Normally, I venture up to the Twin Cities for Thanksgiving to visit Alex and Drew. The past two years I ran the Endurance United Turkey Trail Trot through Battle Creek Park. As Alex was abroad during the holiday this year, I stayed in good old Des Moines. I started looking for a Turkey Trot to run on Thanksgiving morning.

There is a run at the fairgrounds, that’s been held for 51 years. It’s a 5 mile or 2 mile course. I’m pretty fond of 5k races in my down time, and I wasn’t up for a 5 mile run. So I landed on the inaugural DSM Turkey Trot. It was held downtown on Court Avenue. The course was 5 miles or 5k, so on a very cool, soggy Thursday morning, I donned my Oiselle Volee singlet and ran a fairly quick 5k.

The theme for this Turkey Trot overall was to have fun. The course had selfie stations all over, with prominent Des Moines landmarks in the back drop. Had it not been raining and 40 degrees, I might have been tempted to pose for a few photos.

I surprised myself with a 29:21 finish time. I questioned my choice to wear my singlet with arm warmers and my long roga shorts, as I was freezing at the start. Luckily, I was running a bit late that morning and got into the starting chorale  just as they started the national anthem. So I wasn’t standing around for too long.