St. Bernadette's Turkey Trot

St. Bernadette's Turkey Trot - race #11

     What a great way to get rid of the guilt of eating all that turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie! On a warm morning two days after Thanksgiving I was ready to race away the calories at St. Bernadette's Turkey Trot 5K race in Drexel Hill on Nov. 26. Over 200 people took part in the race, which benefitted the children of St. Bernadette Church and the school community. (See photos and video of the race at http://tinyurl.com/6mhqc7m).
   Arriving at the church, I picked up my bib and got in lined up on Bond Avenue with the other runners, including Kevin's sister Kathy and her boyfriend Ian. With tons of energy, we headed down towards Agnew Drive, where we turned left and passed Hillcrest Elementary School. We then banked left onto Marvine Avenue for several blocks. I ran in this area last May during St. Dorothy's 5K run and it's great! The terrain is mostly flat and the tree-lined streets and stone homes are such a gem of Drexel Hill. Compared to the hot, sunny day at the St. Dot's race, the cooler and cloudier weather was more my running style.
     After a quick left onto Ormond Ave. and a short right onto Bond Ave., we turned left at Lindale Ave. I felt good, though a little winded, and I was excited when Kathy informed we clocked an 8-minute mile. Once we made a left onto Dermond Ave., I was happy to see the residents who were cheering us on at 9 a.m. on a Saturday. The race volunteers were awesome too and the turns were clearly marked throughout the course.
     Nearing the homestretch, we made short lefts onto Blythe Ave. and then Marvine Ave. before turning right on Wilde Ave. and then Cedar Lane for the near straight shot to the finish line. With a left onto Shadeland, we turned at Bond Ave. and up a little hill (though by this point it felt like a gigantic mountain) and to the finish line with a time of 28:37. I was happy with my time and the race was a lot of fun! A new post-Thanksgiving tradition.
     This Saturday is the fourth annual Reindeer Run at the Lansdowne YMCA. I've run this race every year and it's a great way to kick off the holidays, I mean Santa runs with us!

Comments

Kevin Cain Make My Day 5K in Havertown - race #1

My goal is to run a 5K race each weekend in Delaware County (and one 10-miler in Philadelphia) for the next six weeks. They're fun, a goal I can work toward each week & they're almost all in a five-mile radius of my house. The races are usually $20, I get a T-shirt I can brag about & the money raised always go to a good cause. Back in 2008, my New Year's resolution was to run a 5K, and since then I've done 14 races. That year I started with the Kevin Cain Make My Day 5K in Havertown. (See photos & video of the race at http://tinyurl.com/6kfhcyb ). Being in good shape, I thought I could translate my swimmer's endurance from the pool to the pavement. It was a little bit tougher than that, and the Kevin Cain race is one of the more challenging 5K routes I've done. After taking off from it last year, I was back to race it last Sunday, April 3. It's a huge party, with a DJ pumping up the crowd beforehand and supporters line the ro

Forty Foot in Dublin Bay, Ireland

I love to mix a race with a vacation. When I ran a half-marathon in Arizona for my 40th birthday, we stayed for few days longer & visited the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Navajo National Monument, Antelope Canyon & Horseshoe Bend. Running & swimming are such great ways to experience a new environment. So when Kevin & I were planning our long-planned vacation to Ireland, I tried to find out if there were any open water swim races and/or groups I could join for a quick dip. I learned about the Dunmurry Dippers , a group that swims everyday at the Colin River in Northern Ireland, & the Walrus Winter Swimming Group , who jump into the Dublin Bay at Forty Foot. Logistically we could not meet up with the Dippers, so we set our sights on the Walruses. After picking up our rental car, which Kevin did an amazing job driving on the left side of the road, we headed to Forty Foot at the southern tip of Dublin Bay at Sandycove. If you don't have a car, Forty Foot is a

Swimming on in honor of Coach Rick Field

I thought of swimming as a solitary activity. The rhythmic breathing, 18-20 strokes to the wall, flip turn, repeat, blocking out all sound and sights and just following the black line. Other than being a part of my high school swim team, which I had joined because my friend Tara encouraged me, I’ve been swimming laps by myself for more than 20 years. Coach Rick I was in the pool at Rocky Run Y several years ago, when Rick Field walked over and told me my right hand was entering the water too far to the side. I had met Rick in 2011, when he first started as a swim coach and teacher at the Y. I didn’t know what to make of him at first, he seemed loud and maybe a bit pushy, but he grew on me and I saw how much he cared for his swimmers to succeed. The Cedar Island 5K So in November 2019, after many years of asking me to join his swim workouts, I broke away from the solitary swim life to be part of a team again. Every Sunday from 7-8:30 a.m., our swim group would try our best following

Exercising to the Beat of the Street

Search This Blog