City of Conroe Turkey Trot 5K Race Report

Working my way backward, Friday morning brought us the City of Conroe Turkey Trot 5K at Carl Barton, Jr. Park.

The plan was to meet Bill at the Park at 6:30 a.m. to set up The Woodlands Running Club tent. We expected the cold temperatures again, but were hoping that the rains that we experienced on Saturday weren't going to move in sooner. If so, the multi-terrain and predominately cross country course would have been mush.

It was a morning, after staying up a little too late on Thursday night, that I really didn't want to get up for.

Nonetheless, Waverly and I were out of the door by 6 a.m. We stopped at the Shell station at the corner of Rayford/Sawdust and Interstate 45. Those familiar with the intersection would ask, "Which one?" as there are three of them! I picked up a copy of the Courier to see the incredible headline, "Home Cook-ing" to describe Thursday's Run Thru The Woods 5-Miler win by Andrew and Melissa Cook of Denton. (Andrew Cook qualified for this year's U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, while Melissa is hoping to qualify for the 2008 10,000-meter trials in July. She was 6th in 2004.)

We were no more than a couple of minutes from exiting Loop 336 to meet Bill on time when 93Q indicated that they were broadcasting live from the Conroe Outlet Mall. What does that have to do with running, you ask?

Well, they were giving away tickets to the next 10 people that came up and said the secret phrase, "Frosty The Snowman will not melt today."

Waverly and I took one look at each other. I asked who she wanted to go see if we got there soon enough and she said, "Miranda Lambert". I'm glad that this isn't an open blog anymore as we proceeded up to exit 91 off Interstate 45 a little bit fast. When we arrived to the Outlet Center, we at first couldn't find where they were setup. Once we did, we pulled up and Waverly was off running not even feelings the effects of her three-mile effort the day before.

I parked the truck, hustled over and she had just been given the tickets. Thinking that they might mention something over the air about the 5K (I had to try), I told the main individual of the trio where we were headed. He said that he had done the Turkey Trot in Sugar Land yesterday. I said, "Andy Stewart's event." He said, "Andy's a great guy." And, of course, I quickly agreed. He introduced himself, now runner to runner, "I'm Kevin Kline." I then told him that I knew all about he and his Snowdrop Foundation through Andy's e-mails.

We called Bill to explain the delay. Mr. Easy Going said that he, Andrew and Stephen Smith were about done setting up the tent. (Perhaps it was fitting that Stephen then won Dana-Sue's book the next day.)

Andrew Perry and Mick Long were setting up the Luke's Locker tower. (I didn't learn until later in the day that one of them had blown over at Run Thru The Woods.) Mike Lucas was there as well.

I soon got to meet Christine O'Hagan, the City of Conroe's Special Events Coordinator and Race Director for this event. She is a very nice young woman who is extremely enthusiastic about what was going on.

The only glitch that they had was getting the information into Gary Mulvehill's lap top for the event to be chip-timed. Otherwise, organizationally, the event came off very well. (There was a little concern about if there would be a lead vehicle that would take the first runners through the course, but by the time I made it to their same spots on the course the chalk line was still very visible and there were volunteers in key places.)

This is the second time that I've done this event in its three years, and I've been extremely pleased with it.

It was just incredible watching the people that we saw the day before doing Run Thru The Woods. These folks were coming to do the Triple. Unreal. It was taking on a life of its own!

And then Bill's daughter, Keriann, showed up to run with him. (I'll get to run with Waverly again next Sunday during the Jingle Bell Run in downtown Houston. I may even put on the antlers.)

I don't have my mile splits here in Pasadena with me, but I remember running miles 1 and 2 fairly close then slowed down during the third mile. (The 3-mile marker was too close to the finish line.) In fact, I remember not pressing my watch hard enough at the mile one marker.

Karen Felicidario was a good little bit ahead of me and I had Ron Longtin in striking distance at the mile 2 marker, but I needed a quick blow or two. I let him slip away. I was a little frustrated with myself after having run pretty well the day before. As we made a left-hand turn on the far corner of a soccer field, I took a look to see Ken Johnson off in the distance.

However, it was a little closer for my comfort so I picked things up again (or so it felt like it).

I had Ron within 20 seconds in the last half mile, but couldn't make up any of that time. My chip time was 31:59. I'm not even sure what my time was on the same course a year ago. In a sense, who cares? I had fun ... and I beat Bill for the second day in a row. Plus two of my Texas Independence Relay teammates were there, Dave Smart and Karen.

The official results are posted here on Runner Triathlete News.

Like the Tyler Half, the post-race food hit the spot -- Chick-Fil-A! I got with Christine and she let me say a little bit about the Triple. I thanked her for letting us be a part of their event and when she gave me the microphone, I made sure that people knew their effort to put on a first-class event was appreciated.

As the awards were going on, I got a chance to meet Rand Henderson from Conroe who introduced me to Stuart Simmons, from Willis, who is involved with the Conroe Triathletes. Good people. One of their triathletes, Meredith Bryarly, won the women's overall while Ruth Fields, who writes for the Courier, took the women's masters division.

I also met Lauren Arnold, the Parks and Recreation director; however, I was a bit embarrassed because I always thought that Lauren was a "she" until I saw that "he" was one spot in front of me in my age group. Oops! Nice guy. He said that the City of Conroe is getting more grant money to build more trails and Christine shared with Bill and I that she's got some exciting plans coming in the future.

All in all, it was a great morning. After a few of us helped Bill get the tent down and back into its case, Bill, Waverly and I were off to I-HOP in The Woodlands along Interstate 45 for breakfast and to continue planning and strategizing for our October event.