Yesterday Chris and I participated in the 21st annual running of the Fast Freddie Thanksgiving Day 5 Miler. This run turned out to be one of the most fun runs that we have done is some time. We saw a few familiar faces. Our friend James also joined on this run. When I say joined, I mean ran in front of us and waited at the finish line.
The goal for this run was to come in between 40 and 42. Before I had actually looked at the course, I told Chris that I thought 40 would be no problem. Then he mapped it. The course has several hills, so we told ourselves that we would be happy anywhere under 45. With a field of over 700 runners the start was a bit slow. From the gun shot until we finally walked across the starting line, it took just at 19 seconds. Then it was a very slow first mile before things started to open up a bit and we could find our groove. We hit the first mile at just around 8:37. From there we were able to pick up the pace and let a few of the downhills help us out. By mile 3 we had erased that 37 seconds from the first mile and were traveling at a comfortable 8 minute pace. We figured that if we kept this pace we would definitely finish in the top 500. That is the cut off point to have your name listed on the back of next years shirt. Another of our goals for this run. We ended up finishing the run side by side with a clock time of 39:40.71. The official Yeti time was 39:21.71, taking off the 19 seconds it took us to walk to the starting line. Awesome run!
After we finished the run we hung out near the finish line and talked with several other runners that we knew. After cooling off a bit we decided to head to my van and grab an extra layer of clothing and a celebratory Sam Adam Octoberfest. After enjoying possibly the last two Octoberfest in the area, we headed inside to see the drawing for door prizes. While waiting Fred introduced the overall winner who finished the 5 miler in 23:54.04, which is a new course record!
Fred made things interesting with his lack of patience for people who had filled out door prize cards and then chose not to stay around. I am pretty sure he wanted to get out of there and go enjoy some turkey like the rest of us. Chris and I did both manage to win door prizes. Mine was a gift certificate to a local restaurant and his was to Dick's Sporting Goods. After the last door prizes were handed out we were out of there.
I did manage to take my camera with me this time, but after a short video of the crowd before the run and a few pics, the batteries decided that they had enough. So for an awesome video, check out Chris's recap of this run. It sums up the day quite awesomely!
Not sure what run is on our horizon, but I will keep you posted.
Yeti Out!!
Expertly recapped, amigo. Awesome run, nice rewards (beers and door prizes!), and great company! Three things to give thanks for on a day set aside for just that. Can't wait until next year when we crack the top 200!
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