San Diego South Bay Turkey Trot 5K/10K/15K

So here’s the thing…
If you’ve been chasing the CA Half Series, you’ll likely end up at the San Diego Holiday Half medal race. Whether you’re completing four races, seven, ten, fifteen, or twenty – even if you’re solely running SD – the Holiday Half is where you’ll be awarded your much-​deserved medals. So since you’re running SD Holiday Half anyway – you might as well run the San Diego South Bay Turkey Trot 15K and snag an extra challenge medal for running both. The medal in question: the Winter Exacta Medal!
To qualify, you must run the 15K – it’s the same medal for all three finished runs – but Rohr Park offers a beautifully scenic course, lots of runners are colorfully costumed to fit the holiday theme, and everyone is in high spirits. After all, a pre-​run on Thanksgiving morning is certainly invigorating and refreshing, especially when knowing a turkey celebration and an exciting day of football is soon to follow. After logging a few, early morning miles, turkey seconds (and thirds), smashed cauliflower, and a bit of cranberry sauce is welcomed. Earn it!

This was another inaugural race for me.
They offered 3 distances — 5k, 10k, and 15k. I ended up signing up for a 10k to ease the guilt of consuming all the food in sight at my house on Thanksgiving day. The route was nothing special, but I was running near my childhood neighborhood so I felt a bit nostalgic.
This race is great to run with family and friends. A lot of people dressed up for the Thanksgiving theme.
A few things to note about this race:
Part of the route takes you around a golf course that is a very popular route for runners. Since the race started at 8 am, there weren’t as many runners not associated with the race, but do note that there are other runners that you may or may not have to dodge around.
They did not have gear check, which peeved me a bit. Our bib had a section for gear check so I brought my gear (jacket + keys, ID) with me to check in. I ended up having to run with my jacket tied around my waist in addition to carrying my drawstring bag. If there is no gear check, please don’t provide that tab that says gear check please. It’s a bit misleading.
At the finish line, there were a few goodies (ice cream, bananas, water) to get. I really enjoyed the ice cream. It was just what I needed on a hot day after a 10k. It had fewer calories than normal ice cream so less guilt. Whoo!
The medals were the same for all three races, but the 5kers’ neck ribbon distinguished theirs as being a 5k. I was a bit bummed. The longer distances should have had distinct markings too.
There were also quite a few awards for each age division as well as the top finishers.
For its first run, this wasn’t bad. I just hope they figure out the kinks for next year.
Chip time: 54:56
Pace: 8:50 min/​mile