Turkey and TATURs--Pros and Cons

Ninth running of the Turkey and TATURs 50K

PROs and CONs

Con--having only 60 people registered 2 weeks before the race.

Pro--having 144 by race day!!! :-)

Pro--you got an extra hour of sleep due to the time change.

Con--you negated that extra hour by forgetting to set your clocks and added insult to injury by getting up before the butt crack of dawn to get to the 6:30 start.

Pro--beautiful fall foliage.

Con--the leaves covered up the rocks which lay waiting to trip every trail runner they could.

Pro--race course is marked well and almost no one got lost.

Con--15 miles of ribbons to remove.

Pro--running with your friends.

Con--following your friends after they made a wrong turn and getting in a couple of bonus miles.

Pro--being alone and at one with nature.

Con--getting caught by a runner while on a potty break.

Pro--nice single track trailz for which Turkey Mountain is famous.

Con--you're running right through the future parking lot of the damn outlet mall.

Pro--running 50K on trailz.

Con--where did all the roots rocks and hills come from on the second lap?????

Pro--great aid station food every 3 miles.

Con--gaining 6 pounds by the end of the race.

Pro--Enjoying the scenery.

Con--getting chicked.

Pro--the darn race is over--got my my shirt, medal, and I'm done.

Con--already thinking of an upcoming longer race.

Congratulations to everyone who ran. Special high fives to the winners, and especially Mark Thompson who shattered the 25K course record. Results can be viewed here.

Special wam emotional thanks to all the super volunteers. 

• To Susan Melon Westmoreland for filling in for Dana at the start/finish--besides her work with the shirts. 
• To Brian/TATUR racing for doing such a good accurate job with the timing.
• To Michelle Bates who helped out from early til late with signups and the finish line food
• To Amelia Elbert for helping out with the food.
• To Cindy, Wes, and Dana  for making chili.
• To Jessi Wiley for manning the aid station at the start/finish--she had to deal with those rascally 50Kers between loops.
• To Scott Smailgo who helped with signup and helped Jessi all day
• To Bobby and Susan who manned the aid station at the lower parking lot. This is their 4th or 5th year doing this!!
• To Charlotte and Bill for manning the aid station at the split. Charlotte has racked up a few years of aid station service herself.
• To Pumpkin Holler 135.6 mile legend Jbob Jones and his girlfriend for manning the station at the top of LipBuster. 
• To Edward for helping me set up aid stations at 3:00 am. (It was supposed to be 4:00 am, but someone forgot to change his clock.)
• To Lynna, Arnold, Thomas, Stormy, Phillip, Wes, and Jeremy for helping me mark the course.
• To Lynna, Arnold, and Russell for pulling course markings, (LOVE YOU!)
• To River Parks and the West SIde YMCA for letting us hold our race each year. (We will be able again to donate to the YMCA to help kids go to summer camp.)