Give n' Gobble

My November race was Sherwood's Give n' Gobble on Thanksgiving morning. Luckily we were coming off the "arctic blast" and it was a balmy 34 degrees when we left the house:
Ready to roll with capris, a polypro shirt, thin stocking cap and fleece mittens. I added pants and a puffy jacket until it was time to run.
It was the first time any of us did the run at Sherwood High School, and we assumed it was a small community race (like the Tigard Family Fest we do each September). We were surprised at how many people were there - especially considering the snow on the ground!

T-shirts were free if you donated a bag of food, and there was lots of loot for runners - woohoo!
The run began behind the football stadium and headed into the neighborhood. It was super crowded to start, and I spent the first several minutes dodging walkers and strollers and parked cars. I also had to be a bit careful as there were icy patches in some spots.

We ran by the YMCA, where an aid station served us coming and going. Good planning! We hit the 5K turnaround spot and the 10Kers (including Brad!) kept going. Soon we were back to the aid station and then into the woods on windy, leafy, icy paved trails. The whole course was much hillier than I expected, and since I didn't know the route, I wasn't sure how much to conserve or blow out the hills. Luckily, I had my Garmin to let me know how close I was to the end. We finally emerged from the parkway and ran a short length back to the school. I sprinted the last part and ended up with a PR!!
9:16/miles are definitely my fastest - woohoo! Michael crossed a couple minutes before me, then Lindsey, Dad, Eryn, Mom and Brad. According to the official results, I was the 6th woman in my age category (30-34) out of 32. Not bad, if I do say so myself :)
That was a super-fun race! I think we all plan to do it again next year for sure :)