Gobble Wobble & Pumpkin Pie Plod

About a month before Thanksgiving, I got the crazy idea that it would be fun to put together a Turkey Trot down here so we wouldn't have to drive all the way up to Mesa and deal with all of that madness. Luckily for me, I have lots of crazy friends who were on board to help me out.
It sort of morphed from a little group run on Thanksgiving morning into an event as we started thinking of all the fun things we could do. The day of the race, I kept thinking of Field of Dreams as we watched everyone trickling over to the field. Ok, so maybe that's slightly cheesey, but it just goes to prove that if you plan something. . . people will come!!

We had race bibs, goodie bags, I baked pies for the winner, bananas and bagels, a water station, t-shirts (courtesy of the Maroneys) and over 100 people there.

I was so grateful for all my amazing friends and their families who showed up to run. We had beginning runners, kids,
families marathoners, pregnant women, lots of my amazing friends, strollers. . . I just know some really amazing people. The sweet Jandas came out to support Courtney (who did the long run) and ended up being the official timer and baby watchers.
First we sent off the Gobble Wobble (5.5 miles) and 10 minutes later lined the kids (and less athletically inclined adults) up for the Pumpkin Pie Plod (2 miles). I had decided to run the Plod with the kids so I could be back in time to over see everything at the end. I was running with Nate and the girls were way ahead of us and he was talking, yak yak yak. Probably a quarter of a mile in he looks at me and says, "I'm bored. I'm going back." So I ran him back to where the Jandas had all the kids and turned around to catch up with the girls who had the "sprint then walk" approach. When I caught up little Elise (5) asked if I would hold her hand while we ran, and of course I said yes. Well can you believe that little girl held my hand for the rest of the race -- all 2 miles? I kept asking her if she wanted to stop and she would smile and say, "No." Well that tiny little thing came in 6th and she even finished it in under 10 minute miles. I was so proud of her. She beat Ellie and the big girls. She beat her mom! Of course the next day she couldn't walk because her legs were so sore, and I feel terrible. . . but hey -- future super star.

The long race finished about the same time as some of the walkers were coming in. Skylar Larson killed it. He's 17 and in my Sunday School class. I told him about the race 4 days before it. He is not a runner, but he does play soccer so he thought he'd give it a try. He beat everyone of course. I was just impressed with everyone that ran that distance. We had a lot of youth who don't run do it, and some people just pushing their longest distance yet. Dustin finished 6th, so I was a proud wife.The whole morning was just so much fun. It was fun to be with my family and friends and fun to watch everyone enjoy themselves. It made me realize how lucky I am to be surrounded by such amazing people. I already can't wait for next year. It's going to be even BETTER!