Running Off The Turkey Half Marathon

In bowling, if you nail three strikes in a row, you've bowled yourself a turkey. This Thanksgiving weekend, I struck out! Endorphin Dude trotted his way through the Turkey Triple, completing 3 half marathons in 3 days, and 32nd half marathon overall. The best part? DUDE! I got a trophy!!!

When Charlie Alewine handed me a trophy the size of a super sized Hickory Farms beef stick, I pretty much collapsed in shock! Ok, it wasn't really the shock that made me fall to the ground, it was the spaghetti legs from three days of running! Seriously, though, this came as a big surprise. I was ecstatic to have three medals hanging around my neck, but to have a trophy on top of it was icing on this GU-filled cake! I had no clue this was coming to me.

The trophy had engraved on it: "CHAMPION: Thanksgiving Weekend Triple Finisher. 3 Races - 3 Days." I, of course, ran out and got my own special "Endorphin Dude" engraving added to the trophy. Truth be told, I have never won a trophy ever in my life. Seriously. Until today, I have been the Bobby Brady of everything. Everyone had a trophy but me. Not anymore! Endorphin Dude now has a big gold shiny man on a pillar statue that I can call my own! WIN!

The final half marathon in my triple weekend went very well. I am very familar with Huntington Beach, having run the Surf City Half Marathon back in February. The course ran along the Pacific Coast Highway, and for the most part, it was a beautiful day. There were some gusty winds after the turn around, but it really wasn't anything I couldn't handle. I did take this one slow and easy and walked a lot towards the end. I had wanted to finish as quickly as I could so that I could beat the post Thanksgiving LA traffic, but my body simply said no. Instead, I casually made it through this race, finishing in 3:44:13. Along the way, I met some pretty cool people.

Here's the lovely Debbie Alewine. I sat with Debbie for about 10 minutes at my 8 mile mark and chatted with her. I needed the break and she provided me with exactly that. Both Debbie and Charlie are such down to earth people. Because of them, I will definitely be driving 400 miles to run their races in the future!


I met Inrid at about the 8 mile mark. I'm sure I'll be seeing this lady at more races in the future!


There's Ward Sullivan! This guy ran the full marathon yesterday!


I barely recognized Jessica without her bunny ears! Here she is with Steve Hernandez. These two actually saved my butt by telling me I had gone too far! Had I not seen them on the course, I probably would have kept running all the way to San Diego!


My new running friend Khirstine.


Here's the ever popular Deo. This guy ran his 203rd or 4th marathon today. This was his third in three days. DAMN!


Here's fellow Marathon Maniac, Dan Margolis. This guy finished before I did, and he ran the full marathon!


And of course, the group shot.


I'll be honest and say that I am bouncing off walls. By completing my first triple, I not only earned three medals and a huge trophy, but I also skyrocketed to Mars! Endorphin Dude is now a 5 moon Half Fanatic! Woo Hoo! Half marathons #30, #31, and #32 are now in the books. Yay!

Here I am with my big trophy and my mom. Notice that Chewbacca is staring at the trophy probably thinking, "Uh, you better not sleep with that thing! I ain't giving up my spot in bed!"