2013 Gobbler Hobbler 10K Race Report

I PRed! And I took home my first trophy! It was a great day for a great race.

I signed up for the Oswegoland Gobbler Hobbler 10K on Tuesday. Leave it to me to think ahead ... I signed up because my marathon plan is based on my 10K performance, and it's been more than a year since the big ol' fail of a 10K at the 2012 Cosley Zoo Run for the Animals (on their part, not mine). I chose this race because it was easy to get to, small scale and cheap. For $25, I got a sweatshirt, a pancake breakfast and this awesome trophy with a turkey on it!


All that said, this morning I got up and thought, I don't want to do this. I want to stay in bed. I do not want to gear up, drive 45 minutes and run in the cold. I need to work on my mental toughness, obviously. I even told Tim, "I hope I get more enthusiastic when I get there."

I'm not sure if I ever got enthusiastic, but it was a great race. Getting my gear took no time at all and I spent 30 minutes warming up, hanging out, freezing my ass off.

We started close to on time and I started out a bit too fast. I was worried about my knee issues and the fact that my hands were particularly numb this morning, but I was also concerned I was overdressed. There were decent-sized hills in the second and fifth mile, which severely impacted my pace. I felt crappy in the fourth mile, but took comfort in the fact that it was almost over.

I was happy to finish and immediately changed into my new Gobbler Hobbler sweatshirt. I recovered with a salted caramel latte from a local coffee shop, which is where I realized my timing chip said I was a dude. So we went back to the race and got it changed, but not before the timing company representative lectured me that the genders are printed on the bibs so you can fix them in advance. She was not my favorite.

Other than that unpleasantness, this was a great race. It was low cost, low key and family friendly. There was a 10K and a 1-mile option with a playground at the finish line, so it seemed like everyone was having a great time. They had a company on-site for stretching and the post-race breakfast was indoors, so that was lovely.

Cost: $25
Time: 49:06
Pros: Cheap, you get a sweatshirt, parking is free, very kid-friendly
Cons: It's cold, ya'll! And the timing company rep was not very friendly