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Footworks hosted its annual Turkey Trot. The first thing to be thankful for: I actually showed up on time this year. We got simple instructions: Turn at the Whataburger. Do NOT stop at Whataburger. I always hope to run the longest distance, but I'm slow and the unofficial race has a wrap-up time. I got to finish five miles. But more importantly, I felt I earned my Thanksgiving meal.
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I ran in the first South Padre Island Marathon. It was a long work and school week. I didn't get much sleep. So when I thought something was off about the race, I figured I was just tired. That was until I spoke to a few other participants. "Did you guys notice there were only two mile markers," I asked. There had been promotion about selfie stations at each mile. I thought I saw one. A mile away from the finish line, a marathon runner ran next to me and gestured for some water. Literally, gestured. He couldn't talk. I gave him some water and part of a Cliff bar. Overall, it was good event. (I was too exhausted to really take it all in.) It's just something felt off. A few days later, participants got an email from the race director, which explained it. "We had two water stations stolen (tents, tables, chairs, cups, etc) during the night as well as loads of toilet paper taken from the porta-potties (if you come across a yard sale with 23 tables, 10,000+ cups and enough toilet paper to cover fraternity row, let us know!).
I think there might've been one mile marker. Since I have my watch, I don't worry about that too much, but it's always reassuring to seem them.
I enjoyed the route. It covered the city lake and downtown. There was Chick-Fil-A and free pizza. (I won a plush cow.) I noticed there was some delay when handing out awards. I saw part of the crew huddled over a laptop and scribbling numbers down. Later, on Facebook, I learned a vehicle ran over the sensors and lost all the participant data. Part of it was later recovered. I usually don't stay long after I finish, but since I was volunteering, I got to see the raffle giveaway. I tried to get one of the freebies they were tossing at the crowd, but I never have much luck with those. In the end, there wasn't really a reason to stay. The organizers had this down. They were packed up and ready to go. I look forward to next year's run. |
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September 2017
AuthorFormer high school water girl (really) finally running. |