Turkey Trek, 2009: strong and growing!

8:00 am on Thanksgiving morning, this group of Turkey Trekkers gathered in the City Forest for our 3rd annual event, a 4-mile trail run (or walk). My friend Susan and I organized the event together, asking runners and walkers to bring a non-perishable food donation for a local food pantry. We provided water, bananas, zucchini bread, cranberry muffins and raspberry oatmeal bars. We got a donation of 60 cups of coffee from Tim Hortons, and we baked pies for the top 3 winners. The forecast called for rain, rain, rain, but instead it was just foggy, and not even too muddy. Yes!

Here is how the Turkey Trek has grown.

2007: 11 participants
2008: 32 participants
2009: 70 participants!!!

Sam said that next year we'll have hundreds of people, huge banners and a gospel choir at the starting line. Not a bad idea, actually.


BEFORE shots:

Susan and Catherine



some St. John's mommas: Nancy, April, Emilie, Jenn, Anne-Marie




heading to the starting line....

I can't resist noting another difference from year to year: my time!
2007: 49 minutes
2008: 44 minutes
2009: 38 minutes

AFTER shots:

Doug, April and Sam



Students, past and present: Catherine, Sam, Tyler, Grace



Sam, Lisa and Grace: A well represented Barnett family!


This is Kristin, the other Nike Marathon Team in Training runner from Maine/ my San Francisco hotel-mate, who drove 2 hours with her husband Charlie to run with us this morning.



The co-director Susan, with the clipboard!



my friends Kristin (whom I teach with) and Natalie (who was my student my very first year at Bangor High, and now she is an ENGLISH TEACHER!)



My mom and her friend Jo, both looking sporty in purple.



speaking of purple, Steph and Chris (and pups Jackie and Steve)
This is my third race with Steph in a month! (What's next, girl???)



Coffeeing with Meredith, my bestie.

We dropped off some of our food donation, (our grand total was 225 food items that filled the trunks of 3 cars!!) to Manna this morning. Skyler thought this was very cool. That grocery cart represents less than half of what we collected! Thank you, everyone. The director of Manna says: "God bless you."

Thanksgiving lesson, kindergarten style

Skyler:

"The pilgrims came to Plymouth Rock on the Mayflower. There were 66 of them! And do you know how many days they were on the boat? 66! And do you know WHY they had to come to California? Because of the king! He was crazy. And bossy! Do you know what the king said when the people told him where they wanted to go to church? He said 'NO!' Can you believe that?"

To the beach?

Sunday was a super weird weather day, warm, balmy and foggy. Sam was at a swim meet in Portland, and we needed to get out!

We drove to Sears Island beach, which is kind of a weird beach at low tide, and with the fog it was extra eerie, but warm and nice and the kids did what makes them happy.

Reed got super wet walking in the water, and Skyler filled a bucket with shells.



On our way back to the car, we met Finnigan and borrowed him for another hour!

throwing the ball

over and over and over. Perfect!


On the drive home, the sun broke free! Look at that fog on the bay!


Then Reed fell asleep so Skyler and I entertained ourselves in the grocery store parking lot for a while before waking him up.

The results are in...

Remember last summer, when Sam swam a timed 5K at the long course pool in Michigan?

We recently received the results in the mail, and check out his standings (double click to enlarge):


For his age group, he is number one. In the nation.


National Champion.

When Sam gets psyched up for swim meets, it's because he's competing for the top spots among some of the best swimmers out there. It's just so different than what I do when I run. I'm just trying to finish the race and still be standing upright. Thank goodness my sport gives medals to all of the finishers, because I will never get an age group award at any race, which is fine, I'm just sayin', I think it's pretty cool to be so good at something that you have a patch to sew on your backpack that says National Champion.

Sam is a very naturally talented athlete and he can do well at everything he tries (though his sister Lisa and I swear that he could not complete the step-aerobics class we went to this summer; he had much to say about that!). He ran a 1:49 half marathon without trying at all. And you should see him rock climb, roll a kayak, telemark ski down a mountain, or do a reverse one-and-a-half off a diving board. I'll go on record saying that Sam could have been an olympic swimmer, skier or diver if he had decided he wanted to at a younger age.

With swimming, his natural talent means that his strokes are beautiful and he has a real efficiency in the water, but what you may not know is how hard he trains to reach the level of success that he has. For the last few years, he has been swimming 6 days a week. He pushes himself incredibly hard, writes all his own (often grueling) workouts, and almost always swims alone. His dedication is amazing. I guess what I'm saying is: his work is paying off.

Isn't that right, National Champion?

Maine Coast Half Marathon photo

The finish line shot. More pain than glory.

Turkey Trek Time

Thanksgiving Day is our annual 4- mile trail run and food collection for Manna Ministries.
In case you are a local reader and we didn't send you an email or facebook invite, here are the details (make sure you read about the prizes this year!):

3rd Annual Turkey Trek
Group RUN or WALK
(aka “THE RACE FOR PIE!”)
in the Bangor City Forest

Join us to BURN SOME CALORIES before your
THANKSGIVING DAY FEAST

WHEN: 8:00 a.m. Thanksgiving Day (rain or shine)
WHERE: Bangor City Forest (Tripp Road parking lot)
WHAT: 4 mile Trail Run OR Walk (West Trail to East Trail ending at same parking lot)
WHO: Anyone who wants to join us!
COST: Please bring a donation of non-perishable food to donate to Manna Ministries, Inc.

PRIZE: NEW THIS YEAR! First three runners to finish
win a PIE for your Thanksgiving meal (or to eat on the way home from the run).


Please contact Emilie Manhart (emiliemanhart@gmail.com) or
Susan Thibedeau (sthibedeau@bangorschools.net)
if you have any questions or want to help.

2 funnies

On my way home from Portland, I called home to let everyone know what time I'd be there. I spoke with Skyler who didn't want to let me hang up:

"Okay mom, hurry home, and every time you get to a red light, give me a call."

Good thing Skyler loves me:

When I tried to get in on some Reed and Daddy snuggle time, Reed pushed me away and said:
"Don't you have to do laundry?"