Turkey Trot 2008

Somehow I managed to get 12 out of the possible 14 family members to participate in this year's Turkey Trot! It was quite a fun race! Last year, the race was extremely cold. This year, the race started off a little chilly, but it was mostly foggy and turned out to be a pretty mild temperature. Being my first race back since my pregnancy, I was pretty excited when my brother's girlfriend, Faith, encouraged me to run most of the race with her. Last year, after running the whole race, my time was around 30:58. I also started the race with the 7 minute milers whereas this year I started almost at the very back with the joggers/walkers because I didn't think I was going to run much of it. That being said, after running probably at least 2.25 miles of the 3 mile race, this year my time was around 43:49. I was proud of that because I hadn't run since last December!! I also was stuck behind a bunch of walkers at times. What an accomplishment regardless! I hope to get back into running more in the coming year--especially when I can put Brody in a running stroller. My mom, my sister's friend Shoko, Faith, and my two nephews Wes & Joe, also ran a lot of or all of the race. Everyone else had a great time walking, talking, and enjoying the trail through the woods next to the Red River. I was so glad everyone came out to participate depite the early morning start time! I hope this becomes a tradition as it is something that I really enjoy doing each year and it was a lot more fun with everyone being there! =)

Back Row: my brother David, my dad, Dave's sister Mary, my nephew Wes, Dave

Middle Row: my brother's girlfriend Faith, my mom, my nephew Joe

Front Row: my sister's friend Shoko, my sister's friend Nori, my sister Liz, me

While we ran, Brody stayed back at our house with his Granny and Grandpa Williams. I know Mary really enjoyed spending time with him even though he slept a lot of the time. I was really worried as to how this would go because he hadn't been taking a bottle up until this particular week and I knew we would be gone a few hours. It was the longest I had been away from him but fortunately the race kept my mind occupied or I would have been worrying the whole time (and not because of who was keeping him! His Granny and Grandpa are VERY capable of taking good care of him!). They only gave a good report when we arrived home, so I am glad that the whole bottle thing went well--what a relief and answered prayer!!

Grandpa and Granny Williams (Dave's parents)

Shoko, me, Brody, Nori, and Liz the morning of the race

all the MANY race participants

hanging out before and after the race

The race through the woods... you can see the single file line that was formed the whole way through as well as the very thick fog that covered the river as we passed by. The river was beautiful because of the fog...

Jumping while taking a picture was something that Nori, Shoko, and Liz are known for...when Dave and I visited Japan last year, the three of them included Dave and I in their fun. We took a couple pictures like that at various landmarks in Japan. We thought it would be fun to do it again....the ones of people actually in the air are of Liz, Nori, Shoko, and I. We tried to get a group picture, but the guy taking the picture was obviously not good at timing the shots......as you can see! =)

Dave and I together at the end of the race (ignore the time on the clock...this was MUCH later than either of us finished!)

enjoying the jambalaya after the race

our race emcee...he's always quite entertaining