A happier turkey day

By martha On November 27, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Turkey Chase, Bethesda, MD November 24, 2011

The Nelson-Wechsler clan, 2010

In past years the Bethesda Rotary Turkey Chase has gone like this: Martha runs her guts out in an always drizzly/cold 10k along the miserable routes of Rockville Pike and Old Georgetown Road, going just fast enough to finish in the money but never fast enough to bring home the turkey, and then meets up with the munchkins (my cousins’ kids, pictured left) and old folks (my parents, also pictured left) after they finish the 2 mile Fun Run. The kiddies express great disappointment when I don’t win the race, I try to explain that 10ks are a bit tough on legs trained for a fall marathon, but Failure Martha is still allowed to eat some pie and turkey. And a nice fat check always arrives a few weeks later.

But in 2011 Things Would be Different.

Don't mess with Wrightie

Team Martha was going to kick some 2-mile Fun Run arse. We had ex-Duke-field-hockey-now-I-scoop-horse-poop Sarah Wright.

We had can-also-work-a-camera-in-the-other-direction Scwartzbard.

there's a new coverboy in town....

And of course we had Rosie & sneaky Mike. This was Rosie’s first road race, ever. But she would not be daunted. Rosie actually ended up being the sneaky one here, sprinting ahead of Mike at the very end to cross the line first. For some real sneakiness, check out this clip.

The Hoodenbaums

The kiddies could only look on in awe.

when are the old people going to finish?

Aaron and I decided that the 2 mile Fun Run could become a tradition. It was a heckuva lot more fun to run with Rosie & Mike than to kill ourselves in the 10k. Granted, we only opted for the shorter distance because Aaron’s Achilles flared up and I have a bizarre inflamed foot tendon (right under the ankle bone). As much as being injured is a drag, it’s been an excuse to learn new tricks. Marching around the woods taking pictures isn’t half bad. I’m still pretty psyched about catching the squirrel scratching: