IRIS 5K Turkey Trot

Angela and I visited some family in Faribault, Minnesota this Thanksgiving. We had to find a way to keep the tradition of a 5K Turkey Trot alive. Fortunately, there was one in the town we just happened to be in for the holidays. IRIS stands for Infants Remembered In Silence. This is the third year that this race has been held. Angela and I went with her cousin Benjamin and her aunt Anne. We all were running in honor of those we know who have lost babies either during pregnancy or shortly after. It was certainly a wonderful cause. It was also an event that was wonderfully attended, as their race website advertises there were over 850 participants if you include all the kids races and the walk. The race started with a prayer in honor of the run and the lost babies. From what I hear there are a number of different races held in Faribault every year and the area churches all have clergy who come to say a prayer before the race. That is also a nice thing.

A Thanksgiving Day 5K is an opportunity to work hard running before you eat. My interpretation is that it gives you more reason to eat more. I think that even if I didn't do a run I would eat a lot anyway. The gun went off and I was amazed that one guy took off like he had a jalepeno up his butt. It seemed like 10 seconds into the race, he had a half blok lead. It wasn't that bad, but I was amazed by how quickly he jumped ahead of everyone else. Well, he started out fast which was possibly to his detriment as he didn't win (but he finished 2nd). I crossed the first mile marker at a time of 6:40, which seemed slow considering I felt that the pace was pretty quick. At the first mile marker I was in fifth, but quickly was about to be overtaken. Within a couple of blocks I was seventh and almost moved into eighth place. However, with a look behind me I saw that there were a few other runners not far behind. Although I was nowhere near a personal PR, I thought a reasonable goal would be to try for a high finish in the race and try to hold off some of the other runners. It became a tough push. About a half mile before the finish I was still in seventh and decided it was time to make a move. I was on the only hill of the course and it was an upward grind. The perfect place to shake things up and it wouldn't be expected. I raised the pace significantly and quickly passed the sixth place runner. However, the one in fifth place was tougher. He had got quite a lead on me so it took me a couple of blocks of uphill running at a tough pace before I caught the guy. The look on his face made it all worth it. I rounded the corner and saw the 3 mile marker sign. Normally that would be good except for the course was incorrectly marked and the last 0.1 mile was actually about twice as long. I still had to hold the rapid pace I had and not give it up otherwise I would be passed by one hungry runner ready to devour his Thanksgiving meal and his competition (me). I held on for the fifth place finish out of 541 runners with a time of 19:30. Angela finished in 35:10, but was passed up by her cousin in the final block of the race and he edged her out by just seconds. Angela's aunt later came through and we circled back to cross with her. Angela's cousin, Carly, got her pictures taken by some cheerleaders for the Minnesota Vikings. The race gave the cheerleaders something to cheer about in a year full of tough games for the Vikings.