The final race in my series of 10 (now 11 actually) to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society was the Christopher Daily Turkey Trot. This is a 5K race in Saratoga Springs NY, near where my parents live and this is the third year my family has participated in the race. It was not as cold as last year but very damp so once the race started, my lungs felt phlegmy pretty quickly. Between the limited training, lingering burn-out, cold weather and hilliness of the course (I forgot how hilly it is – again), this ended up being my slowest time yet for this event by about 30 seconds. What a pleasant surprise to find out that my time was still fast enough to get 2nd in my age-group – up from 3rd place the last two years. That’s part of the appeal of this race, I suppose; it is generally populated by high-school and college track athletes, so there’s not too many fast guys in the older age groups. Not a bad way to finish the year and the fundraising!
Time: 0:19:42 Pace: 6:21
Place: 47/2986 Overall, 40/1461 Men, 2/117 M35-39
Age Graded: 65.2%