Race: Flying Feather Four Miler
Distance: 4 Miles
Location: Glacier Ridge Metro Park, Dublin
Overall Time: 53:15
Average Pace: 13:19
Overall Place: 2683 / 3242
As you know, racing on Thanksgiving Day has become a tradition for me and my family. I’ve always run the Flying Feather – we made that decision early on because of the Finish Line Prize – a bottle of wine! This year it was Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais-Villages:
Four thousand bottles of it to be exact:
I woke up on Thursday morning excited for this race, even though I was thinking about how much I missed my mother. She loved this race, and I know she was as sad to miss it as I was sad to miss her. This one was for you, Mom!
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| Last year after the race with my Mom and sister, Mollie |
I woke up to a lovely note from my husband that left me tearing up before I even got out the door (shhh…don’t tell him I shared it! Who am I kidding? This will be the one post he decides to read!):
Enjoy your race and run like the wind, fly like a bird and dare to touch the sun.Let your cares disappear behind you, and I will always be there waiting for you in the end.
I got to the race early, as usual, because I am afraid of not getting a parking spot and because every year I get stuck and/or lost in at least one if not two roundabouts [read: a never-ending vortex of horror] in Dublin. So, yeah, needless to say, I get there early. And then, I promptly freeze while waiting for the race to start. It’s just as much a part of the tradition as running by now.
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| Mollie, Judi, Me & Ben waiting for the race to start. |
Judi is wearing a roasted turkey on her head, by the way. This is why I love her dearly.
We met up with my Dad and Aunt Beth, who were both volunteering at the event and then froze some more waiting for the event to start – then, we were off! We started off at a pretty even pace, met up with Mandy and Keri of the Lucky 13’s, and then we hit the first of a few gently rolling hills. I powered up that hill thinking about Michael’s words. Mollie asked if we could pick a new Thanksgiving Day tradition for next year and we all laughed – even though we all know you won’t ever find us anywhere else.
Here are my splits for the race:
I think I almost had negative splits (in a race!). Mile 2 I was on my own as the rest of our little group dispersed. Mile 3 I slowed down to get some water and walked a steeper hill because my knee was tweaking just a little bit. Mile 4 was awesome! It was mostly downhill, and I felt like I was flying for the first time in a long time. Some of the people who had already finished were heading back out to cheer on friends and family and it was fun to see everyone jogging back through the course wearing their medals and toting wine. You know, the important things! I’m really proud of that last mile, as a matter of fact.
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| Loved the medal this year! |
I love the Finish Line of this race because it brings you right back to where you started and there is a real party going on with people celebrating and cheering and music playing, that you can hear from a half a mile away. I love M3S Events for this reason – it’s a party like none other! Here’s my big finish – I even sprinted in:
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And then there was a real celebration with the Lucky 13’s and friends:
And, of course, we got our wine:
This would be why I love my sister too.
I enjoyed this race, and that feels awesome to say! I am really happy with my time and pace, and I feel like I accomplished something and felt great doing it. It was a beautiful start to Thanksgiving Day – one that I will look forward to for a long time to come.
Until the next mile marker,
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Way to go Sara! Fun seeing you as always!
Sara’s got her groove back! Woot!
Looks like so much fun! Glad you had such a great day.
Awesome job, Sara!!! It was great to see you out there! 🙂
Kim
Awesome recap, Sara! And your hubby is a real keeper too 🙂
I wish I lived closer, I would definitely run for wine!
xo
Hahaha, Mollie’s gettin’ crunk! You forgot to mention this race also comes with whiskey. I require at least that much alcohol to survive family time.
This was the first year since 2006 that I haven’t run the Cols Turkey Trot (and honestly probably would have done the Trot if I hadn’t volunteered to pace) but I think the Flying Feather may have to be my new tradition! It’s better organized and you get a bottle of wine after, can’t go wrong with that 😉
Love the race medals and wine bottles at the finish is just too good!