Turkey Trot thoughts

It's been almost two weeks since the 2008 Abilene Runners Club Turkey Trot 5K run/walk and 1 mile fun run. It was my first time as a race director and what a learning experience it was. I will be much less critical of races in the future. We had expected about 350 entries this year since there were 300 last year. It was windy, cold and snowy last year so the calm 50 degree weather was welcome this year. Over 400 runners and walkers preregistered and more than 120 walked up to register on race day. This was much bigger than anyone had anticipated. I'm so glad we paid for chip timing because Rocky at RUNtime of Ft. Worth and his crew were a big help. They have an impressive start line setup too. The 5k was delayed by only 10 minutes thanks to all of the help at the registration table especially Sarah & Keith who kept the bib number pickup going smoothly. It was great to have them help out. I had just enough time to give an interview to KTXS TV and then jump in line to run the race. I guess my adrenaline kept me going because I ran a really fast race with Dave Lantrip and Kevin Kehl. All in all it was a great day for a race and I have heard lots of positive feedback. Next year may be even bigger and the experience will help us make improvements to make it better.