower than normal, but that didn’t matter today – it was all about having a good time as a family and getting in a run at the same time.
After the race, we played at the amazing kid’s play area at City Park, grabbed some coffee and breakfast at a few local restaurants, and perused the vendor booths before riding some rides and winning some games at the carnival. My kids enjoyed the day and I enjoyed the race. What a great experience all around!
Full results can be found here.