Thursday Morning in Prospect Park: Prospect Park Track Club presents the 2010 Thanksgiving 5M Turkey Trot

From Brighton Beach we took the Q train to Prospect Park, getting to the entrance on Ocean Avenue and Lincoln Road about 10 minutes after the start of this year's 5M Turkey Trot, presented by the Prospect Park Track Club and its presenting sponsor Jack Rabbit, to benefit the Bishop Ford Track Teams.

We enjoyed watching last year's Turkey Trot so much we wanted to see today's race despite our slight envy of the fleet-footed, since we had a P+A matrixectomy at Lorimer Foot Care on Tuesday afternoon and our walking is still somewhat inconvenienced.

However, we're grateful for the vicarious pleasure of watching hundreds of people running the route, somewhat modified due to construction: starting at Wellhouse Drive and East Drive, they ran a two-mile counter-clockwise loop via Center Drive and around Prospect Lake, followed by a full loop of Prospect Park.

The number of participants this year seemed endless.





Santa Claus was walking in the opposite direction, encouraging the runners. Ho ho ho.

Washington Irving got a good view of the race.


The walkers, along with some kids on bicycles and in strollers, were still starting out a long time after the first runners began.


There was also one guy on a unicycle with a dog on a leash, but we were too slow to get his picture. Anyway, the 5K Turkey Trot is the kind of race where some people are starting out

as, it seems, others are already finishing. And that's what makes it fun, because it's for everyone from really serious runners to the, um, less swift (those didn't have foot surgery within the last 48 hours anyway).

By the time we hobbled over to the water/Gatorade station, it was pretty empty.

After the finish line, race participants made their way

to the Oriental Pavilion for bagels, hot chocolate and more refreshment.



We saw some of the top-three finishers with their prizes of truly enormous pies. Others stretched, changed their shirts and shoes, and celebrated finishing the Turkey Trot.



Last year on Thanksgiving we also went to the opening of the Wollman Skating Rink, but this year the rink is being demolished and the new spectacular Lakeside facility is being built.

We're thankful we got to enjoy some time in Prospect Park this morning before Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanksgiving Morning in Prospect Park: 2009 Turkey Trot 5M Race

At 8:23 a.m., just one minute late, a surprisingly crowded B-43 bus

stopped on Lorimer Street at the corner of Metropolitan Avenue and got to its terminus at the Prospect Park subway station

in time for us to be in the park to hear the gunshot for the 9:00 a.m. start of the Thanksgiving 2009 Turkey Trot 5M race, run - ahem - by the Prospect Park Track Club.

Hundreds of runners participated, including the one Pilgim and lone Wampanoag we saw scurrying by.

The race, which the PPTC presented with its sponsor JackRabbit, was to benefit the Bishop Ford Track Teams. It was a beautiful late fall morning for a race: not too warm, not really chilly.

We tried to find the start of the race.

This horse wasn't setting the pace.

The Audubon Center is the background.

Our dad used to run in races back when he lived in Brooklyn in the 1970s, but we run only if we're being chased.

Ocean Avenue is in the background at this spot.

On the sidelines, we encouraged and cheered the runners. Santa Claus kept shouting, "Way to go!"

We didn't see the end of the race, but we did watch the runners with their medals coming to the Oriental Pavilion.

They all looked pretty happy about finishing at whatever time they did.

Some stopped to stretch.

At the Oriental Pavilion, they were rewarded with bagels, apples and drinks.


Many eventually returned to their cars in the parking lot of the Wollman Rink, which was to be our next stop.