My alarm went off even before the cat woke up race morning. With an early morning start for these late spring races, it meant a 6:30 am pick-up time to rendezvous with my guide, Heather, and make our way to the subway.

There were lots of booths set up around the start-finish area at Women’s College Hospital. Heather saw the face painting station and half kidding asked me if I wanted my face painted. I seriously replied, of course, I want my face painted! For the record, I got a rainbow butterfly on my left cheek.

I managed to get in some stretching time while we watched the 10Kers start. Both distances had a large turnout.

For the 5K, they had loosely formed waves and we made our way to the walkers. Once we were off. I had the total opposite experience than in the majority of my other races.

Usually, about 200 meters after the start line, everyone has zoomed by me and I’m walking my own race with a few others to keep company. This time there were so many walkers! It was nice to be with my people, but I got caught up in the crowd and couldn’t go as fast as I wanted. We kept up a pattern of getting caught by packs of walkers and then finding a moment to pass and surge ahead only to find the next group of walkers. The route varied from one lane of closed traffic to wider road or path options, which made passing either easier or harder. Heather also had to contend with guiding me with the 10K runners coming from behind us trying to do their own passing. On the flip side, I got time to catch my breath and my back never got stiff or acted up, which I had been worried about for the race.

We traveled through Queen’s Park, Heather commented that it had the greenest grass in the city. We then went onto Spadina, through U of T along Harbord, onto Bloor, south on Bay, and back to Women’s College Hospital. There were lots of great marshals and funny signs along the route. Heather saw one that read: "Stop reading this sign and start running!"

About the last kilometer, we were free from the crowds and I opened up my stride and started my signature arm swing. I may have been a bit ambitious in that last kilometer, as I had to ask Heather to slow it down a bit before we got in sight of the finish line. Finally, it was there.

One of the signatures of the race is the Shoppers swag bag. I am now stocked-up on lip balm and moisturizer and little sample tubes of toothpaste. We also got a finisher’s bracelet instead of a medal.

My time was 58 minutes and change. Not bad given the crowded route conditions, but still a fun community race.

Started at the foot of Leslie Street at about 8:50 am.

There was a headwind of about 10km/hr coming out the southeast. We were both dressed perfectly and had cleats on our shoes. The sky was overcast with low cloud, probably lake effect-related, along with some gentle flurries. The falling snow muffled most sounds so it was very quiet.

We made it to the bridge which was ice covered and listing to one side. Definitely had to watch our footing crossing the bridge.

We decided to run to the lighthouse. At this point there were no other footprints in the snow other than our own.

There were streams of mist rising from the lake as we looked south from the lighthouse.

It was time for our run back. Heading north we now had a tailwind. Time to unzip our jackets to prevent excessive perspiration and subsequent freezing. Instead of another slippery bridge crossing, we chose the outer spine road. In a city of over 2 million people it was just Kim and me. As we approached the fork in the road, I noticed sets of coyote tracks to the right side of the road. Then more tracks to the left of us. It was still snowing so we could tell these were very fresh tracks. Less than 10-15 minutes old. The coyotes probably knew exactly where we were even though we never spotted them.

Another 2km and we were back at the gate. Snapped and attached a few pictures for proof of life.

It was a rainy morning outside when I arose from my slumber. For a while, I was debating – should I just pick up my book and go to Tim's or brave the elements and do another event. The event won.

Off I went eastbound on the 401 towards Whitby. The weather alternated between heavier downpours and light misting, but I pressed on and arrived at the race site with some time to spare.

I started chatting up some of the runners and they all seemed happy that in-person races were back. There were roughly 70 entrants for both the 5K & 10K events. I signed up for the 5K.

The course was an out & back around Frenchman’s Bay for us, and past Heydenshore for the 10k folks. The rain picked up a bit just before the start and we had to deal with a few puddles along the way.

The race was a low-key affair. We had a clock but no chip timing. The only hand- out prizes were for the overall winners in both distances. There were a few draw prizes.

My finishing time was 34:44. I think those sprints I did with Chris recently may have done in my legs a little bit.

Once again, the turkeys came out of their roosts for another go at the dinner course.

It was a breezy, but comfortable, morning when we all gathered at Bronte Park in Burlington. I decided to run in shorts but had a light sweatshirt on as well. It was an unusually late start for an event: 11:00am.

The horn went off and we all flew the coop with a good amount of squawking. For the 5k runners, it was one loop of the park. For the 10K runners, including me, it was a second helping at the table (another loop).

The trees were in full fall colour and made for a wonderful tour de nature.

The second loop was a bit tougher for me. There were a couple of walking stretches as result, but I finished in a time of: 69:44. Hurray! It was under 70 minutes, and good for 4th in the old gobbler’s category.

It was a cool morning as we ruffled our feathers and spread our wings. Sandra and I wound our way east on the 401.Traffic was moving well and the sun was shining through the scattered cloud cover promising a good day.

Between the kid's race, the 2.5k and the 5k, there were about 200 participants. Many of the kids were in costume and some were more enthusiastic than others.

At 10:10am, they set the flock of us turkeys gobbling on our way with the beat of a drum(stick).

The course is more of a cross country route with a small section through a wooded area. It was great being out in such good conditions.

Good news: there was no fowl play on the running course.

At the finish, I was 74th overall with a time of 36:28. There were prizes for the first three ladies and first three men's winners, but no age group categories. Funds raised were for the local YMCA.

Sandra said the winners of each category were given interesting prizes. The winner of the 2.5K received either a bag of potatoes, or a bag of carrots! For the 5K winners, they either received a turkey, or a pie! There was also a prize for the best costume. The winner was a woman in a chicken outfit. As a prize, she got the golden drumstick, along with stuffing. Sandra thought these were appropriate winnings for a Turkey Trot race.

This was race number 18 for Larry for the year 2022.

On a cool, and somewhat cloudy, morning I made my way to pick up a running friend at Bloor and the West Mall. There was a light breeze and a little bit of humidity but not overly so.

As we made our way to Grimsby (Stoney Creek-it is confusing) the clouds started to thin as the golden orb of the sun rose above the skyline.

We arrived at the site with a bit of time to spare, picked up our kits and socialized with our many compatriots as we warmed up. Many of us were in shorts and differing amounts of attire on our torsos. I went with a sweatshirt.

The 3k went off at 8:30am with about 50-60 participants. The winner finished in just over 10 minutes and looked like he did not even break a sweat.

There were about 140 or so runners in the 8K event. The horn sounded at 9am for this and off we went. The course was a modified double loop on a combination of paved road and packed gravel with only a very slight elevation change.

I finished in 53:11, which was good for 8th in the 65-69 category. It was very competitive.

It turned out to be a good day for all.