November 22, 2018, marked the 10-year anniversary of when it all began.
Back in 2009, Jim Peters, Craig Britton, Jason Schwarz, Ross Kiehne, and myself scheduled Saturday morning runs on the bike trail. We’d usually aim for running five miles each time. We’d run at a talking pace, and it was a refreshing way to solve the world’s problems. For me, running has always cleared my head while helping me appreciate the natural beauty of our area that I never notice when I am flying by at 55 miles per hour in a vehicle.
At some point, one of us presented the idea of running from Lanesboro to Preston on Thanksgiving morning. It was more of a challenge to see who was up for running 10.3 miles on a day when most of us would otherwise eat, watch football, and nap. And, then it evolved into an event in which we would invite others to partake. I offered to help promote it in the Fillmore County Journal. We even decided to sell long-sleeved t-shirts with a logo design. This was probably a crazy idea, but we figured it’d be a great way to kick off our Thanksgiving festivities. If we burned 2,000 calories before we consumed 2,000 calories, we’d be at net zero for the day.
We coined ourselves “The Unofficial Running Club of Fillmore County.” We didn’t want to make it sound like we were professionals. This was just for fun; not a sanctioned race.
We did, however, feel that it would be good to make this an event with a two-fold purpose. Aside from burning calories, we also wanted to encourage people to donate to the Fillmore County Food Shelf.
There was no fee to participate in the run (walkers welcome, too), but donations have always been welcome to benefit the Fillmore County Food Shelf.
Over the past 10 years, the participants have donated around $900 in cash and over 900 pounds of food to the Fillmore County Food Shelf. Collectively, if a participant ran every year, that amounts to 103 miles.
Every year, depending on the weather, we’ve seen a range of 25 to 65 participants for the Fillmore County Turkey Day Run. We never expect a huge turnout for a couple reasons. There are other similarly-themed events taking place on Thanksgiving morning, and they are only 5k events. Not everyone is up for running 10.3 miles, so a 5k is more manageable. And, the weather can be brutal. One year, the temperature was -9 degrees at the start of the run and made it all the way up to zero degrees by the time we finished.
A surprise the day before
Back when we initiated the Fillmore County Turkey Day Run in 2009, I contacted the Area Supervisor for DNR Parks and Trails, Craig Blommer, and I asked if there was anything we needed to be aware of for coordinating the Fillmore County Turkey Day Run on the Root River State Bike Trail. At that time, he said the only thing we couldn’t do was shut down the trail to exclusively run our event. The trail had to remain open.
Fast-forward to Wednesday, November 21, 2018, the day before this year’s event. I received a phone call at the Fillmore County Journal from a representative with the DNR asking questions about the Fillmore County Turkey Day Run. First, they wanted to know how many people participated in this event. I told them there was a range of 25 to 65 participants. I was told that in the future, if we had 50 or more participants then we’d need to get a permit for the event. And, we’d have to provide insurance coverage.
Keep in mind, this is a free event intended to promote healthy living and give back to the community via the Fillmore County Food Shelf. This isn’t even a low budget event. It’s a no budget event.
I hope the DNR doesn’t ruin a good thing.
So, in the future, we may have to establish a limit of no more than 49 runners and walkers. I guess we will cross that bridge in 2019.
Encouraging young ones to partake
I’m not getting any younger. I will be celebrating another birthday this next year, just like last year. And, I will keep running in the Fillmore County Turkey Day Run for as long as my aging body will allow me to do so.
While my wife has completed this 10.3-mile adventure, as well. She typically does what we now kind of refer to as the “half turkey,” which starts in Lanesboro and ends at the Old Barn Resort.
My son ran the half turkey last year when he was 10 years old. I wasn’t sure he could manage to make it 4.7 miles at his age. I couldn’t run that far until I started running long distance track in junior high. But, he made the run just fine.
This year, he wanted to run the entire 10.3 miles with me.
While I have become more confident in his ability, I knew it would be a tough run for him. I knew it wouldn’t be gravy (pun). It would challenge him both physically and mentally. Well, he joined me that morning, and he made it to the finish line of a 10.3-mile run. I don’t think I ran 10 miles until I was about 15 years old, so he already has a leg up on me.
As we older runners are slowing down, we need to see more young people take to the trail. Whether it is a 10.3-mile run with the Fillmore County Turkey Day Run, or any of the 5k events in Stewartville or Rochester, I encourage parents and kids to get out and participate in something that should make them feel good — like running.
Photo by Jason Sethre
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