The day finally came.
I ran a 5K on Thanksgiving Day.
I’m no gazelle (yet) so I should clarify that it went like this: Five-minute runs and one-minute walks in sequence until the finish line.
My friend Stan and I determined a few months back that we would do this and cross that line together – and we were happy that our friend Buck joined us. Buck has been running for years, but he made it clear that he was coming out to support us by running with us at a pace we could handle.
The event was the 15th Annual Myrtle Beach Turkey Trot, and it took place in an area called The Market Common – a mixed-use, residential and retail community on the spot that used to be the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base.
More than a thousand runners participated – of all skill levels. There were awards for overall time, age group-specific awards and other accolades – but Stan and I determined that we simply wanted to finish so we could say we did it.
And we did.
I only recently started to focus on my fitness and have never been an athletic sort. But thanks to my son, I have been working a training regimen that Wes designed for me, and for a couple of years I have been running the half-mile loop in the subdivision behind my place – with proper shoes and a determination to build up my endurance.
The last time I was anywhere near a running regimen was back in 1977 or 1978 in Los Angeles with my twin brother and our friend David. It’s unbelievable how much time has passed since then – and even then, running a mile was Herculean.
I remember my first pair of Nikes back then. I had never heard of them until David either bought them for us or told our dad about them. Neon green with big waffle soles overshooting the body of the shoe.
That running regimen fizzled out in short order.
Back to now: It’s funny how on the days before an event like the Turkey Trot, something happens that threatens to derail the whole thing – like, I bruised the side/bottom of my foot on my last practice run. I don’t know how it happened, but it happened.
There was no way I was going to cheese out, so I asked Wes for some lifting tape to I could wrap part of that foot. This seemed to help, and by day the foot is starting to feel better. I’ll keep an eye on it.
I was nervous about running, for sure, but I was also anxious about getting there, parking and sorting everything out. I should have known those parts were much easier than I had anticipated.
We crossed that finish line together, as planned – and made a lifetime memory in the process.
I am already thinking about doing it again.
Roger Yale 