The Thankful 13 Half Marathon!

For the 4th year in a row, Thanksgiving morning has started with the Thankful 13 half marathon. There are so many "Turkey Trots" in the area on Thanksgiving, but most of them are 5k's and I like the idea of not only getting a long run in, but going into Thanksgiving dinner with a calorie deficit.

This race is held in Lehi, Utah, which is about 15 minutes from my apartment in Draper. With the race starting at 8:00 AM, I did not have to wake up super early to get there on time.

Ready to freeze my giblets off!

I got to the start line and it was 23 degrees, so I didn't do  much socializing, instead I stayed in my car with the heat on until 5 minutes before the gun went off.

So happy to see Franz at the start!

My plan was to take it as a recovery run. After running the very hilly Route 66 Marathon 4 days earlier, my hamstrings were still kind of tight and the cold weather just made them tighter.

The Thankful 13 course starts at a place rightly called Thanksgiving Point and runs along part of the Jordan River Parkway and through the neighborhoods. The course has some nice rolling hills which makes it not the easiest half in the area, but nice none the less.

I felt pretty good the whole race. I wasn't going hard, but felt like I was doing a good enough pace to keep me warm and still come in under 2:00. At around mile 7 I caught up to the 1:55 pacers and just hung out with them.

At around mile 13, I felt this pop in my hamstring and had to slow up. Thankfully, I was still able to run, but when I tried to speed up, it would hurt so I didn't push it and finished in 1;52:04, which was still a course PR for me. Not too bad for just running a marathon and not going all out.

At the finish!

I saw Blaine and Adrian at the finish!

Maniacs John, Jamie and I at the finish.

John was volunteering! It was great to get my medal from a friend!

The Thankful 13 medal is beautiful!

After the race ha had a cup of hot chocolate and some of the yummy pumpkin cake, then I hit the road back home to spend Thanksgiving with friends.

If you want a fun and challenging "Turkey Trot", this is the one for you!