Results - 10K
Turkey Trot 10K
On Thanksgiving morning, well before the traditional engorgement began, a record field of 334 attempted to run the 10k course at Jeffers Hill without the benefit of watches, GPS, sundials, or any other method of time keeping. "Sundials could time some of us," said one of the older participants. Anyway, a sundial wouldn't have helped because of the thick fog that obscured the Sun.
The object of the prediction run was to finish at exactly 11:00 AM, starting anytime before. Most of the runners were too fast: 259 completed the 6.2 miles before the appointed hour, while only 75 finished after. (Such a trend is common. In the 2008 Turkey Trot, 171 finished before 11 AM and 86 finished after. They probably want to get back before the glazed donuts are gone.) This year, 54 finished within a minute of the hour. The most accurate runner was Vicki Lang, who came within ¾ of a second 11:00:00. A past winner of the Striders. Runner of the Year award, Ms. Lang is also one of the fastest to win the prediction run. For her accurate pacing, she earned a gift certificate from Barnes and Noble, plus the coveted Brass Turkey Award.
The Howard County Striders have celebrated Thanksgiving with the Turkey Trot Prediction 10k Run for over 30 years, and the event always draws a large, diverse crowd. A record field appeared this year in spite of the wretched weather. So many people showed up, in fact, that race organizers ran out of a number of essential items: race numbers, post-race food, and toilet paper in the women's restroom. There were not even enough parking spaces, and some even got tickets for illegal parking.
Len Guralnick directed the Turkey Trot with the able assistance of a bunch of volunteers. Volunteer Chris Farmer won a gift certificate from a random drawing for the volunteers.
by Jim Carbary