2024 Kent Turkey Trot Review

I had a great time at the Kent Turkey Trot with 900 other runners. I know there were 900 because I helped with packet pick up last night and again this morning and couldn’t believe how many Turkey Trotters there actually were!

It was a cold morning with precipitation changing back and forth between light rain and wet snow.  Luckily just before the start it all seemed to stop.  The start of the race was a little crowded with such a large field.   I knew the first couple of turns on the course would be tight so I went out hard and fast to avoid being bottlenecked.  My first mile was a 6:40 pace which was faster than I wanted or would have imagined.  The second mile I slowed down to around a 7 mile pace.  The wooden bridges and boardwalks were covered in a wet slush making them very slippery forcing me to slow down a little more than I wanted.  I did find some dry spots near the edge of the boardwalk that were easier to run on helping me to make up a little time.  The turn around point I slowed down some as the last mile had a slow uphill slope.  Retuning over the slush covered bridge again slowed me down.  The last part of the boardwalk had an uphill slope to it making it very slick and challenging to get over.  Once past that I was back to a better pace until the 3 mile marker and I turned left to “The Hill”.  What an evil way to end a race!  The Hill is extremely steep and just long enough to crush your soul.  I had practiced The Hill a couple of times on training runs but never at race pace.  I tried to take it easy up The Hill but I was gassed and by the time I hit the top I was barely running.   I wanted to sprint the last 50 meters or so to the finish line but it took me about half of that to recover.

My goal was to finish around 22:00 minutes. I finished in 22:16 placing first in my age division and 55th overall. If it weren’t for the slushy slippery bridges and ridiculous hill at the 3 mile marker I might have run under 22:00 minutes!

It was great seeing all of my Team-ER teammates, running friends, and even my cousins from California out there on the course.

Participants receive a crew sweatshirt or fleece blanket and there were plenty of snacks at the finish.  There were no finisher medals which might have been nice.  Award winners received medals and first place finishers also received a pumpkin pie with their medal.  I look forward to eating mine!

Thank you to Josh Ritchie, Mickey Rzymek, and all of the volunteers that helped make the race a great experience.
Congratulations to everyone that conquered the hill and crossed the finish line!