Out and About in Sevierville

It was my second year to run the Sevier County High School ‘Smoky Bear Turkey Chase’ on Thanksgiving morning. This is a great way to get moving or get a workout in before the main event—a fabulous holiday lunch. It also funds a STEM scholarship for a student at the high school. Here is how it went this year…

The picture above shows Smoky and student volunteers staying warm in the 37 degree morning temps. Brrrrrrrrr….!

A wild turkey helped me to find the designated parking area.

More student volunteers held signs of humorous encouragement.

I registered online through Eventbrite so I breezed through the pre-registration line. Nancy Trundle Hewitt, Executive Director of the SCHS Foundation, greeted me at the table. Student and alumni helped us with bibs and runners swag. Many, many thanks to all that they did to carry out this race.

I was happy to meet this visitor from Alabama. It was her first time to do this 5K. She does half-marathons so the Turkey Chase was good training during the holiday. She found the race through this blog so I was thrilled to hear that news!

Veteran runners, Kristi Sims Atchley and Julie Nave support the SCHS Foundation 5K race. Kristi definitely had the holiday spirit and best headwear.

Terra Blalock Bice and sons prepare to run!

My friends, Kathy Helton and Heidi Ludwig. This was Heidi’s first 5K race. She rocked it!

SCHS alumni, Nathan and Valerie Mills run a good race, then spend the day with family in Sevier County.

People are (mostly) bundled up before the race. Temps were in the upper 30s at start time.

Student volunteers stand on the course and help runners during the race. The signs always make you smile!

This is a wonderful activity for families. This father and son are ready to run.

I like the roll call of participant ‘states’ to see where people were from. The guy from Florida walked by and yelled, “it is too cold!”

A SCHS Choir member sang the National Anthem. Bravo!

Racing runs in the family.

A family from Seymour with relatives from Ohio and Oklahoma.

SCHS alumni racers: Andrew Newton and Kacee Dixson. They graduated in the Class of 2011.

City of Sevierville officials race too!

This lady races in half and full marathons and loves the Disney races. Today was good conditioning and training for her upcoming race through the Magic Kingdom.

It was good to see sponsor signs along the course. Many thanks to them for their sponsorship.

Jaclyn Kile prepares to cross the finish line.

You really, really, really enjoy a doughnut after the race.

Victory!

 

 

 

Having fun before the winners are announced.

Student volunteers are integral to the success of this event. Good job!

These students helped with water, concessions, standing on the course, and more. Thank you for your help today!

This was the sweetest brown dog. He/she didn’t run today, but did root us on!

There was a delay with scores so I had to leave before the winners were announced. The cold was a factor for the race in other ways too. My fully charged IPod lost power before I even finished my race. I had to run the last lap in quiet instead of listening to my finishing tune. A friend’s phone stopped working too so we suspect the cold played a part in that. Nevertheless, weather makes races interesting so we will see what it holds next year.

This is a great way to exercise while getting out and about in Sevierville. Save me a place in the back of the starting line and see you in 2018!