2022 Turkey Trot 5K Race Experience
Believe it or not, but my Turkey Trot experience is still a relatively new one: four in ten years of running! As someone who used to be in charge of making a whole Thanksgiving meal for my family, my interest in racing on Thursday morning was near zero because I needed that time to prep everything. In other words, the logistics of planning a meal was harder than the logistics of going to a race and I couldn’t figure out how to do both. Then, cooking duties started to go down (an upside of following a vegetarian diet) and racing became doable. This year’s Baptist Health Turkey Trot was extra special because it felt like another (mile) marker in the road to post-pandemic racing. Read on for a recap of my experience at the 2022 Turkey Trot 5K.
Note: there are links below that I am sharing in support of the businesses I personally interacted with; I do not receive any commission or perks from those businesses.
Accommodations
My casa! While the race was local to me (10-min drive), I did wake up early because this race does tend to draw a large crowd (5000 registrants!) and traffic on race morning can be hectic. As a result, I left my house at 5:20am for the 7:00am start time.
Expo
This race featured packet pickup at several locations throughout Miami. I went the Wednesday before the race to pick up my packet and it was pretty straightforward, if you were only picking up your packet: stand in line, show QR code and ID, get bib and race shirt, and leave. However, there was some confusion when it came to picking up multiple packets. The first person who tried to help me said he couldn’t help because I was picking up multiple packets and told me I had to wait in a separate line. After a few minutes with the line building up, he told me that he could help me. I’m not sure what changed; was it that he couldn’t help me or was it that he didn’t want to help me? In either case, this felt like unnecessary confusion and like a lack of preparation when it came to packet pickup process.
Pre-Race
I arrived early enough at Tropical Park (race location) that I didn’t encounter too much traffic. In fact, I arrived so early that I took a nap in my car before the race. While Tropical Park does have plenty of bathrooms, the lines were long and the indoor bathrooms were out of toilet paper.
Post-Race
There were plenty of snacks and beverages in the finisher’s area, plus family-friendly activities and vendors (sno-cones!). This race finishes on the track in Tropical Park, which was perfect for spectating, cheering runners on, and meeting/catching up with runner friends.
On the Course
The race started a few minutes after 7am and runners were organized in corrals based on time. The race starts on one of the streets in Tropical Park and ends on the track. Both the 5K and 10K routes follow the same course up until the split near mile 3. There are two water stations on the 5K course. For the most part the 5K course is all in Tropical Park, but there is a segment before the first mile that does run on Bird Road. If I’m remembering correctly, this year had more of Bird Road closed off than last year, which was nice. Sebastian the Ibis (go Canes!) greats you at the finish line, medals are a few meters away from the finish line itself, and you walk through a food tent before exiting the finisher’s chute.
Race Experience
I loved seeing everyone out there running and walking a 5K/10K and was amazed by the amount of people registered to participate in the various events. I’m glad I got to Tropical Park early because I avoided all the traffic, but I was still left wondering if there was anything else that could be done to mitigate traffic issues the morning of the race. Once I heard that there were 5000 registrants (plus supporting and spectating family and friends), I also wondered if the race had gotten too big for the race organizers. The race still started on time and everyone I knew was able to get into the park with time to space, so these are more curiosities than critiques.
With all the people participating, this race did feel big for a 5K/10K. I never felt alone on the course, so while I didn’t see many spectators on the course, I was surrounded by runners the whole time. I especially loved seeing all the kids who participated (and kicked my butt!). My racing plan was to run strong and be somewhere under 30-minutes. My favorite part of this race was being able to watch friends finish with blisteringly fast times. Being around so many movers makes the 7am start time and sunshine in my eyes worth it. (Note: I will always have something to say about weather, so I’ll keep it short with a “It was hot.”)
Overall Impression
Turkey Trots are great because of the variety of people that show up to participate; you get a little bit of everything, from people dragged to the race because of a loved one to people who are looking to beat their previous Turkey Trot time. Being around so many movers is such a beautiful way to start any day, so I am grateful that I chose to begin my day with 5000 of my running and walking friends. Getting to the park early is the way to go and I’ll remember to bring toilet paper with me next year. Again, this is an event that is great for both serious and recreational runners and walkers. The amount of family-friendly activities post-race was also a nice touch because it made the race feel like a true celebration of what we should be grateful for on Thanksgiving morning: our family and friends.
Pros
Local race for me.
7:00am start time with corrals.
Well-supported course that is shut down to car traffic.
Plenty of a/c bathrooms, but no toilet paper.
Free parking.
Food, snacks, and family-friendly activities in the finisher’s area.
Cute medal.
Opportunities to spectate on the track.
Depending on preference, large field that will undoubtably be full of people you know in real life and on the internets.
Depending on preference, you cannot leave the park until after 8:30am. This gave me time to spectate and hang out with my friends.
Cons
You must start in the first few corrals if you are going for a PR/PB because this race is big and there are a lot of walkers. (Note: I know you can PR/PB regardless of where you are, but not having to weave around walkers does help)
Park time vs. start time: To avoid traffic, you must get there early. If morning traffic doesn’t affect your race day nerves, then don’t worry about this one.
Depending on preference, large field for a 5K (compared to other local races).
Lots of bathrooms, but no toilet paper.
The line for race day pick up was long. Keep this in mind when it comes to timing race day arrival time.
Depending on preference, you cannot leave the park until after 8:30am. This might be an issue if you have other time constraints on race morning. (Note: I’m sure people left before 8:30am, but you technically weren’t supposed to as people were still out on the course)
For those of you who like the numbers, my official time for the Turkey Trot was 29:44. Next race is the relay for the Palm Beach Marathon on December 11th.
BIG NEWS! I’m running the London Marathon in April 2023 on behalf of Rays of Sunshine UK and you can support me by making a donation to my fundraiser here.
