HCS Thanksgiving Turkey Trot 10K
Columbia, MD
Thursday, Nov 25, 1999
Conducted by Howard County Striders

Article by James Carbary

A surprisingly large field of 143 appeared at Jeffers Hill Neighborhood Center for the running of the Annual Strider Turkey Trot Prediction 10k. The runners attempted to time their starts so they would finish at exactly 11:00 am- without the benefit of watches or other timing devices. 75 of them actually came within a minute of the appointed hour, and almost 30 came within 20 seconds! Michael Kreft won the coveted Golden Turkey trophy by finishing 2.13 seconds before 11 am. Mr. Kreft noted that he might have run faster and missed winning except that he was talking to this woman who slowed him down.

The race was not for the swift, although some fast persons did the prediction run. Mark Gilmore, a Strider runner of the year, started out 33:30 before the hour and actually finished within 16 seconds of the hour. "You try to run exactly what you predict," he said, "and be a little lucky." Joanna Whyte set a personal record- or at least thought she had run 10 km faster than she had in several years- and decided she would start thinking about doing marathons.

The biggest celebrities at the race may have been the journalists sent out by the Washington Post to cover the Turkey Trot. Reporter Sally Quinn and photographer Gerald Mortineau drove all the way up from DC to take some pictures and interview some runners. They even waited until the end of the race to get the full story. "We're pretty low-key," said Gerald. The journalists showed considerable interest in Al and Denise Hannagan and their two children, Calvin and Darcy, especially since Denise wheeled both kids through the full 10k in a baby jogger.

Dave and Judy Tripp directed the Turkey Trot, which has been a fixture on the Strider schedule for over 20 years. In addition to the fierce predictive competition, Mr. Tripp had a 10-question Thanksgiving history contest, and a bonus question about the number of bridges on the course. Bert Moore answered 71/2 questions right in the history quiz and earned a turkey doll and a pair Metric Marathon gloves. Steve Beyers - one of seven members of the Beyers family to do the Trot- got a chocolate turkey for estimating that the run involved 33 bridges (34 was the right answer). After the race, runners gathered in the Jeffers Hill Neighborhood Center for donuts, coffee, and bananas.

(times are time of day- finisher closest to 11:00 am wins)

Top Finishers
Steven Anderson (Columbia, MD)     10:59:41.1
Peter Simon-Cox (Millersville, MD) 10:59:44.9
Jerry Warfield (Columbia, MD)      10:59:46.3
Kelly Murray (Lunthicum, MD)       10:59:46.9
Mark Kim (Fulton, MD)              10:59:48.3
Jim Rogers (Columbia, MD)          10:59:51.3
Barbara Walters (Columbia, MD)     10:59:51.6
Akintunde Morakinyo (Columbia, MD) 10:59:52.9
Ralph Massala (Glenelg, MD)        10:59:53.3
Susan Hubbard (Columbia, MD)       10:59:53.8
Leland Hein (Ellicott City)        10:59:54.2
Rick Rinehard (Unknown, NA)        10:59:54.6
Pamela West (Ellicott City, MD)    10:59:55.4
Jean Fregeau (Unknown, NA)         10:59:55.8
Charles Brown (Columbia, MD)       10:59:57.5
Karen Brown (Unknown, NA)          10:59:57.7
Michael Kreft (Ellicott City, MD)  10:59:57.8
Linda Pineo (Columbia, MD)         11:00:02.3
Andrea Almand (Columbia, MD)       11:00:03.9
Frank Grahn (Clarksville, MD)      11:00:05.0
Debby Lazas (Clarksville, MD)      11:00:09.5
Michele Piccirelli (Laurel, MD)    11:00:10.0
Eric Prange (Laurel, MD)           11:00:10.8
Mark Gilmore (Columbia, MD)        11:00:16.1
Linda Field (Columbia, MD)         11:00:16.5
Charles Daniels (Columbia, MD)     11:00:16.8
Tracye Henandez (Unknown, NA)      11:00:19.4

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