No Trotting Turkeys in Longmont

The "Turkey Trot" is iconic this time of year. Everyone knows what it means and every runner can find one within 20 minutes of home. Norman Rockwell would have run the Longmont, CO edition at one point. Age group winners were awarded Turkeys care of the local turkey plant - an obvious sponsor. People turned out in Turkey paraphernalia - gobblers everywhere.

Today's version saw Outback Steakhouse grilling hamburgers and chicken for the post-race feed and trophy filled boxes stacked on the stage ready to be awarded to the fastest age groupers. Who needs plastic trophies and hamburgers at a Turkey Trot!?

I would like to blame the stimulus package, Obama's G20 speech in South Korea, Wall Street excess, or insufficient funding for education since they are all such easy marks these days, but good grief America there were no trotting turkeys in Longmont today!

"Where have you gone Joe Dimaggio?" Will Major League Baseball switch to aluminum bats? Will Apple Strudel replace Apple Pie?

The burgers looked and smelled great. People seemed to have a genuinely good time. But this could have been any race on any day. "I Want My MTV" to play music videos again (but on my mobile phone) and I want my Turkey Trot to have something remotely to do with a Turkey and the Season. Maybe Dire Straits will record a song for me.

Maybe I should try the "Panicking Poultry Run" in Boulder tomorrow. At least a piece of Chicken on the grill might qualify as panicking.

Epilogue Hood-to-Coast 2010

A final morning after HTC post. I slept like bear last night and dreamed of food; not sure I have ever dreamed of food before. Needless to say the gallon of coffee and stack of pancakes consumed this morning really hit the spot. Great teammates and great characters on the course make this an event without rival. A few parting images to wrap it up.

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#hoodtocoast finish in Seaside, OR

We made it - 28 hours even. An absolutely beautiful evening befitting of a great human event.
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@Running_Yogini Done with #hoodtocoast

Ang powers into the exchange for the final hand-off. Now the race is to find a place to park in Seaside and beat Steve to the finish. Every team crosses the line together - #hoodtocoast tradition.
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Last Man Standing #hoodtocoast

"Gramps" on deck for leg 36 to the finish line. He married off 3 daughters in the last 18 months, has 2 grand daughters since HTC last year, and is faster. Animal and not so "old man" as he professes.
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Kris is done and done with #hoodtocoast

No words required...if you can sleep through the stink in Van 2...
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Wha? Leg 34 uphill and end to the wind both ways #hoodtocoast

Legs done. Cognitive abilities done. My HTC done! Last leg only 4.1 but the hard to run without legs. Hardest 6:41 miles ever. @Running_Yogini on leg 35 now. Steve hitting the exchange to 36 now. Close enough to smell it (if our van didn't stink so bad...).
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The scene at #hoodtocoast exch 24

My favorite exchange at Hood to Coast. It's the sleep over spot for 6,000 Van 1 runners.
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Birkenfeld Country Store saves us at #hoodtocoast

Just past exch 25 sits an oasis for hungry Van 2 runners called Birkenfeld Country Store. No lines like at exch 24 - for "honey bucket," coffee, or food. It's a perfect 10 at being a 4 and may just have saved us all. There's even a warn bench on the porch to sit and eat cinnamon bears.
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"Truth" Team 223 is 30 mins ahead at #hoodtocoast but for how long?

Leg after leg we are pulling ahead of our forecasted time of 28 hours. Everyone ran a strong leg 2, a sign we are better than anyone thought or we're headed for a 3rd leg meltdown. Opinions are decidedly stacked on meltdown.

Steve felt frisky and ran a good 20 seconds / mile faster. Ang smoked her leg. Mike and Kris ran the dirt roads of leg 20 and 21 that lined their lungs with dirt.

My leg second leg (22) was a quad burner. About 1.6 miles to gain close to a thousand feet followed by 5.1 miles of steep down hill. Average pace uphill around 7:40/m. Average pace downhill about 6:03/m. Net result, quads feel like hamburger.

Only Flash came through unscathed so we'll see what happens. It won't be long as Van 1 is almost half way done. We just passed Jullian on the road. Kris yelled for him to "slow down!"

I think we're betting the meltdown play.

Pic is from the Van of runners on the road for leg 26. We're blasting by hundreds of such runners as we make our way up the road to the leg 30 exchange where we take over for the last time.
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The power of soul - James Brown keeping #hoodtocoast Van 2 real

Mike and James Brown Gravity. Living in America!
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"223! 223! Where's 223? at #hoodtocoast

We found Karen (pictured). Both vans were late. Nobody to answer the cry for 223! We only missed her by a few minutes but "it seemed like an eternity" she exclaimed laughing at off and headed straight for the Honey Bucket line.
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Don't Turn into Exch 21 #hoodtocoast

Van carnage at Exch 21. Tight dirt roads and tons of traffic turned into a dust bowl. Note to self, stay on the road next year!
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Honey Bucket Line #hoodtocoast

Nothing beats the smell of the honey bucket line at 3:45am!
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3am on Hwy 30 #hoodtocoast runners are everywhere, part 11

A line of blinking red "rear flashers" line the shoulder of Hwy 30 bouncing rhythmically up and down as far as you can see. Its 3am and I must be running. After dinner, a 2:45 nap, and a hot shower at Mike's (leg 8) house we're back in the van and racing for the leg 19 exchange. Dave's text says they are 15 minutes ahead of projections - no time for a wrong turn. Everybody's got their eyes peeled for land marks as Mike's van got lost here last year. At each exchange we have seen a few runners waiting on their van to arrive and deliver the next runner. The logistics around this event are incredible. The closer each exchange gets to the coast the thicker the van traffic gets and the longer the "honey bucket" line.

Paul is geared up in his Flash t-shirt (I hope he has two...), reflective vest, head lamp, and ready to flash front and rear. In 15 minutes he'll disappear into the long line of bouncing red lights and we'll race him to the next exchange.

There's the exchange and it's packed - double the vans as every Van 2 takes the baton again. Uh oh, we're late! Karen is waiting on us. Like I said, logistics is half the battle!

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Van 2 headed for dinner at #hoodtocoast

Yeah - dinner time! Van 2 is starving. Stephen closed out our first shift with a stellar leg 12. He doesn't even look sweaty. Snapped a quick team photo after our lead runner Alice sped off on leg 13 through downtown Portland. It's blurry cuz we're fast...
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@running_Yogini smoked #hoodtocoast leg 11

Ang finished leg 11 before I could change out of my sweaty clothes from leg 10 - unbelievable.
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Just Finished Leg 10 #hoodtocoast

Team Captain must like me as leg 10 is awesome. A gradual downhill grade on 6 miles of the Spring Creek Trail. It cuts off to hit the exchange and even 10K. Hit the line in 40:12 for 6:28/m average. Definitely not the median - none of splits were within 10 seconds of that on either side - oops.

It's 10pm (PT) and Angela, the only other team member from Colorado on the team is on the course. She ran the Pikes Peak Ascent last weekend. A half-marathon with nearly 8,000 feet of climbing to finish at 14,200(ish) feet above sea-level. She is truly amazing - a sprinter turned marathoner and endurance coach and writer. Check her out @running_yogini

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Sunset on the Hood #hoodtocoast pt 7

Snow capped Mt. Hood lit up like a Christmas tree in the distance. Sun is gone. Fire up the head lamps. My long-time friend Kristin on deck. Then me, yikes!
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Leg 8 "Kills" #hoodtocoast , part 6

Kills are HTC speak for passes on the road. Mike's picking them up in bunches as we close in on groups with earlier start times. Best kill so far, a bikini clad gentlemen.
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You Can't Handle The Truth #hoodtocoast part 5

Van 2 on the road! Van 1 headed for dinner and a nap. A few pics of our team - You Can't Handle The Truth.

1. Alice (leg 1) and Eric (5)
2. Paul (7) leading off Van 2
3. Kristin (9), Chris (that's me and leg 10), Angela (11)
4. Steve (12), Kristin (9), Chris 10) the holdovers from our Van last year.

We just passed Paul on our way to exchange 8. Looking fast in The Flash shirt.
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The Maniac Moms #hoodtocoast, 4

Qualifying criteria for the Maniac Moms:

1. Must live around Boulder, Colorado
2. Be a Master's athlete
3. Have Kids
4. Be fast as h3ll

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Fred Meyer #hoodtocoast part 3

You have to experience the Fred Meyer parking lot to get what Hood-to-Coast is all about. The first van exchange, from leg 6 to leg 7 get a little, uh... Remember those 12,000 freed of everything else for 24 hours? Check out some of their handy work.
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Van 2, #hoodtocoast Part 2

Van 2 is on the move! Chelsea (leg 4) is on course. With any luck we'll be in Sandy in plenty of time for the exchange.

Meet Stephen (best team captain ever and leg 10). He's a little hungry. Likely from the meticulous planning that goes into a successful event. His family hosted us for dinner last night near Forest Grove. His detailed review of the safety instructions was rivaled only by his ability to explain the race requires we have front and rear flashers on the course without once cracking a smile.

Fred Meyer here we come.
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