No Thanksgiving should start without a turkey trot. Fortunately, we are chock full of them in the Portland metro area (and beyond), including the Turkeython, which is now in its eighth year; and once again, with multiple locations: downtown Portland, Liberty High School in Hillsboro, and Cook Park in Tigard. (Sorry, eastsiders – you have to come to our side of the river this year!) All three locations offer 5K races, a finisher’s nutcracker(!), and post-race food, not to mention the usual age group winner pins. What’s different about the locations (besides the actual location)? Let’s take a look.
Downtown
Due to City of Portland restrictions, this race is not chip-timed; however, all participants will get their own stop watch to track their personal times. It’s a pretty cool route that I more or less ran once this summer for fun (except I crossed the Steel Bridge, not the Morrison Bridge), with waterfront or bridgefront views the entire time. Plus, you get hot chocolate if you want on the course!
Liberty High School
This race starts in the middle of the track at Liberty High School, weaves its way around the high school and surrounding neighborhood, and finishes back where it started, including a 3/4 or so sprint around the track with a final dash. The route in the map below looks a little confusing, but Uberthons has been very good about marking courses and stationing volunteers at tricky spots. I’ve run probably over 50 races with Uberthons, and only once did I go astray.
Cook Park
I’m personally super-psyched about Cook Park, which is where the first Turkeython took place. That was also my introduction to Uberthons, and I’ve been hooked since then. Not only that, this is pretty close to the original Turkeython course, covering Cook, Durham, and Tualatin Community parks! You get to cross a wooden bridge, run alongside train tracks, and go into a little forest.
Sign up for one of these races and enjoy some extra pumpkin pie, or mashed potatoes, or whatever else is your Thanksgiving weakness!
Turkeython (downtown Portland; Hillsboro; Tigard)
When: November 22, 2018, at 8:30 am (all locations); kids’ race at 9:30 am
Where: under the west end of the Morrison Bridge on the Waterfront (downtown); or Liberty High School, 21945 NW Wagon Way (Hillsboro); or Cook Park, 17005 SW 92nd Ave (Tigard)
Register: Online here (downtown); or here (Hillsboro); or here (Tigard) – all races start at $33 per participant with discounts for multiple registrations at the same time
