14th Berbee Derby

Sunny and 33 degrees at the start of Berbee Derby 10K.
11/23/2017     dwm photo

 Like a Thanksgiving parade only faster!

That's the catch phrase on the long sleeve t-shirts provided to participants in Madison's Annual Thanksgiving run known as the Berbee Derby.

2017 was the 14th edition.  It has company.  Two other Turkey runs also wound there way around Madison.

This was my second one and maybe fourth or fifth time running on Thanksgiving.  In 2011, it was the Turkey Trot in Indianapolis to raise money for the Food Pantry.

There was also a Turkey Trot back during my college days, but I think that was a one shot deal.

A Turkey ready to trot.
11/23/17   dwm photo

This year was spectacular.  Relatively warm compared to recent cooler than average temperatures with bright sunshine. Sun on a cold day helps physically and psychologically.

I registered for the 5K, it wasn't my original plan, but turned out to be a good choice.  The week before the run I came down with a cold.  The accompanying cough made it hard to sleep.  My workouts before the run weren't so good (even by my standards) either, so 3.1 instead of 6.2 miles was more my speed.

3,285 runners finished the 2017 5K run/walk.  1,311 tackled the 10K.

Organizers couldn't do much to organize the runners/walkers other than ask us to get with the starting group which matched our pace.

The best "swag" from the Berbee Derby is the run
has sponsored race photos available to runners at no charge!
Photo by Focal Flame Photography  11/23/17

My observation is a lot of folks were not paying attention.

Just a short distance from the start for our wave, everything came to a halt as walkers (or already winded runners) slowed everyone trying to make the first turn.

It was fun to see the fathers, sons, moms and daughters running with their kids on the course.  When my boys were those ages, I wasn't doing any running either, so we missed out on those adventures.

The Berbee 5K made up in height what it lacked in length, with a particularly "charming" sharp climb at the two mile mark.

On Gunflint Trail
Focal Flame Photo

I didn't have that in me Thursday, so I walked it.  There were two other places I took a short walk break. 

There is no "next run" on my calendar, so I hope to scale up the training and get back some wind before it happens.

The results weren't great.  1,555 overall.  74 of 112 in my age group, a pace of 10:38, a time of 33:00.  I guess it is a reverse personal record.

In any case, I'm thankful I was healthy enough to run and able to do it at any speed.  Next year I can try to do better.