Results for the 1st Annual Brent and Rachel (and Pippin!) Turkey Trot!

Hey guys! The 1st ever BRPTT 5K was a major success. Maybe next year the race budget will be slightly larger and we can afford real trophies or at least a water stop.

The first finisher was Chocolate Runner Jon. Besides sweeping the Michigan Male's category he also wins the award for the worst running conditions: 19 dg F with blowing snow. Yikes!! He finished in 29:04 and just in time to throw the bird in the oven for T-giving dinner. He also had some sort of crazy thing called YakTrax on his shoes to help him through the unplowed snow that those of us in the south can only dream about. Sure, it was a personal worst for him but if it had been a PR in those conditions who would've believed him? And none of his normal nemesis dogs were out there chasing him so what's the motivation in burning too much rubber? He also wins the award for the yummiest looking medal - maybe he'll be in charge of trophies next year!

Elizabeth also ran in the Detroit area. The windchill was -1 degrees F! Yikes!! She ran as part of an organized 10K Turkey Trot. If you ever read her blog you already know she is FAST - Her 5K time for the BRPTT was 22.17. WOW! Can you even imagine if it wasn't cold, snowy & slick? About 6,000 people turned up for the race! Maybe we'll have that many in the BRPTT next year - except it would take me a full year to post the results!!! Congratulations to Elizabeth for winning the overall BRPTT event as well as the women's division in Michigan!!!

Next up was Shore Turtle. He normally competes in New Jersey but for the holidays he decided to sweep the Pennsylvania division. Race temp was in the low 20's with a light dusting of snow. He blazed laps around a local athletic field with his BRPTT bib in plain view, frightening off some other wanna-be's also using this track. Maybe next year they'll pony up and join in on the fun. ST finished in a blazing 23.39. I think my only chance at beating him might be on a sunny 100 degree TN day, and even then I doubt it would happen. Besides sweeping PA, he also wins the award for the most thought provoking race number. He used the highest elevation of the Poconos (where he was racing) as his race number. Excellent!

Next up we have Tammy. She swept the Washington (Seattle, to be exact) competition AND set a new PR of 30.57 for herself! WAY TO GO! Seattle was enjoying a nice 45 degree day on Turkey day and she headed out after a fantastic sounding breakfast. (Note to self: if I'm ever in Seattle stop by Tammy's for some pancakes.) She was hopped up on Dayquil and was still manage to set a new PR! So, she not only wins the WA division but also wins the drug induced division. (The BRPTT does not recommend use of illegal drugs, just the legal ones and ones you can purchase from Canada.)

Kim also ran Thursday afternoon in California. They had a beautiful day with temps in the low 50's and a 9 mph headwind. (Ok, so we could all do without the wind but who can complain about the 50's!) She's been working on her form by running barefoot on the treadmill and it paid off in the form of a new PR and a time of 26.49 making her the fastest trotter in CA! You can see a map of her beautiful course here (warning: if you're jealous of people who live near the ocean you many not want to look).

Liz ran in the Fort Campbell, KY area (which is a good thing because I like sweeping TN myself, and it helps the BRPTT boast an additional state!). She ran outside Friday afternoon once the babysitter arrived to watch her TRIPLETS! She hasn't gotten to run outdoors much lately, so she really got a taste of winter running with our chilly (and windy!) temps this past weekend. (It was 39 with a WC of 34 Fri afternoon.) She finished in 34.15. Way to GO! She wins the Kentucky division and the parents of multiples division. Hopefully Brent and I will get to meet her at local races soon, and if not we'll definitely see her at the Country Music Half/Full Marathon in April!

My fellow Miami Marathon training partner, David, completed the BRPTT as part of his 16-mile training run this past weekend. Outside of the start line, finish line, and pre-race pasta dinner I think I'll just be seeing the back of his head as his marathon training run put his overall 5K at 27.58. He's aiming to stay with the 4.15 Miami pace group, I'm aiming for the 4.30-4.45 pace group. Outside of sweeping the Florida division & Male Masters division of the BRPTT David also wins the award for the warmest BRPTT - 76 degrees! Crazy!! In exactly 2 months Brent and I will be having dinner with David in Miami the night before mine and David's very first marathon. Ok, now I'm freaked out and I'm not sure if I can go on with this post......

Our favorite pink lady, Dawn, wins the award for getting other family members involved in the BRPTT. She added a 2K division for her absolutely adorable little granddaughter (who I'm pretty sure was a lot faster than Pippin!) Isn't she too cute?? Her race conditions were pretty much the complete opposite of David - 28 degrees F in Canada with light snow around. She also wins the award for designing the most difficult course - check out all the hills!! She finished in 49.39, winning the International Division of the BRPTT!

Angie ran the BRPTT as part of her 15.4 mile trail training run. She considers herself a newbie trail runner, but anyone who can run that mileage on a trail is definitely not a newbie! She's in training for the Feb 2006 Pemberton 50K Trail Race. She won the Arizona division of the BRPTT and the Trail Division with a great time of around 30 minutes. Way to go!

Susie swept the Connecticut division on Sunday. I'm not exactly sure what the temps were, but I bet it was chilly and there was probably some snow around. Susie's had some injury issues leading up to and following her 1st half marathon in October and I'm happy to say she didn't have any significant aches or pains! Her finishing time around 30 minutes doesn't give her a PR but it does win her the Connecticut division and the Recovering Runner Award.

And finally, you ask, how did Brent, Rachel & Pippin do??? This race was created to give us something to do Thanksgiving morning to keep us connected to the running world in the pretty unconnected towns we were in, and to spend time with Pippin and our families. Our sister in law Becky, wife of Brent's brother Mr Excitement, was really excited about participating. They just had a baby a few weeks ago and she's started working out with some of her coworkers to get back into pre-baby shape. We got up Thurs morning, had a piece of toast and drew up our race numbers. Brent decided to be "pi" and Pippin was a paw. He wasn't very excited about wearing his reflective vest, but if it meant he got to go somewhere exciting and do something interesting he was OK with it. So off we headed. It was really warm - about 52, with a strong breeze. Pretty much from the start I was dragging Pippin behind me. We headed off for a .5 mile gravel driveway, on the way back (around .75 miles) Pippin decided to take a break. I dropped him off when we passed back by Brent's parent's house around the one mile mark. Officially, the first mile was around 12 minutes. Since he was the only competing dog Pippin won the doggie division (even though he's really a DNF!) We continued over to the track at the high school next to the in-laws. Each lap around the school is a half mile, and then we headed over to the actual running track to do the rest of our distance. We did a lot of walk/run intervals as this was Becky's first virtual/official 5K to run. We also stopped and took a lot of pictures along the way. Our official time was around 41 minutes - a personal worst by about 10 minutes. But you know what, who cares? We had a lot of fun, and that's what the BRPTT is all about! (Of course if there had been real trophies at the end I would've left Pippin in the grass!!)

Mr Excitement (Eric) was excited about participating as well, but I don't think he really understood the rules or what we were racing for. Although very swift he did not complete the entire 3.1 mile distance, so he also ends up with a DNF.

Brent and I re-ran the BRPTT last night as part of a 5.3 mile training run. Our temps have been all over the place - Thursday's run was 52 degrees, Friday was 27 degrees and last night it was 62 with 29 mph winds!! Talk about nasty! It was a tough run but we were able to keep 8.30 paces for the 5K portion, giving us times of 26.24 which is a new PR for Brent! Yeah!!

Sometimes the heart is stronger than the legs. Recent NYC marathoner Danny tried to get out and run on Sunday. His knee has been aggravating ever since the Marathon so he was only able to complete 2 miles before (wisely) stopping before further injuring himself. (You'd think this guy was in the medical field or something!) And sometimes the mind is stronger than everything - check out Simba's Mom's dream . Hmmmm.... I wonder who the race director was that she complained to? Maybe me? And I wonder who broke the world record? I guess Elizabeth since she was our fastest overall runner! Too funny! I seriously laughed out loud when I read about her dream.

Thanks to everyone for participating in the 1st annual BRPTT and making it such a huge success! I can't wait until next year's event! If I missed any of you who participated just let me know and I'll add you in! Here are the final results:

**Update - Severe weather in Australia prevented CJ and Strewth from hosting a stand alone BRPTT on Saturday as planned, but they did incorporate the BRPTT into their Sunday triathlon. (Isn't it crazy to think that their summer season is starting to gear up? Brent and I regularly read their blogs and doing so prompted us to consider living half the year in the US and the other half in Australia!) Hopefully next year the race budget will allow us to make some waterproof bibs for them so they can wear them throughout! They both did amazing in the triathlon and the picture to the left is them wearing their BRPTT bibs and holding their trophies! Their 5K times are 24.15 (their race portion was 4K so I've adjusted it to a 5K time). Awesome times!!! No wonder it seems they're always in the top of the ranks. Congrats to CJ and Strewth for sweeping the Triathlon portion of this event and also the Southern Hemisphere International Division! Way to GO!

Overall Winners:

Male: Shore Turtle 23.39 PA
Female (and overall winner!!!): Elizabeth 22.17 MI

Male Participants:
Shore Turtle 23.39 PA
Brent 26.24 TN
David 27.58 FL
Jon 29.04 MI

Female Participants:
Elizabeth 22.17 MI
CJ 24.15 Australia
Strewth 24.15 Australia
Rachel 26.24 TN
Kim 26.49 CA
Angie 30.00 AZ
Susie 30.00 CT
Tammy 30.57 WA
Liz 34.15 KY
Becky 41.12 TN
Dawn 49.39 Canada

Doggie Participants-
Pippin 1 mile - 12.30