Thanksgiving 2013: Ellie's first road race.

Pete loves a good Thanksgiving-morning road race.  Helps him feel like he's really earned all the stuffing he eats.  (The man puts back an ungodly amount.  Just ask Grandma about his stuffing sandwich in 2008.)  When we started going to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving in 2009, one of the first things Pete did was check for a local race.

Luckily, the nearby town of Honeybrook hosts an annual 5K - The Tel-Hai Turkey Bowl.  In 2009 Pete and I both ran it.  In 2010 I was pregnant with Ellie and ran/walked part of it, and my Uncle Corky joined us.  In 2011 both Uncle Richard and Uncle Corky joined Pete, I sat in the car with a sleeping Ellie.  Last year Ellie and I watched Pete (and Corky and Rich) while they ran.  This year, my cousin Logan came with the Uncles, and....Ellie ran it!!!  Well, she ran in the Kids Fun Run which precedes the race.  It is a one-mile event, and Ellie's goal was to complete a half-mile, or one loop of the course (a much longer distance than the dash she ran this summer at Midsummer Night's Run). 

Getting her number pinned.

Funny aside:  Just before the race, Ellie had a run-in with The Turkey.  Ellie is not a fan of costumed characters (the Chick-fil-a cow, Santa Claus, etc).  Last year she was totally freaked out at the sight of the big turkey and a man running in a pilgrim costume.  This year, she was still afraid of him, and I got really nervous of what would happen when he walked up to her and gave her a rowdy, "gobble, gobble!"  She stood tall on her two feet and said in her best Stranger Danger voice, "I GO WITH MY MOMMY!!"

The starting lineup - we're in the back on the right - can you see my headband?

And we're off!

We tried our best to keep Caroline warm

Rounding the corner for the finish.

Corky cheering on our littlest runner.

Ellie completed one loop in 6:50 - we were SO proud of her!  She ran the whole way and we think she might have been able to do the complete mile had it not been so cold - it was only 25 degrees. 

Happy girl after the race.

 We happily went back inside the meeting hall and drank hot chocolate and ate oranges while waiting for Daddy to finish his race.  Since we were inside, I have no pictures of Pete running (a first for me), but he came in 7th overall with a time 18:07.  A guy in suspenders and long pants beat him at the last minute - those Mennonites can be fast!!  (He was a really nice guy, though, introduced himself to us after the race.)  Can't wait for next year!!