Several days have passed since I stopped stuffing my face with delicious vegan food for Thanksgiving and I can actually write about the Tofurky Trot 5K.
The Tofurky Trot benefits the National Museum of Animals & Society
After completing the first Tofurky Trot last year, I really wasn’t sure this event was going to be held again. Participation was a good size but compared to other local trots, still on the lower end of registrants. However, being it was a brand new race held on Thanksgiving Day, there were definitely more people than I had expected. Still, I thought it had great potential to start growing and this year’s race was a good indicator of that.
Thanksgiving also marked Day 1 of the Runner’s World Winter Run Streak and I woke up earlier than I wanted to. Lately I’ve been magically waking up around 3:30AM, but I slept in to around 4:30AM on this day. Yeah, I know so early. I was kind of hoping to make it to at least 6AM but obviously that didn’t happen. I changed into my running clothes and hit the gym for the early bird special of 2 miles on the treadmill. Knowing I was going to be running another 5K later in the morning, I decided to take it easy. After my time on the ‘mill was over, I decided to work on my strength training. Again, I took easy. I’m trying to be more consistent with strength training.
Once I got to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, I noticed the event tents weren’t placed up, nor were there any cars in the lot. Uh oh. I think I just went to wrong place again. Yep. I sure did. I just pulled another not-paying-careful-attention-to-the-directions card that I had for the Griffith Park 10K. Not to worry though, it was just in the opposite lot of where it was last year. And I had plenty of time to check in and get my goodies. (Note to self for the next race: read the details more carefully, and I mean, more carefully).
I went over to the pre-registered tent to pick up my bib and goodies such as Happy Tofurky Day button and a card from The Veggie Grill for a free entrée! Wow!! Thank you Veggie Grill for offering those up. My card will not go to waste, that’s for sure. And something different this year – we got a t-shirt!
Helpful info.
Love this year’s shirt!
I was still an hour early before the race started at 9AM so my sis and I lounged in the car and watched as more and more people started to filter in. This was definitely a stark contrast to last year’s race. There were significantly more people signing up. Later I found out about 500 people registered! Whoa!! That’s honestly amazing.
Tofurky trotters getting ready to trot.
Another very noticeable difference was the weather. Last year was quite chilly and there was a cloudy overcast. This year, the chill wasn’t around and the overcast was nowhere to be found. Clear blue skies and warm temperatures made their way to Pasadena and all around Los Angeles. We trotters were going to have a toasty run. While most of the country was freezing, LA was about 80 degrees.
With about 25 minutes to race start, I decided to venture out and see if I could find a friend of mine who was running the race with her boyfriend. After chatting with a fellow No Meat Athlete whom I just met, I found my friend and it was so nice to see her. I hadn’t seen her since she was on a vegan athlete panel at WorldFest earlier this year. In fact, I got to meet a few other no meat athletes as well at this race.
Oh, one note about the Tofurky Trot – it’s not exclusively limited to vegan or vegetarian athletes. I would guess that many of the participants were in fact, vegan or vegetarian, but not all. However, the huge draw to this race is that it not only benefits a wonderful organization, but it’s a race that doesn’t use the word “turkey” in its name. Silly as it may sound to use the word Tofurky, that’s why I love it! It’s fun. It’s different. Pasadena is only the second city in the United States to hold a race of it’s kind on Thanksgiving Day. How many other “turkey trots” are around? Many! There are only two Tofurky Trots on Thanksgiving Day! The other trot takes place in Portland, OR. Plus, doing a race where I know there are many plant-based runners participating was simply a no-brainer for me to do it. Of course, those reasons may not pertain to someone who just wanted a local race to run offering up free parking and low registration fee. Hey, those are great reasons too!
Most adorable dog at the race!
The race itself went smoothly. We gathered near the gate just before 9AM and when 9AM hit, we took off for one loop around the Rose Bowl. After about a half a mile in, I came upon my fellow No Meat Athlete friend whom I just met, and for about a mile we chatted. We chatted about animal rights issues, how we handle and respond to people when it comes to them making comments about us being vegan, and of course, running. She’s currently training for her first marathon, the LA Marathon. Just upon coming to the first (and only) water station, and 1.5 miles into the race, I bid adieu to my new No Meat Athlete friend whom I just met, and ran on to the finish line.
Done trotting.
This is a small race and we don’t get chip timed. But we did get chips! Beanfields Chips. Love them! I got the Nacho flavor. The refreshment table also had water, coconut water, bananas, and other treats for us to get.
Post-race goodies.
Once all the runners crossed the finish line, they had the costume contest and a guy dressed in a chicken outfit won. Other notables, were people dressed in turkey outfits. But the cute chicken guy took top prize. This year there was no post-race raffling of prizes (no lunch box for me), and there was no delicious vegan chocolate cake that I loved last year. Probably due to the size of the race field, they would’ve needed several cakes.
Guy in the chicken costume won best costume.
Compost those banana peels baby!
Cans (and cups?)
Considering how I usually feel some anxiety when it comes to running these days, I felt good. KT Tape works wonders because my right ankle felt good. I’m still working on building it’s strength and still working on the proprioception exercises. Those aren’t going away anytime soon, or ever.I honestly hope this race continues to be held every year. Carolyn, the race organizer, and all the volunteers, and anyone else who was involved, did a great job. Plant-based runners love these events and will continue to support them as long as they’re around! So thank you to Tofurky for sponsoring it. Overall, it was just a beautiful day for a run.
Thank you all for a great Tofurky Trot!
Thank you for reading and Happy Trotting!