thanksgiving 2016

Thankfully (see what I did there?), a storm moved into northern Utah Wednesday evening, bringing 1-3" in the valley, 4-6" along the benches and Alta claiming a foot.  By Thanksgiving morning, the storm had moved on and it was beautiful, cold and clear, about 30F at our house.  I had signed up for the annual Cold Turkey City Creek run and H and I drove up to Salt Lake City to join all the other turkey-trotters.  The usual race course is a 6k: starting at the Capitol, running up City Creek Canyon a ways before turning around, then descending to the finish line in Memory Grove.  This year, because of the storm, the race organizers were concerned about the snow and ice up the canyon, so just before the start they announced that they had moved the turnaround and we would only be running a 5k.  Everyone cheered!

The traditional pre-race purple fleece photo

My legs seemed a little heavy at the start and I wasn't passing anyone, to my dismay.  The first part of the road was pretty clear but when we turned up into City Creek Canyon, it got pretty slippery.  And as we picked our way up the canyon, I started getting confused: this was the seventh time I'd run this race, so I knew the course pretty well; when we got to the usual turnaround spot, we kept going.  And going and going - a lot more uphill.  I kept going, head down, and didn't stop, finally reaching the turnaround.  On the descent, I could go a little faster but still had to be very careful on the snow and ice.  The portion in Memory Grove was largely clear of snow and ice so I tried to stretch my legs out a little bit.  My back and hips were getting tight but I tried to take advantage of the dry road and managed to pass a few people.  I was still confused though - they said only 5k, but moved the turnaround further up so maybe they were going to move the finish line in?

Charging to the finish

Nope.  The finish line was right where it always is.  As I crossed it, race volunteers called out, "Congratulations! You just ran 10k, not 5k!"  Apparently they weren't paying attention when they reset the course, making it longer instead of shorter.  My very first 10k!  (I really hadn't trained for that - no wonder my back was stiff.)  To be honest, we don't really know how far we ran - so the race results are not going to be that meaningful, timing-wise - but it was a good race, a fun race, and I figured the extra kilometers would just translate into extra pie.

Finished!

Race results (and history)
2016:  53:23.51, 4 out of 14 in age group, 159/544 overall, +/-10k 8.4k* distance
2015:  35:17.18, 6 out of 19 in age group, 186/593 overall
2014:  34:14:58, 10 out of 26 in age group, 174/656 overall
2013:  35:44.40, 7 out of 24 in age group, 243/682 overall
2012:  n/a (Thanksgiving in California)
2011:  35:41.33, 249/656 overall
2010:  37:22.76 (course changed due to ice/uphill finish), top half of finishers
2009:  35:53.32, top half of finishers

* So with it being an 8.4k (technically 5.2 miles = 8.36 km), my time is much less impressive, but still takes into account the treacherous footing.  Also, that's still the longest race I've ever done - although now I wish it really had been a 10k.