Drumstick Dash "Move your feet so others can eat"

"Sure, spin the wheel, maybe you'll win a prize" is what I told Kylie when she asked to spin a prize wheel at the Women's Half Marathon expo in September.  Well, lucky girl won a free entry into the Drumstick Dash, a Thanksgiving morning race in Broadripple, a trendy neighborhood in Indianapolis.  I've run it a few times before but have opted the last 2 years for the more local and much smaller 5k in my town.  But, free entry is free entry so Drumstick Dash it was.   We both entered for the shorter route, 2.7 miles instead of the 4.5 mile full length route.

Thanksgiving morning came and we were out the door by 7:15.  Broadripple is in the middle of the city, not convenient in the slightest from our town so I wanted to leave plenty early.  Plus, parking is always an issue and we needed to get our packets.  The drive into BR was easy and I was pleasantly surprised to find plenty of street parking and even more surprised to find that the meters were free because of the holiday!  This day is turning out better and better!  

We walk about 1/2 mile to the high school to pick up our packets.  This was very well organized, which is good since 17,000+ runners/walkers were pre-registered for this race!  It's the second largest race in Indiana!  And certainly the biggest that Kylie's ever run in.  We stopped for a quick picture and hit the gear check tent to store our packets.  Temps were mid 40's so we went back into the gym to stay warm.  Kylie proceeded to "vlog" (video blog) for the next 20 mins while I watched the crowd. 

About 8:30, I got us up and outside to find the starting line and our pace area.  Kylie was very surprised at the size of the crowd and started to get really excited about the race.  We ran into some of her friends from school and hung out with them while we waiting for the start.  A lady near me recognized my Ink N Burn Holiday shirt and we struck up a quick conversation about our shared love of the brand.  I was super excited to wear my new Holiday shirt and cable knit tights.  Aren't I festive?!

Soon we heard the announcer count down and we were off!  Kylie ran like a bat out of heck, as usual, and I just tried to keep her in view, not an easy task.  Her shoe came untied so we pulled over to tie it and then kept running.  About a 1 mile into the race, she started getting really hot (she was wearing a long sleeved tech shirt and a short sleeved on under it) so we stopped again to take off the long sleeved shirt.  She's doing pretty good, running most of the way.  The course turns off of the main road and into a neighborhood, so there was some crowd support along the way here.  Several playing loud music for us runners to enjoy.  About mile 2, we saw a sign for "Selfie Station" ahead so we knew we had to stop for that!

Soon after our quick selfie, we saw the turn for the short course and took that side street.  I was surprised to see Scott, one of my Hood to Coast teammates, here so we did a quick catch-up (hope you get into Western States, Scott!)   Kylie started to walk again here but her friends caught up to her and they all ran to the finish together.  The short course is untimed but according to my Garmin, we finished at 27:50, not bad for a very crowded race and several stops along the way.  

We grabbed our banana and other snacks and I got a free Starbucks (thanks for sponsoring!) and we walked around to cool down and grabbed our bag from gearcheck.  Ran into another few friends and decided to walk back to the car.  

So, all in all, it was a well-organized race with proceeds going to Wheeler Mission in Indianapolis.  I'd recommend it to anyone.   And I think Kylie has caught the Thanksgiving race bug with me.  Yea!