I am relatively new to the area having grown up in Milwaukee, so tell me where a race is locally and I have no clue just how far it is. Typically, this ends up me being too lazy to check it out and not signing up, especially since I haven't typically done a lot of road races other than marathons or runs tied to triathlons. I will generally see something for a 5 or 10k road race and have little interest (but am coming around) thinking I can get more bang for my buck elsewhere. But then, in my Facebook ads, I clicked on the link for the North Shore Turkey trot and saw the glorious turkey pants that would be the swag for the race. These brown fleece bad boys had me enamored from the get go and this sucker was hooked.

I am fortunate as well to have a daughter that was game to take a shot at her first 10k as well and the pants sealed the deal for her to. Packet pick up was a piece of cake on the Tuesday or Wed before the race (none race day) and parking was ample in downtown Highland Park.

You are able to seed yourself into a starting corral based on time and they have a buffer for the starts as well with corrals going off every two minutes. The course itself winds through residential highland park which has nice wooded areas, a decent amount of rollers and some short hills. As I ran this with my daughter at her pace to help her chug out her first 10k instead of truly racing, I couldn't get a good take on if any lung busters at speed (maybe the last climb to the finish?). There were two water stations over the course just before miles 2 and 4.

Overall, everything seemed to be well run. The course came out about a quarter mile long which is curious in that there was one weird little finger up and down a block that had they omitted would have been pretty close to being right on the money in my estimation. Only worth noting if you would be looking to PR.

After the race, they had water, Gatorade, chocolate milk and in a very nice touch, an individual apple pie for everyone. Nice! Overall, it was a well run race and great experience. I will definitely work to keep the turkey trot a Thanksgiving tradition, seeking out others as well, but sure will do this again, especially if they offer a matching fleece top next year. (Pants so comfy!!)