The Little Things
November 30, 2015

One of the traditions I dearly love on Thanksgiving is starting my day with a run. Over the years I’ve had this blog I’ve talked a lot about how thankful I am to be able to run, so it seems altogether fitting that I would start the day of thanks with a race! My parents ran the race too (I didn’t run with them), and I ran the race with my friend Jill (I ran the rock’n’roll St. Louis half marathon last month with her!) and her younger sister.

The weather in the morning wasn’t ideal- it was in the mid-30’s and spitting rain (not too hard, but enough that I knew I’d get wet), and my parents thought about backing out. I’m glad they didn’t! The race started at a church, and the doors were open and we were able to go in to stay warm and wait! When I first ran this race a few years ago, it was far smaller than it was this year- there were almost 500 people registered! Registration was also only $7 (including a bib, chip timing, and coffee and Panera bagels afterwards!), and I loved to see so many people starting their day out on such a great foot!

The race started at 9 am, so we headed out just a few minutes before and lined up at the starting line, and then we were off. Unfortunately it started to rain a bit harder as the race started, but as I started running I warmed up quickly, and the rain didn’t bother me much! I wore my half buff from Buff USA, and enjoyed having something to help catch some of the rain and keep it out of my eyes.

5k Gobble Wobble Race

For those of you who read my race recaps or running posts, you know that I traditionally run a 3:1 run:walk pattern to help keep my heart rate down. As we were running slower due to the crowds on the trail, I decided to forgo that and stick with my friends and enjoy the race. I don’t think I’ve run an entire race straight through since 2011 when I started running, so that definitely felt a bit strange. Sometimes we’d have to walk for 10-15 seconds due to the crowds, and I really enjoyed those moments to take a deep breath, but I really did run the entire 5k, which was fun. It felt great as well!

The course itself was fun. We started off in the parking lot, looped down a street for a bit (it was marked off and people were out directing us), and then hit a paved trail (I’ve biked there in the summer before but have never run there, so that was fun as well), before heading back to the church.

Sometimes I feel like courses such as this are short (3.0 or less) but this one was actually a tiny bit long which I preferred. They had an announcer at the finish line, and a place to take pictures outside as well:

5k Gobble Wobble Race

We quickly took a picture before heading inside to warm up. They had tables with hot chocolate, tea, coffee, and trader joes chai mix, along with panera bagels. They were absolutely delicious, and such a fun way to end a race on a holiday!

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We also took pictures with the turkey inside:

5k Gobble Wobble Race

This was a race I absolutely didn’t run for time. My goal was to go out and have a great time with my friends and spend some time thinking about everything I was thankful for, and I absolutely accomplished that goal!

This race was incredibly well organized, there’s no way you can beat that price (especially for everything you get with the entry fee), and the course was great as well. When it comes to it, however, I just have to say… I am so thankful that I can run. I don’t take it for granted, and each run, no matter how difficult, has a sweetness to it because it’s something I never thought I could do. I’m thankful for what running has given to me and taught me. And I’m also thankful that I have friends and family members who will run with me as well! 🙂

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