The crowds were thick and it took us a few mintues to get to the actual starting line. Unfortunately starting at the back meant dodging alot of slow people. The first two miles were nothing but zig-zagging back and forth to try and find a group going my pace. Every time I would pass a group of people I would hear gasps and "OH MY GOD!"s and hysterical laughter coming from everyone I passed. Even heard a few people yell my name. Turns out that one of them was Brandt, but I was feeling good and running fast at the time so I never looked back.

After two miles we got into Deep Ellum and the crowds finally started to thin. I was still passing people up a a good clip but everyone was more spread out so I could hold a straighter line. I started to focus more and more on my turnover and breathing and got into a very good rhythm. Finally saw the mile 3 marker and could check my pace. I was just a hair shy of my 5K PR pace and still felt fresh. So I kept pushing to see how long I could keep it up. Running around Reunion Arena I passed a kid wearing nothing but a pair of Texas flag shorts and gave him a little grief for being so overdressed. Hit the mid-way point and was just a hair over half an hour. My "if I have a perfect race" time in the back of my head was one hour flat. I knew that I had a chance to make it but I was already pushing as hard as I realistically could and now needed a 1:00 negative split. This won't be easy.

Came to Houston Street bridge and mile 5. A long uphill run and then a long downhill run. This is where I started to loose my focus and I could feel my pace catching up with me. I had been hearing people laugh and cheer and gasp at me all day but suddenly a girl I had just pasted came flying back up and slapped me on the ass as she passed. Now there's a great motivator! I went back to focusing on my turnover again and quickly passed her back. A one hour finish was still in sight.

Coming off the bridge I talked for a short bit with a girl who knew me from PrairieMan. I feel so much more at home when I have other triathletes to talk to during a race. I saw David(dgillen) running the opposite direction as I got near the turn around at mile six. Made the turn and knew that I only had to keep this up for two more miles, but my time goal would be really close. Ran into a guy who knew me from Iron Star and antoher guy from Stonebridge Ranch.

Mile 7 and I was almost home. I looked at my watch and a one hour finish would mean nearly a six minute mile. Damn. That just wasn't going to happen. So I had to hang on for dear life and at least finish as close to one hour as I could. Enjoyed the looks I got from the crowds as I came down the final straightaway and thought about how nice it would be to finally put some pants on.

I missed my goal by less than a minute but did put up a negative split. A 0:01 negative split, but that still counts. I was just happy that I was able to put up a steady pace that was nearly 7:30/mile.

Not much. I ran strong and steady the whole way. My turkey costume was obviously outrageous and people loved it. Not sure if it will turn into a tradition though.

Walked around to cool down and got myself an orange. I would have grabbed something to drink and more food but the crowds were just ridiculous. I watched finishers come in for a few minutes hoping to see Mike. But it was Thanksgiving which means I have Cowboy tickets so I didn't have much time to wait around. I walked back to my Jeep, got lots of funny looks along the way, and headed out of Dallas.


Nothing but the crowds. That was about as fast as I can run 8 miles right now.


Great race. It's the largest Thanksgiving day race in the country (by nearly 10,000 people) so I'll definitely be back. Only reason this race didn't get a 5 was because they could have done a lot better job of setting up the food at the finish. We'll have to wait and see if I pull the speedo and feathers stunt again next year.