{"id":17308,"date":"2016-11-27T09:23:44","date_gmt":"2016-11-27T14:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=17308"},"modified":"2022-05-25T06:36:41","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T11:36:41","slug":"ramble-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/ramble-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Ramble On"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s the Thanksgiving weekend and I’m feeling a bit lazy. I think I’ll just ramble on for awhile instead of writing a real article. Those of you reading from countries without a similar holiday may not understand much about Thanksgiving<\/a>. In the United States it involves several days of overeating to the point of immobility, and sitting on a couch watching (American) football games all day. I’m not motivated to put the necessary research into writing something mentally stimulating. You might want to skip today and come back next time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Turkey Trot<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A slightly more athletic Thanksgiving activity formed in recent years, a “traditional” running race known as the Turkey Trot. Races tend to start early on Thanksgiving morning before culinary indulgences can sideline potential participants. They cover short distances, like maybe 5 kilometres or 5 miles. That way people can pretend they’re behaving in a healthy manner when, in fact, they’re simply getting ready to stuff themselves silly in a few hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Arlington<\/a>
My local Turkey Trot a couple years ago. I didn\u2019t take any photos this year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our local neighborhood began its Turkey Trot about a decade ago. My wife took great pride in signing me up the last couple years. I think she enjoyed tormenting me. There I stood on the start line once again this year at precisely 8:00 am, ready to hit the pavement with 3,000 of my closest friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I finished in first place for my age bracket. That should never happen. I’m not that fast. Then I noticed that she’d accidentally signed me up as a woman. For a few brief moments I claimed to be the fastest middle-aged woman in town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once corrected however, I fell down to fourth place for my age bracket. That still sounded impressive although it also included participants dressed as pilgrims, or with plastic turkeys on their heads, or in full Santa Clause outfits, or walking dogs. My effort wasn’t all that notable in that context. Then I spent the rest of the day eating, as expected and customary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mainly Marathons<\/h2>\n\n\n\n