Thanksgiving Sunday Gobbler Gallop and Giblet Jog

Last year I ran the main race alone and my grandsons Noah and Hunter did the Giblet Jog for little kids. The race is held in a kid-friendly park, and the children run with a giant human dressed as a seal, and every child gets a finishing medal with a ribbon that says - I Jogged for the Food Bank. At the end of my race Noah told me that he wanted to run with me next time because everybody in my race got free water at the end...lol

So - this year I had lots of company in my race. My partner Reg has been running since early spring, and we entered him AND Noah in the main race. Hunter ran in the Giblet Jog and finished very quickly. We had to coax him to go last year, but he's 5 now and a bit more sure of himself. He only agreed to come this year because we told him there would be pizza and ice cream.

Neither Reg or Noah have ever run 5k, and they both started out way too fast for their capabilities, but they got a good lead on the pack before they had so slow down to walk. The pack was almost all Moms or Dads with kids, with the exception of a couple of guys in serious race gear who looked seriously ridiculous trying to outrun families. Some people eh? LOL

At about the half way mark Noah was burned out. He's only 7, and it was a very hot day, and he wasn't dressed for heavy activity. I had to really talk him into taking his ball cap off and walking for a while. He was afraid we were going to be last. When I told him that we had already passed so many people that there was no chance of being last, he relented and walked until we got near the finish line. Hunter saw us approaching and ran onto the road to run across the finish line with us. Hot Dogger Grandpa had already finished.

Noah was happiest to be able to pour a couple of cups of water over his head - and he didn't even have to pay for them! I told him to go and check the prize board, and thank the powers that watch over small boys he run a prize!! He got a Saucony bag with a pair of socks and a t-shirt inside, both of them miles too big for him, but he didn't care. He kept the t-shirt and gave the socks to Grandpa. Pizza, popsicles and ice cream topped off the morning and a fantastic time was had by all.

Watch Noah's video race report here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lw2JLwKDiA