A Dash of Dash

On Thanksgiving the kids and I participated in the YMCA Turkey Dash.  Remember I vowed to kick my oldest's booty in the race?  I guess I did because he was a DNS.  He woke up claiming stomach problems, blah, blah, blah.  He made a quick recovery about the time the sweet potatoes were ready
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I broke my own rule of not wearing the race shirt until the race is finished.  Also I am instituting a new rule: No pictures prior to 7 am.

Shaye Baby and Tayte enjoyed some dress up too.

My older brother came to run and my younger brother came to drink cheer us on.

My older brother was less than impressed with his get up.

The Coach doesn't seem to be a fan of the headdresses either. Hmph.  (Is he checking out the "talent" here?  Certainly not.  But if he is I'll forgive.  He does hang out at a lot of races for me.)

Tanner : 9:10

Saigie: 11:07

Here are Tanner and Saige finishing up their races.  (Saige is the one in the cool Christmas socks.)  I thought they both did very well and they seemed to have a good time.  Yay for them!

                                                                Guns: 26:17 

My brother, Guns,  hasn't run in a race since high school - which by the way was a long long time ago.   He was teasing at the start that he should be further to the front with the fast people.  A young guy in front of him told him he needed go further back. 

As I was getting to the turn the same guy ran up to me and said, "Hey is that guy you are running with back there?"  I told him my brother had already made the turn and was way ahead of us.  He poured on the speed trying to catch up to him.  I finally took pity on the kid and said, "He's in the army, you know."  At that point the guy gave up.  It's tough to get beat by an old guy huh?

I should note here, my brother didn't pack heat for the race.  I am shocked this didn't cause him to run lopsided, or throw off his balance in any way.

Guns was nice enough to loop back around and finish with me.  For some reason though he felt I should top my lackluster race off with a full out sprint.  At that point Tanner decided to join in by jumping out in front of me while I was going full speed.  I thought I was going to wreck at full speed.  But with agility and grace I managed to narrowly avoid that.
So I finished with a very disappointing 31:14, proving that one can only consume so much queso and beer before it begins to affect quickness - both physical and mental. (I was hoping to run it in less than 29:00.  Oh well...there is always next year.)

Shaye may run next year too.  She seemed ready!

Overall I had a great time with The Coach, the kids, my brothers and my dad.  After the race we headed over to my mom's where my sister in law made a Norweigian concoction that is both a drink and a snack.  My mom made all of the yummiest Thanksgiving dishes.  She also carried on her strange tradition of using her label maker to label all the desserts.  (Thanks for making it easy to find the Rice Krispy Treats, Mom!)

I was truly grateful for the relaxation and the time we spent with family.

(I am sorry this post was about as long as the race.)

What are your favorite Thanksgiving traditions??