Saturday, January 20, 2024

Turkey Day 5K 2023 (Two Months Late!)


I am obviously behind in writing my holiday and winter blog posts. Today, I am going to travel back in time to a couple of months ago and tell the story of our somewhat derailed Thanksgiving Day plans. 

(Squiggly finger sounds . . . doodle loo doodle loo . . . #WaynesWorldReference)
 
Right around the time my husband, Dan, and I were scheduled to travel to Eastern Idaho for a quick Thanksgiving with family, a winter weather advisory was issued for all of the areas we would be driving through.
 
 
The problem was I didn't have any flexibility to arrive earlier or leave later because of my rehearsal schedule for Elf  (I was in a musical), and the days and times we could get away and needed to return fell right in the middle of the advisory. 

We watched the local weather reports for two days, hoping it would change or that one of the meteorologists would tell us what we wanted to hear. 
 
Eventually, we decided the risk wasn't worth it. When Dan, who usually enjoys driving in the snow, mentioned it was an awful lot of driving in potentially hazardous conditions, that settled it for me.
 
 
Despite our disappointment in missing the annual Twin Falls Turkey Trot tradition and a family dinner, we managed to have some fun.
 
I didn't have time to prepare a "real" dinner, but I happened to have ingredients on hand for a tuna noodle casserole.
 
And I had already baked some Hello Dollies for the trip, only the best dessert ever. (I should have made them for the Hello Dolly cast when I was Irene Molloy two summers ago.)
 
 
 
Then we signed up at the last minute for Boise's Turkey Day 5K.
 
 
Boise's Thanksgiving fun run is just that, a lot of fun. 
 
This year, 3000 people registered. The run winds around the North End, a really cute downtown neighborhood that we all wish we could afford.
 
No one dressed up as Native Americans–thank God–something we did, in fact, witness the one time we ran in a Turkey Trot in Eastern Idaho.
 
What I did see were a few people in turkey costumes and a certain local Pulitzer Prize winning author who ran past me and ended way ahead of me at the finish line. I was a little starstruck by that one. Dan was pretty impressed too. (We might be slightly nerdy, fangirling over an author.)

I also saw some rollerbladers on the route. A few of them were also dressed up like turkeys. Keep Boise Weird . . .
 
 
 
Dan and I ended 51st and 87th in our age groups. I am not ashamed of this. I am a middle-aged woman with tennis elbow in both arms. Anything above 2999th place is a win for me.
 

Of course, Dan actually beat me, but a girl can dream (see image above).
 
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