4th Annual Gilman Memorial Turkey Trot Race Recap

The 4th Annual Gilman Memorial Turkey Trot was on Saturday, November 19th.  It's a 5K run/walk with all the proceeds donated to the Alzheimer's Association.  We named it for my grandfather Fred Gilman who suffered from Alzheimer's disease.

This year was certainly the best so far!  We had 54 runners/walkers not including a few pre-registered runners who ended up not being able to make it.  Due to the assistance of four awesome people (Terri, Brittany, Becca, and Becky) runner check-in and race day registration went perfect.  We had 30 runners register same-day.  We are pretty sure that because of the date and the unpredictable nature of Minnesota weather, people wait to register.  Not a huge deal, but it makes it a little hard to plan.

A few of the runners before the race.

I wanted to do this race barefoot and the temperature would have allowed it, but there is a stretch of old street that can only be described as tore up.  I knew it was bad but I was still planning on running it barefoot until I went out to mark the course before the race.  It was worse than I thought so I decided to use my Invisible Shoes instead.  I had some good conversations about them before and after the race and a few people seemed genuinely interested.  One runner (the eventual first place finisher, Mario) was wearing Vibram Five Fingers, and I also spotted someone wearing New Balance Minimus but I didn't get a chance to talk to him to see how he liked them.

I made a couple of announcements right at 9:00 am, then Race-master Terri got the runners going!  I started towards the back of the pack so I ended up winding my way through a few runners right at the start, but by the time we were just a few blocks in, I was comfortable with my pace and I settled in hoping for a good run.  I'm not really a morning runner, and I hadn't really had anything to eat so I was worried about getting tired too fast.  At 1.5 miles I checked my pace and found out I was running 8:35 minute miles!  That's about 40 seconds per mile faster than my usual runs so I was pretty psyched up.  The thrill of racing gives quite a boost to an amateur like me I guess.

I kept a steady pace through the rest of the course.  The course takes you on the "scenic route" through Dodge Center so there is a lot of turns to make sure the course ends up at 3.1 miles.  We had volunteers stationed throughout the route to make sure everyone stayed on course.  We have had at least one person go off course every year, but I'm happy to report that everyone made it through with no problems this year.  It really bugs me when people get lost because it makes me think I didn't do a good job marking the route and I really want people to enjoy the run and come back again next year.

Sara, Terri, and Brittany clocking the finishers.

I finished the race in a time of 27:05, which is a personal best for me so I was pleased about that.  The only thing I wasn't pleased about was that I wasn't really tired afterwards so I wish I had made a little more of a kick through the last mile.  Not a big deal since this is only my third race since I started running last Spring, and my fourth overall (I did the Bix 7 in Davenport, Iowa in 2000).  Every time I do a race I learn a little more so I hope that my PR's keep dropping.

The men's overall winner was Mario Minelli (Champion two years in a row!).  The women's first place finisher was Erin Erpelding.

Here's a list of the finishers in order with bib numbers and times:

Name	#	time
Mario Minelli	17	17:55
Jesse Delgado	31	18:27
Jack Mallmann	35	19:48
Paul Haase	18	21:16
Travis Turner	13	21:27
Jacob Chapman	33	21:55
Peter Tate	12	22:16
Gary Lovelace	44	22:19
Andrew Galbus	47	22:27
Jace Minelli	15	23:23
Erin Erpelding	49	23:25
Kelly Erpelding	50	23:42
Brad Schrader	45	24:05
Rodney Myer	48	24:12
Sarah Chapman	34	24:54
Lori Yokiel	32	24:56
Melissa Mergen	46	25:47
Jeffrey Haase	14	26:46
Jenny Delgado	30	26:56
Jordana Thompson	39	27:05
Andy Klein	62	27:05
Michelle Yankowiak	38	27:15
Colleen Keuten	37	27:30
Cherie Jensen	42	27:31
Al Keuten	36	27:37
Elizabeth Adamson	28	27:42
Samantha Porche	9	27:47
Chris McKrern	43	28:53
John Cook	1	29:14
Tracy Culbetson	27	30:13
Suzanne Norby	24	30:56
Jenano Delgado	29	32:14
Emily Billard	3	34:17
Tina Kasper	5	34:17
Carin Minelli	16	34:44
Amy Evans	51	36:09
Ann Greise	41	38:52
Teresa Walter	40	39:50
Tom Haase	19	45:27
Dennis Ross	21	45:27
Keara Ross	22	45:27
Amanda Ross	23	45:27
Susan Allen	56	45:27
Mary Haase	20	45:33
Gabriel Domask	52	46:37
Scott Stroh	55	46:37
Bob Sponsel	57	46:45
Davey Stroh	53	46:50
Lean Stroh	54	46:50
Phil Putratz	7	49:52
Veronika Spieker	58	49:52
Kathy Thielges	25	53:30
Jack Culbertson	26	53:30
Cheryl Gillard	4	53:36

We had a ton of sponsors for the run this year.  Many thanks to them!  Some of them have been with us since the first year!

Sponsor Banner with our wicked 2011 logo.  Visit the event page on Facebook to see a list of this year's sponsors.

Ready for a little more Gilman Memorial Turkey Trot action?  Visit Super Mario's race review for his perspective!

If you couldn't make it this year, don't worry!  The 5th Annual Gilman Memorial Turkey Trot will be held November 17th, 2012!  I already have it on my calendar, do you?

Run on, Runners!

A Nail on the Trail

Last night was supposed to be a run night but I was not into it at all.  I was really busy at work Monday and Tuesday and I was kind of tired so I almost skipped it.  It turns out that I'm glad I didn't.

I knew I wouldn't regret getting out to run so I just put on some running clothes as soon as I got home.  We had some dinner and got the offspring to bed and I headed out right away.  I was not feeling it so I decided to take a different route than normal.  I figured if I took one of the usual routes I would know exactly what distance I had ran and I could have talked myself into quitting early.  I took off down the trail that runs through the park near our house and headed towards Silver Lake thinking I would go until I wanted to turn around and head home.  I really expected to "bonk" after about a mile but I decided that was fine if it happened.  It was a good plan.

For the record, I learned the term "bonk" from Super Mario.  Check his blog out here.  He is a multi-sport athlete, training for the Wisconsin Ironman.  He is also the reining champion of the Gilman Memorial Turkey Trot - probably the most important race of his career thus far.  As I understand it, "bonking" would be to pretty much run out of gas.  It is not the same as "boink", which is of course the sound of scientific progress.  (Calvin and Hobbes? Anyone?)
 
After about half a mile I had hit a good stride and my breathing was perfect with my cadence.  That's a pretty normal progression for me, but I'm always glad when I hit it.  When my breathing and cadence are in rhythm I feel like I can run forever (even though I can't).  I pulled a Forrest Gump and just kept running.  I even overtook and passed someone!  After a while, I decided that I had run far enough down the trail so I made note of my location and turned around for home.

A cool thing happened on my way home.  A kid on a bike rode by me in the opposite direction and as soon as he went by I heard him hit the brakes on his BMX bike, doing that cool sideways skidding stop that was so awesome to do when I was his age.  Especially when you were on gravel and could pull off a complete 180 or more.  Fresh concrete was good too since you could leave a nice black skid mark.  He caught up to me and rode along side watching me run for a few seconds, and then blurted out "Doesn't that hurt?"  Because I'm an egomaniac I of course answered "Not really.  It just takes some practice" and I smiled at him.  He kept riding along so I asked him if if looked like it hurt.  "Yep!" was all he said and he turned off the trail onto a side street.

Since I had just bragged to a 10 year old, I decided that I couldn't give up and had to run the rest of the way home.  I was still feeling good anyway so that was fine.  It was at about this time that I discovered a nail lying on the trail.  Luckily, I spotted it with my eyes and didn't find it with my bare foot.  Good times.

The rest of the run was uneventful.  I made it home, brought some food to the cat that lives in my yard, and grabbed my laptop to join my lovely wife on the patio and map my run to find the distance.  I use a website to map my runs.  Get this, it's called mapmyrun.com.  Catchy, huh?  There is a lot of mumbo-jumbo on there, but I just map my runs on it to find the distance.

My dear wife asked me how the run went (as she always does) and I replied "Really good!" (As I sometimes do.)  I told her that I hoped it was three miles, but it was likely only two.  I really felt too good to have gone any further than that.  I sat down and drew out my route, ignoring the mile counter the whole time so that the end would be a surprise.  Total miles: 3.1!  A complete 5K run!  And it felt good! 

So that is the story of my first barefoot 5K.  Unbelievable in my mind.  That half marathon next May isn't looking so daunting now.  Only 10 miles further!