Turkey Leg Trifecta Race Report
So I had won a coupon for a race with Fun-Races.com after
winning my AG in a July 4th race this past summer. I checked out their website and decided to
give the Turkey Leg Trifecta a chance.
The website said it was a 3 part trail race, (a 4k, 5k and 6k each an
hour apart), on the west-side of Eagle Creek Park, a large park in
Indianapolis. The west-side of the park
though, is considered a Nature Preserve so there are no bridges over the
creeks, steps down or up the ravines and it was all single track with very
little room to pass. I’ve run 2 fulls
and 1 half marathon plus a few shorter races on these trails and have loved it
so I knew I had to sign up.
Saturday, November 26th, Race Day.
So, the first race started at 10:00. We left our house about 8:45 and at the last
second, my 13 yo daughter, Kylie, suggested that we bring our dog,
Guinness. Guinness isn’t the best in a
crowd, she gets really nervous around men and had never run a race before. But, she runs at least 2 miles a day with me,
5 or 6 days a week so I figured I’d take her on the first race and go from
there. We arrived at the park at 9:00
and I got my race packet. There wasn’t a
map to look over but I felt really confident, after all, I’ve run 5 races over
here (we won’t talk about the time I ran the trails by myself and got miserably
lost!!) The atmosphere seemed really
relaxed as you’ll have at trail runs. My
kids were happy even in the cool weather (40*) because there was a Pokestop
right there. Plus, I could park just yards from the start/finish so they stayed
in the car to stay warm between races.
10:00 and the first race, a 4k, is ready to start. We are told by the Race Director that the
trail would be marked with white flags on our right. Simple enough. I wear a leash around my waist for running
with my dog. I like to have my hands
free and she has more freedom that way as well.
Guinness is nervous as we lined up in the crowd. She did not like the start, she got confused
when the crowd started running forward but she figured it out quickly. We ran down the parking area and through some
fields. Guinness was loving it. She was full out sprinting as I was working
hard to keep up with her! We stayed off
to the side so it was easier to maneuver.
After about a mile, we entered the trails. And they were trails that I hadn’t been on,
which I was so surprised about. Single
track, covered completely in fallen leaves.
Guinness was sure-footed and leading me along. We were in a line of people, up and down the
hills, over the roots and around the trees.
There were a few times that she went one way and the course went the
other but for the most part, she did very well.
Things did get tricky at a steep ravine.
The runners came to a stop as people were going one by one down the
ravine, over the little creek and back up an equally steep slope. I knew it wouldn’t be safe to keep Guinness
on the leash so as we got closer, I undid her leash and encouraged her to find
a way down. She was pretty surefooted
and got across without much difficultly.
I told her to stay as I climbed down and up myself. But as I looked up as I was climbing hand
over hand up the slope, she was gone! I
got really nervous and started calling her name, over and over again as I ran
on the trail. Soon I glimpsed her,
running along the trail, with other runners.
As I called her name and whistled, I could see her pause and wait to see
me and then start running with the next runner.
Another runner managed to slow Guinness down and soon I caught up to her
and got her back on the leash.
We continue on the trail and soon cross a grassy area that I
know is near the finish area. My Garmin
was showing just short of 2 miles so I knew we had a little more to go so I
followed the runners in front of me into the woods again on another trail. I’m not right behind anyone but I’m within 20
feet of them. I notice that the flags
that I’m seeing are orange and old looking and on the left instead of the
right. But I’m following a group so I’m
not lost, right? Yeah, about .4 miles
into the trail, I see a big backup of about 15 runners just stopped. I thought it was another ravine slowing people
down. Then I hear one runner yelling to
the group that we’re lost, that it wasn’t the right trail. The group decides to cut through the woods to
try and find the right trail. That lasts
about 100 yards and a few of us decide to go back to the trail and double back
to where we entered the woods. The rest
of the group decides to continue on the trail.
I’m the last in the group and Guinness and I are pushing along. She’s getting a tired and drops behind me as
I continue on. Soon we were out of the
woods and I see white flags marking a trail that was off the right of the trail
I had been on. Sigh. There were volunteers here now and I asked
where I should go, my Garmin was showing 2.6 miles so I knew I had reached
4k. They told me to just run to the
finish line so I do that. Kylie and
Matthew were there, cheering Guinness and I on as we crossed together! 2.8 miles, 35:29. Kylie said the first runner finished in 14
minutes, then another about 16:00 and 18:00.
But then none for a long time so the volunteers headed out on bikes to
find where people had gotten lost at.
About 10 minutes later, I saw members of the group that went the other
way on the trail finish up so I was very happy that I had just turned around on
the trail. I grabbed some Gatorade and
got a cup of water for Guinness. I told
Kylie that Guinness would not be coming with me for the next races, it was just
too scary to have to her running without the leash.
11:00 was the start of the 5k. I paid much better attention to the RD when
he explained that we would be looking for the “dirty orange flags on our right.” The man next to me, who was the one who
noticed that we were lost, yelled “I’ve already run those trails!” and everyone
laughed. We start running and I kept my
eyes open for those dirty orange flags!
I was running at a good pace but once I was on the trails, I had to run
at the person in front’s pace, which I didn’t mind at first. But after some time, I was getting anxious to
move faster. The trails we were on were
more familiar, although run backwards from what I was used to. I would get around people when the course
gave me room. Then out of frustration, I
decided that I had as much right to ask someone to move aside as anyone else
did. So, I did that and was soon passing numerous people and running hard. There were several ravines to climb down and
up that slowed me down. But soon, I was
in sight of the finish line and Kylie, with Guinness, yelled for me to sprint
(she’s getting back at me after I yelled at her all XC season!) I finished in 32:56 and my Garmin read
2.84. I didn’t know how I could have
missed a turn and others said their Garmins where short as well so I felt ok
about it. On a whim, I went to the
results table and was surprised to see that I was 1st in my AG for
the 5k. I asked if there was an award
but they are only given to the winners for all 3 races. I explained that I had gotten lost in the 4k
and they didn’t have those results but that many had gotten lost so I might
still be ok.
The last race started at 12:20, a little late because they
wanted to give all the finishers from the 5k a chance to finish. I decided that I needed to start closer to
the front in order to avoid getting caught behind slower runners. So I made my way towards the front and ran
hard from the very beginning. We were following
red flags this time and it was a true out and back. The start was good and I was feeling very
comfortable. The trail was the same
start of the marathon that I had run in August and I knew it wasn’t difficult,
no huge hills or ravines to climb. So I
kept the pace fast, passing as I needed to but for the most part, the runners
in front of me were my pace. As I was
running, I was thinking that maybe they figured the awards by cumulative time
so the faster I could finish this race, the better chance I had of erasing the deficit
I had in the 4k. The trails again were
all covered with leaves but I didn’t have problems with the roots or
rocks. Soon the front runners had
reached the turn around and were passing me on their way back. I kept an eye out for women and counted only
4 before I hit the turn around. I know I
can pick up the pace so I keep pushing hard.
There were about .8 miles of paved road or trail so I try to pass and
speed up here. I only walked up one hill
and that was only for about 10 feet. I
pass one female on a steep hill and I keep pushing to get distance between
us. Soon, I was on the grassy road that
led to the finish area. I really kick to
the finish and actually yelled to Kylie as I passed the car, I was way ahead of
pace so she wasn’t ready for me! I had
to loop around a few trees before finishing so she got to the finish to cheer
me on. I hit my stop button on my Garmin
and was stunned to see 34:38, yes, that’s right, both my 5k and 6k were faster
then my 4k! And my 6k was only 1:18
slower than my 5k. The course was easier
but I was also really running my hardest, a 10 on effort, no letting up. I finished 22/217 overall, 4/132 women and
1/50 for my AG.
The final results are interesting. My cumulative time was 1:43:05, which put me
at 23rd overall and 5th female. Looks like they award the top 3 finishers for
male and female only so I won’t get a AG award.
But that’s ok, I know that if I hadn’t gotten lost, I would have taken
probably 9 minutes off my time, which would have put me in the top 12
finishers.
So, to recap, I’ll be back next year. And Kylie wants to run it as well. It’s well organized, the medal is the size of
a dinner plate and it’s inexpensive for 3 races. I would highly recommend!
