WORKOUT BEFORE THE PIGOUT
ABQ runners/walkers take part in what is now a Thanksgiving tradition
The Lean Mean Green Bean Casserole Machine is made up of four of the more than 2,000 people throughout Albuquerque who laced up their shoes for a road race before Thanksgiving meal preparations.
The Broderick family — wife Jill, husband Tom, Cate, 11, and Connor, 8 — race together every Thanksgiving. Several years ago, they decided on their “team name” as a nod to their Midwesterner roots, where the casserole is a favorite side dish. And the Brodericks’ bright green shirts with the dish embroidered across the front help them find each other at the finish line.
“When they were babies, we used to push them in strollers,” said Tom, whose family competed in the Albuquerque Turkey Trot around Tingley Beach and Kit Carson Park. “It’s fun to get out with a lot of people and you get some exercise before you go home for turkey dinner.”
Overeating isn’t the only tradition on Thanksgiving. More people run in an official race on the holiday than any day of the year, according to Running in the USA. Close to a million people were expected to run a race throughout the country. Albuquerque saw a good turnout in its Thanksgiving races.
The Albuquerque Turkey Trot, in its 34th year, had 870 runners, said Magi Essard, race director. At Balloon Fiesta Park, the Albuquerque Turkey Trek drew more than 700 runners, said race director Tom Rojas. The Hobbler Gobbler in Rio Rancho had about 750 people in either the 10- or 5-kilometer races or the kids’ kilometer run, said Steve Pino, the race director.
“It was amazing. I can’t believe the turnout. It was a beautiful route,” Faith Chavez said of the Turkey Trot, where runners dashed down Tingley Drive before bounding down the Paseo del Bosque trail in the 5-kilometer race.
It was Chavez’s first Thanksgiving race. She ran with her daughter-in-law, while her son and three grandchildren cheered them on.
“I think it’s so you have a guilt-free Thanksgiving day,” she said of the tradition. “And just the family fun.”
The races drew a mix of runners. Some cleared the course in fast times in an effort to nab gift cards or prize money — the Trek and Trot each gave prizes to top finishers — while other runners pushed strollers, towed their dogs or walked and chatted throughout the course.
Wanda and Duane Matt, of Colorado, decided to walk and visit with other participants during the Turkey Trot this year. The walking was to the chagrin of Sheldin, their Chihuahua-Greyhound mix. The speedy pooch can throw down 6-minute miles if given the chance, Duane said.
“It’s a great way to get out and be part of the community,” Wanda said. “We walked this one and he wanted to run.”