The Turkey Trot... running with my family

Me and my sister Kathy

 Back in 2005 I ran my very first race.  It was the Turkey Trot 5k in my home town of Fresno, Ca.  Since that day in 2005 I've ran this race every year.  My sister Kathy was the reason I ran this race.  She was "the runner" in the family, not me.  I trained jiu-jitsu a lot and ran a couple miles from time to time so I could make weight for tournaments, but I was never really into running.  The Turkey Trot back in 2005 changed all that.  This was my intro into running a huge race and having fun running with a group of people in a racing environment.

Samantha and I

Kathy and I made the Turkey Trot a regular Thanksgiving tradition.  Soon my other sister Christine and her two daughters (my nieces) Samantha and Nicole joined us.  Sam never really seemed to enjoy herself out there, until recently.  Sam has really taken an interest in running in the last couple of years.  She has helped crew for me at a few of my ultras, and the day after her 16th birthday she ran her first half marathon.  She is now 17 and has ran 3 half marathons and wants to run a 50 miler soon.  Samantha plans on making the 2015 American River 50 miler her first 50 mile event.

Me and my wife Lori

When I first met my wife she understood that I was really into running and less than 2 months after we started dating she was already helping crew for me at 100 mile races.  When I met my wife Lori back in January of 2011 she told me she wasn't a runner, and had no plans on taking up running, and that was just fine with me.  At this time of my life I was running ultras like crazy, and dating someone who wasn't a runner was perfect.


When Lori and I spent our first Thanksgiving together, we were planning out how to spend our day, and I told her that my family would be at Woodward Park running the Turkey Trot early in the morning.  Lori though this was crazy, but she showed up and cheered everyone on.


When it came time to signup for the 2013 Turkey Trot I was a little surprised when Lori told me she wanted to do the race.  It was cool having her out there running.

I had an awesome time running the Turkey Trot once again.  It was honestly just hoping to finish the race in one piece.  November was a very heavy month for me.  November 3rd was the Fresno Marathon, the 9th-10th was the Rio del Lago 100 miler, the 16th-17th was my 130 mile run from Bakersfield to Fresno that benefited the Ronald McDonald House, the 23rd-24th was the run d'Amore 100 miler, and then finally the Turkey Trot 5k on the 27th.


I was very happy that I was able to finish a crazy month of running, and that my wife joined in on our family tradition of running a 5k on Thanksgiving morning.


So... what's next for me... and Lori... I'll update you all in just a couple days.  I will say this, March of 2014 will be pretty exciting.



Until next time...

KEEP RUNNING!!!!