With temps hovering near 50 and not much wind, the conditions were ideal for a family-style turkey trot on Thanksgiving morning in Pawtucket, RI. Over 1,300 runners lined up to burn off some calories at the RI Family Turkey Trot ahead of the day’s turkey themed binge fest.

Start of the @RunRhody #RIFamilyTurkeyTrot in Pawtucket yesterday. pic.twitter.com/OgbrW1GffG

— Level Renner (@levelrenner) November 27, 2015

When the gun went off, the lead pack featuring the contenders of the day formed pretty quickly and separated themselves from the rest. It contained about 7 guys and the pace wasn’t that hot; it seemed as if they were feeling each other out in the early going. It was a day for winning, a day for eating, but not quite a day for blistering PR’s. With a quick glance at the pack you knew it was going to be a faster race than last year, where 17:00 won it and only 3 guys broke 18:00. Eric Lonergan, current Level Renner cover boy and local favorite, was only a couple of days removed from a debut 2:31:08, 18th place finish at the Philadelphia Marathon. But there he was getting his trot on. In the mix with him was Kevin Quadrozzi, himself a sub-15:00 5k guy who ran a 2:32 in Berlin earlier this fall. Can’t overlook Eamon Dempsey either, a guy who’s gone sub-2:40 in the marathon. The horses were there, it was just a question who would make the big move and when it would be made. Even at the turnaround things were still pretty tight. The lead pack had started to string out a little bit, but it wasnt to the point where anybody falling off the back didn’t have a shot at closing fast for the win.

Thijs Kolet (16:38) won the #rifamilyturkeytrot. Top 5 finish shown here. @RhodeRunnerInc @RunRhody pic.twitter.com/UDR062lGPw — Level Renner (@levelrenner) November 27, 2015

It ended up being Thijs Kolet who would break away over the last mile to take the win in 16:38. Most of the other contenders all ended up breaking 17:00:

2…ABDULLAH KABA 16:45.9
3…MATTHEW WALKER 16:49.2
4…ERIC LONERGAN 16:51.5
5…EAMON DEMPSEY 16:52.3
6…KEVIN QUADROZZI 16:55.4

Kimberly Jackson got the win for the ladies in 19:09, and she had a little more breathing room than Thijs did. The top 4 ladies came through in under 20 minutes:

2…KATIE CHAPUT 19:27.5
3…MOLLY LACHERKATZ 19:39.1
4…ANNMARIE MARINO 19:41.9

For more on the race, you can find results and photos over at the RaceWire event page.