Turkeys Ruin Trot for Hundreds

Not everyone enjoyed their Turkey Trot last Thursday.

The Drumstick Dash is a huge turkey trot in the cozy Broadripple neighborhood of Indianapolis. When I say "huge", I mean 17,000 runners and $600,000 dollars raised so Wheeler Mission can continue to feed people. When I say "cozy", I mean it doesn't have nearly enough room for 17,000 runners, let alone parking for their cars.

So, many runners leave their cars in satellite parking lots and take shuttles to the race. After a fun run with friends and/or family and people in pilgrim costumes, some pictures for Facebook, and a banana, they board the shuttle back to the parking area.

You can imagine them all rosy cheeked from the chilly run and full of Thanksgiving cheer, disembarking from the shuttle bus, eager to get home, grab a shower, and belly-up to a feast.

Unfortunately, for hundreds of these runners, their cheer was sapped when they saw that their car had been broken into. Phones, wallets, purses, GPSs... gone.

The problem here is that some people are just turkeys*. These turkeys knew that the cars belonged to Drumstick Dash runners, and that they wouldn't be back for over an hour. So, they proceeded to go all "smash and grab" up and down the rows of cars.

Imagine the fall, from the high of a great run to the shock of broken glass, the violation of your privacy, and the hassle of having to repair the windows, call in your cards, and replace your phone.

Now imagine it happening on Thanksgiving.

Turkeys.

I've heard that over 100 cars were broken into. Let that sink in for a moment. 100 cars burglarized in an hour. The race organizers have vowed to improve security at the parking sites, which is great. But really, we need to be smarter. And not just at big races... all the time.

If you take your car to a race, or even a normal run, leave everything you can at home. Everything else goes with you or gets lock in the trunk. If you have a hatch instead of a trunk, cover your stuff up with a towel or blanket. The turkeys want to move fast. They won't waste time on cars unless they are pretty sure they'll get something for the effort. Don't give them any reason to think that there is anything of value in your car.

We want to think there aren't such turkey-ish people out there. There aren't very many, but they do exist, and they want us to forget that they're out there.

Take just a few seconds to secure your stuff, and remind your parking neighbor to do the same. The turkeys will still be turkeys, but if we spread the word and make sure they can't profit off of us, they'll leave us runners alone.

Good running,
Doug

*My first draft used a stronger word for these people.  It started with a "D". And ended with "icks". I replaced it with a G-rated word. Though I do feel it's an appropriate description, using it so much kinda crossed the line for the more sensitive readers of DR365.  Feel free to replace it in your head as you read.

For more on the break-ins, go here.

Thanksrunning Day

When I was a kid, I hated Thanksgiving.

Mostly, I hated the food. My baseball mitt was more tender, and less dry, and more flavorful than my grandmother's turkey. The stuffing looked like dog food and smelled like feet.

My grandmother thought Thanksgiving was the perfect time to serve Brussels sprouts. The only dessert was pumpkin pie which I was pretty sure it was some sort of joke parents played on kids... "Let's see if we can get them to eat pumpkin. But how? I know, we'll put it in a pie... Oh, put some marshmallows on it to make it look more like a dessert and less like baby poop! This is going to be hilarious!"

Over time I learned to love Thanksgiving. It helped when I realized that Turkey doesn't have to be cooked into leather, and that green beans go great with mashed potatoes, especially if they've got a three-way going with butter.

It also helped that I discovered the Turkey Trot.

"Turkey Trot" is a generic term for Thanksgiving day runs. They come in all sizes and flavors. You can join a huge, several thousand strong mega-run, like the one I'll be running this year. There are also smaller community trots that offer less-traffic, smaller crowds, and a better chance to get an age group award. Regardless, your local running store, or the internet can find a trot near you.

Why run on Thanksgiving? Good question!

Start of the 2011 Drumstick Dash in Indianapolis

Most people say they run Turkey Trots to put some calories in the bank, a preemptive strike against the mountain of food they imagine they'll be putting down their throat later in the day. And probably again, even later, when the leftovers come back out.

There's also the feeling of superiority you get when news spreads that you ran a race, earlier in the day, and here you are, still breathing and everything. You'll get a mix of reactions, like "That's great! How was it? I should do that next year." (most of your family), or "Oh Honey, Aren't you tired?" (your grandmother or other grandmotherly relatives), or "Couldn't your lungs freeze? I heard about a guy a couple years ago who's lungs froze solid and he fell over dead 17 yards from the finish line." (the Uncle in the trucker hat who brought pork rinds). So, that's entertaining.

For me, running on Thanksgiving is more about celebrating what I am most thankful for.

I'm very happy to have healthy, brilliant, funny, awesome kids, a girlfriend who likes me despite that fact that I'm so... me, family who are always there with unconditional support and hilarious stories, and a dog that is an absolute delight.

However, I'm most thankful that I have a body that supports my brain.

My body has kept my brain fed, warm, moist, and safe for decades. It keeps the thoughts, dreams, feelings, and memories in that brain viable and alive. It safely transports my brain so I can see and hear and smell and feel and experience the world around me. Thanks to my body, I know what my kids look and sound like when they can't stop laughing. I know the taste of great food and the smell of clean laundry. I know the sound of rain, and of crashing surf, and of footsteps muffled from newly fallen snow.

Without our bodies, we don't just stop experiencing amazing things, we stop being.

This Thanksgiving, give thanks for your very own amazing system of muscles and bones, pipes and tubes, inputs and outputs, factories and sensors that keep your brain alive to live and laugh and love.


I'm going to show my thanks to my body by treating it to a run on Thursday morning. If you don't have a local Turkey Trot, or they just don't trip your trigger, you can hold your own Turkey Trot. Just gather some friends, or family, or some of both, on Thursday morning, put your shoes on, and get outside. You don't have to run, walking counts, too. And if it's too cold in the morning, go out after you eat, or at halftime of the football game.You might just find that you like it, and you might just start a new family tradition.


You can also show thanks to your body by showing it respect. It's okay to enjoy your meals, but don't eat like an idiot. Don't drink yourself stupid, either. Be kind to your body, and it will reward you with, you know, life. Treat it like shit, and it will take you down with it.

Remember... you are your own caretaker. You have been put in charge of the body that let's you be you.

Give thanks for your body, and treat it well.

Good running,
Doug

Winter Running Season

Well, (sigh)... it happened. This morning.

I was in the car, on the way to the dentist when... it snowed.

Sure, I dropped an F-bomb... but, as a tribute, yeah... in memory of the passing of fall.

But, every new season, even winter, is a new beginning.

In particular, it's the beginning of a new race season.

Given my current state of fitness, I should be putting quotes around "race". And probably around "fitness", too.

That won't keep me from shelling out a few bucks for a good cause and toeing the starting line at some local races, though. Actually, I'll be nowhere near the staring line at the beginning of these races. I'll be "toeing" the middle of the pack. [Last use of "quotes"... promise.]

Winter races are the most fun races of the year in the Midwest. Seriously... stop rolling your eyes... they are a lot of fun.

The people who show up for winter races are there for the run. They aren't training for anything. They aren't trying (in vain) to sweat off a few pounds before a beach vacation. They aren't in full makeup sporting the latest running fashions. All of those folks are on treadmills in a gym somewhere in front of TV screens wearing earbuds.

Winter racers don't care how they look. They don't care how fast they go. They're not geared up for speed, they're layered up for warmth.

If someone shows up for a race when it's really cold and really dark, they're there to run, and to be with, and to some degree commiserate with, their fellow runners. These are our peers. This is our tribe.

The start isn't crowded, and there's no dallying. As runners blow into their cupped hands and pull their hats down over their ears, the starter quickly lists the sponsors and the runners offer thanks with applause that's muffled from gloved hands. The gun is fired, and as the runners roll off, the starter hurries back inside.

Once the runners clear the few, hardy, insanely supportive spectators, it gets quiet.

These runners have been here before. They don't need the nervous release of chatter. They just run.

All you hear is the constant rumble of hundreds of footfalls. Your feet are part of that rumble, though you can't really hear them. As the pack thins and the rumble dies down. Now you can hear your steps.

Sometimes the streets are still snowy. Sometimes you need to watch for ice. Those ahead warn those behind of slick spots, just as they were warned by runners ahead of them.

Soon you forget it's cold, and you just run. And too soon, the finish line appears, flanked by volunteer timers, hunched over, trying to hide inside their coats. The finish area is, thankfully, inside, where runners wear red-cheeked smiles, and the more than occasional smidge of snot peaking out of the corner of a nostril.

The conversation returns as lips regain color and movement, and as friends find each other and compare runs. A few minutes later, you're walking back to your car.

It feels colder now. You were so warm after the run, and during the awards. Your inner layers got damp and that's chilling your skin. Hopefully, the sun has warmed the inside of your car.

Driving home, you pass house after house, knowing that the people in those houses haven't even stepped outside yet.

You've already spent time with good people, your people, out on the roads, and soon you'll warmed by a  shower, with a well-started day ahead of you.

Find a race or two this winter and see what you've been missing.

Good running,
Doug

PS - My winter race calendar is posted to the right somewhere under "Upcoming races".
PSS - Sorry about the quotes in the PS.

Image from here, which looks like a fun 5K if you find yourself in the Twin Cities in February, and here, which is a list of winter races in Albuquerque, NM.

Stranded NYCM runners stage impromptu run

What do a bunch of runners do when their marathon is yanked out from under them?

They come together and bitch and moan.

Just kidding. They throw their own run in Central Park.

Please read this. It will make you proud to be a runner, if you are one. If you aren't, you'll probably want to be, or at least admire the indomitable spirit of these runners.

Good running,
Doug

Note: I found this via a post at RunBlogger.com

NYCM gives up the fight

Looks like there was a question in the organizers minds as the NYCM has been cancelled for 2012. (link to a great article about the decision)

From NYRR:

While holding the race would not require diverting resources from the recovery effort, it is clear that it has become the source of controversy and division. We cannot allow a controversy over an athletic event -- even one as meaningful as this -- to distract attention away from all the critically important work that is being done to help New York City recover from the storm. 

Small-minded, short-sided people who fail to see the marathon as an opportunity, but instead use it as a symbol of what they don't have and aren't getting, gave the NYRR no choice, and have taken away a great chance to raise a tremendous amount of money, not to mention goodwill and support, for those who need help.

I do sympathize with those in need. I have given to the American Red Cross. But it bums me out to think that "public outrage" from a vocal few has cancelled the great NYCM.

Not that it helps much, but here is a link to my essay on why the NYCM should have been run, written just after it was decided it was on for sure, and just before it was cancelled. (Please forgive the redundant "Update" at the head of the article.)

Good running,
Doug

Sandy can't stop NYCM

[Update: Looks like there was a question in the organizers minds as the NYCM has been cancelled for 2012. (link to a great article about the decision)

From NYRR:

While holding the race would not require diverting resources from the recovery effort, it is clear that it has become the source of controversy and division. We cannot allow a controversy over an athletic event -- even one as meaningful as this -- to distract attention away from all the critically important work that is being done to help New York City recover from the storm. 

Small-minded, short-sided people who fail to see the marathon as an opportunity, but instead use it as a symbol of what they don't have and aren't getting, gave the NYRR no choice, and have taken away a great chance to raise a tremendous amount of money, not to mention goodwill and support, for those who need help.

I do sympathize with those in need. I have given to the American Red Cross. But it bums me out to think that "public outrage" from a vocal few has cancelled the great NYCM.

Not that it helps much, but below is my essay on why the NYCM should have been run, written just after it was decided it was on for sure, and just before it was cancelled. - Doug]

There really wasn't any question in my mind. The New York City Marathon had to take place, hurricane or no hurricane.

The NYCM is more than a marathon. It's a celebration of life. It's a celebration of running. But mostly, it's a celebration of New York City.

There was talk that running NYCM less than a week after hurricane Sandy slammed Lower Manhattan and New Jersey with a right hook was crass, insensitive, in bad taste. I'm pretty sure that the people saying that have never run NYCM, or stood along the sidewalk to experience it firsthand.

The people of New York City embrace the marathon like no other people in the world. The marathon course goes through all 5 boroughs of New York City, and each borough, each neighborhood, wants to show their support, and their pride. And boy do they come out, millions of them, seriously... millions, standing 10 deep in some places, to cheer on people they don't know, to represent New York for the 47,000 people who will run by. And after the race, they treat you like royalty. In restaurants, on the subway, in line for a show, strangers greet you with smiles, ask if you had a good race, ask if you're enjoying your time in the city, like the proud host of any great party.

New Yorkers love their marathon. Taking it away from them when, I imagine, they could really use a break from the non-stop reporting of sand, flooded tunnels, and dangling cranes, would be wrong, and a little cruel.

I even saw a suggestion that the food for the runners should be donated to those in need from the storm. Not to be indelicate here, but that's being reactionary and just plain stupid. Bagels, and bananas, and Gatorade for 47,000 runners is not what those who lost their homes need. Those folks need cash. Same for the Red Cross.

Thankfully, the amazing folks at New York Road Runners aren't stupid. They understand that New York City is not only the greatest city in the world, but also the toughest, the most resilient.

They also know that runners are the best people in the world.

Having 47,000 runners in one place, a place that is special to them because they have been planning and training for months to run through it, is an opportunity to help those runners find a way to give back to the city and the people who make the New York City Marathon the best marathon experience in the world. The focus of the organizers, after the safety of the runners and volunteers, is to "establish ways for everyone to support the relief efforts through charitable donations."

The marathon isn't going to clean up the mess from Sandy. When the race is over, things won't magically be all better. But it is going to give those actually living the disaster a break, and a reminder of how great their city is, and what it means to be a New Yorker. It's going to show the world that even a perfect storm can't stop New York City. And it's also going to raise a lot of money and get it to the people who can do the most good with it.

That's a hell of a lot better than 250,000 bagels.

Please consider donating to the American Red Cross.

Good running,
Doug