I love big races. I love the excitement of a big expo, the roar of a crowd, the crush of people lining up in corrals - those are great races. But sometimes it is fun to do a small-town race and the Pewaukee Turkey Trot is a great Thanksgiving Day Race.

The race is a 5K run through residential areas of Pewaukee around Nettesheim Park. If you aren't familiar with Pewaukee, give yourself some extra time to find the park. Both Google Maps and Waze failed me and I ended up getting my bib five minutes before the race started because it took me forever to locate the race. But that was my own poor planning, and the fact that I could easily get my bib, sign my waiver, pin my bib and run my race swag back to my car and still make it to the start on time speaks well of how the race was organized.

I'm usually not a huge fan of race shirts - I have a million of them - but this is easily the cutest race shirt I have ever received. It is a brown t-shirt with a big, cartoony face of a turkey on it, and it says "Pewaukee Turkey Trot" on the front. The back is blank -not littered with sponsor logos or anything else. It is really cute - well done, Pewaukee.

The race route was surprisingly hilly. It begins with a nice downhill but there were some pretty big uphills along the way too, including one near the finish. It was a nice challenge.

There are plenty of Turkey Trots and Thanksgiving-themed races to choose from, but the Pewaukee Turkey Trot is going to be my go-to Thanksgiving race for a number of reasons. First, it was really inexpensive. Second, it started at 7:30 a.m. So many Turkey Trots start at 9 or 10, and if you are planning on guests for Thanksgiving, a later race just doesn't work out. Kudos to Pewaukee for accommodating those of us with busy days.