First of all, there was a chicken in the race.  Not a real chicken but a man dressed talon to beak in a chicken outfit.  And he was way ahead of us.  We had taken the Amtrak Crescent to Union Station in Washington D.C. then the Metro (Subway) out to the suberbs to visit friends and family for a few days and run the 29th Annual Turkey Chase 10K on Thanksgiving morning in Bethesda, Maryland.

Race day was cold and wet, but the rain held off during the race. Nearly 3000 runners were anxious to get things underway in the largest race in Montgomery County Maryland.  At about 5k in the race, Renee said "I think we can catch that chicken."

We gued up, and hit a long uphill like we meant business.  At about 5 and a half miles we passed the chicken. The poor guy was soaked in sweat and huffing through his plastic beak.

At six miles, the worst happened:  teenage girls began cheering the chicken-- who had closed the gap on us to less than 10 yards.  We put our heads down and powered through the last 385 yards, careful the champion chips on our shoes crossed the electronic finish line before the talons of our competitor.

This was an exciting race run mostly down Rockville Pike and Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda (Washington DC to all of us Mississippians)---Big city running with all the attendant traffic, police, and hoopla. 
©  Dow and Renee' Ford

See: www.turkeychase.com

Pic. #1 Washington Monument at Sunset


Pic. #2 Turkey Chase

Pic. #3 Bagels after the race