Ed Thanksgiving's Group Run

Ed Thanksgiving runs a trail half marathon every year on Thanksgiving. I found out about it in 2021 via Strava. Although Ed and I are essentially the same age, he's a faster runner than I am, so it's a bit intimidating to run with him.

After his run, people hang out and eat a little and have a beer. As such, the invitation asks people to finish their run at a particular time, meaning the slower runners need to start earlier. Last year I started earlier, but this year I (foolishly?) decided to run with the main group. I figured they can't all be as fast as Ed, and I was right. Sort of.

What the fast people would do is run at a pace that most of us couldn't maintain then get to some juncture where the navigationally challenged might need assistance, and wait. That was sufficient to keep me motivated to run quicker than I'd normally run. It also meant that my fear of getting too cold due to having to run at someone else's pace was completely unfounded. As such, as I was able to shed all my layers until I was just wearing my shorts, shoes and an ultra-vest with my shirt, hat and arm sleeves tucked inside.

In my Strava entry I noted:

I blowed up! Repeatedly. Part of it had to do with me being ridiculously overdressed at the start. […]

We got back to Jim's and had excellent conversation and beer.

I am very thankful for my running (and non-running) friends.

Whee!

Whee indeed. Thank you, Ed!