"that was fun. i'd do that again."

Believe it or not, that quote is from me just a few minutes after finishing the City Creek Canyon Cold Turkey Run this morning.  A 6K run, starting at the State Capitol, going into/out of City Creek Canyon, and finishing down at Memory Grove in SLC, this was the first of my four Thanksgiving morning runs that I've actually enjoyed.

We left the apartment at 8:00 a.m., heading into downtown (and, unfortunately, the yucky inversion that has settled into the valley).  There was no traffic, as you might imagine, and we got to the Capitol with plenty of time to spare before the 9:00 a.m. start.  Up in the foothills the sun was shining out of a bright blue sky; runners and walkers were gathering, picking up their numbers, dropping off nonperishables for the food back, standing in line for the port-o-lets (this version was branded "Honey Buckets" - awesome).  Although the crowd seemed sparse at first, by the time we headed for the starting line there was probably the same number of runners as attend the Portland (ME) T'giving morning 4-miler (700-ish).

I made my way through the crowd to about the middle of the pack and right on time we took off.  It was definitely cold in the canyon - 30 in the sun is warmer than 30 in the shade - and it took a long time for my legs to warm up.  [Note: I wore shorts for you, Coach!]  The course went from the Capitol along a slight downhill to the gate to City Creek Canyon, then up to the turnaround (3K marker), then downhill another 3K all the way to the finish at Memory Grove.  I had been really nervous about the uphill portion and had focused my training on hills; luckily, the rolling hills where I trained in Cottonwood Heights were lots steeper than the City Creek slope up to the turnaround - I even passed a bunch of folks on the way up!

Sooner than I expected we turned and were heading down.  I didn't pass so many people on the return: my legs are short, regardless of how fast I try to make them go, and I got passed a lot, runners, runners with dogs, runners with strollers.  I didn't care: I felt good and I didn't have to walk on the up, which was really my only goal. 

Although H, Becky and I had taken a walk up through Memory Grove and City Creek Canyon when we first arrived in SLC, I wasn't sure how long the course would be, so I kept my pace conservative, not picking it up until I saw the finish line in the distance.  I saw H, standing in the road to take photos, and I managed to pass at least three people in my "sprint" for the finish.  It's always satisfying to pass someone right at the finish line.  The results aren't in yet (I'll post an update when they are) but I'm going to guess that my time was around 36/37 minutes.  Not blistering speed by any means, but good for me.

The event was really well run, with folks available to cut the timing chips off our shoes, lots of tents with food and water and Gatorade, a live band playing.  The sun was out, shining down into the park, and everyone was milling around, grinning like goofs from all the endorphins.  Good times for sure.

H and I hung around for a bit, people-watching, then went back to the truck.  I changed into dry clothes as we drove south, because it's no fun going for a post-run morning beer in damp, sweaty clothing.  For those of you who don't know the tradition: on Thanksgiving morning we run, then we go to a bar and have a beer or two, then we continue onto whatever festivities are on the schedule.  Out here in SLC, the only bar we found to be open on Thanksgiving morning (there are several that will be open late this afternoon, but I couldn't wait that long) was Maggie McGee's, the scruffy sports bar not too far from our apartment.  Sure enough, they were open when we got there at 10:30 a.m. - and we weren't the only patrons either.  We had a couple of draft Uinta Cutthroat Pale Ales and watched the start of the Packers/Lions game, before calling it a morning and heading home. 

Definitely good times.  And, like I said, fun enough to plan to do it again next year.

PS - Becky says that she much prefers this Thursday to the last few Thursdays she's had.  Waiting in the truck and going to sports bars before noon is way better than pouting in the kennel all day.

Update:  Official time 35:53.32, 13th out of 31 in my age group ("Very Nearly Old") and in the top half of finishers overall.  Yay for me!!!