In Bend, there seems to be a gluttony of community races surrounding Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. I think it’s great, they all support worthwhile causes and inspire all sorts of runners to participate in a “fun” run/race.
This year, there was the always popular “I like pie” run put on by our local footzone, this race benefits Neighborhood Impact. There was also the Bend Turkey Trot that was put on by Boys and Girls Club of Central Oregon and the Girls on the Run program.
My wife wanted to do the I like pie run, so I decided to support the Turkey Trot. There has been some controversy lately surrounding this race between the previous event producer and the Boys and Girls Club. It’s a long and messy situation, that I will just sum up to day that this years event appears to be well attended and supported by the community, and I was proud of everyone that came out and supported it. This is the major funding source for the Girls on the run program, so I was delighted to see that it was supported as such.
I believe they had about 500 entries between the 5k, 10k, and walking events.
I registered for the 5k because I wanted to shoot for a PR and see how my additional workouts may be paying dividends in the 5k distance.
We all lined up at the start at promptly 9am and we were off.
The course was a familiar course to me, I do a good portion of my running along the Deschutes River Trail. The 5k was a partial out and back and a loop. Most of it was on pavement, with sections that were gravel and a short section of grass.
I came in 24th place overall and 4th in my division, the placement isn’t that important to me, as I know this is just a fun run for a lot of people. What I was happy to see was my overall time of just under 23 minutes.
I had a goal this summer of doing a sub 25 minute 5K and achieved that in July, so to shed another 2 minutes off that was awesome.
The event was well organized and the volunteers were out in force! Again, was proud to see the community come together and support and great organization and cause.
My wife said the I like pie run was really really really popular. I believe they had over 900 participants, brought in over 5,000 pounds of food for neighborhood impact and served around 200 pies.
I am very thankful and feel fortunate that I can live in a community that has awesome people that support great organizations!
http://runkeeper.com/user/Corys8646/activity/132768426
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