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Well it’s lunch time here on Thanksgiving day, and I know I should be off doing thankful things right now, but couldn’t WAIT to share with y’all how our annual 5k went!

First off, we’re having some crazy warm weather here in the Salt Lake valley today. It’s the warmest Thanksgiving run we’ve ever had here. Yay Mother Nature!

That’s my son Tyler, the tall handsome guy in the back. His wife Anna is holding Eli (AKA “Marshmallow”), and that’s Amelia ( AKA “Punky”) in between me and James. Punky and Eli call James “Dude” and they call me “Mugga.” To complicate things further, James calls Amelia “Baby,” and has done so since she was born; and yes, she’s the same “Baby” that’s in James’ infamous Toilet Paper Test video back from when she was an actual, albeit rather articulate, baby.

We’re missing my daughter Mackenzie this year, as she flew down to Albuquerque with her boyfriend for the long weekend. I’ve ordered her to have a Garduno’s Coconut Margarita while there and send me pictures. Woops sorry, tangent. And not a healthy drink choice at all. Bad Stef.

Back on track.

Since Thanksgiving Day 5k’s are very serious business, we spent some time pre-race with the firefighters ensuring they were prepared to keep us safe.

This truck passes inspection.

I think it’s pretty cool Punky and Marshmallow have run this thing every year of their lives. They started in strollers, but now have both graduated to running this without any assistance. Nobody picks them up and they don’t even asked to be picked up; the whole 5k course is their own effort.

Me and Punky texting about it. We text a lot.

Since Dude was running this thing for time, he lined up towards the front of the pack and we didn’t see him again until the finish. I ran with Punky and my daughter-in-law Anna.

Girlpower…ACTIVATE!

Get this. This sweet 6-year old ran this thing in 35 STINKING MINUTES! And she took 4th place in the 8 and under category!

There she goes, crossing the finish in front of me!

In fact, when I turned on my Strava about a mile in, I was able to watch Punky’s pace the last two miles. Guys, those last 2 miles she was pulling an average of 10:07 minute miles! AND SHE’S ONLY 6! Her time was so incredible, she technically “beat the mayor” (an annual challenge at our town’s 5k). This is the first year she was faster than the mayor. She was SO proud.

Showing off her “I beat the mayor” medal!

But hey, this isn’t only the Punky Show here. First off, James didn’t do too bad! The course is a hard one with more climbing than downs, and so finish times are always less than a fast and flat course. That said, he finished at 24 minutes, and took 7th in his age group. For a non-runner who only runs 8 weeks a year, that’s awesome. Yay Dude!

And then last but CERTAINLY not least, we’ll want to keep our eye on the current underdog here…

Marshmallow:

Eli’s only 4, and his finish time was 43 minutes. I know, incredible, right? It’s also FASTER than Amelia’s 5k time last year when she was 5 (which was 49 minutes). This has me thinking NEXT year’s Turkey Trot should be very, very interesting in the Fit RV clan. Marshmallow’s coming for his speed racer sister! Looks like these two definitely inherited the running gene.

Maybe it’s his lucky jacket: “See my mugga & dude…”

So there it is! Another successful Thanksgiving 5k in the bag for the FitRV fam.

I wanted to share our special day with y’all since you’ve probably been seeing all the 5k training plans I’ve been posting over the past 8 weeks, or maybe you’ve even been following them yourselves? This run marks the end of those 8 weeks of training…SUCCESS! It’s an amazing feeling participating in a training plan and seeing it through to its end. Kind of addicting, actually. Which is why we make a big stink out of our little Thanksgiving tradition.

Before I sign off and get back to the holiday, here’s a shout out to all the things we’re grateful for:

Health! Our family! Our RV adventures! And our FitRV family…YOU!

Thanks, everyone for all your support, kind words, comments you leave us, and for cheering us on as we charge forward on this FitRV adventure of ours.

And here’s also to hoping your turkey day is filled with health, happiness, and perhaps a little adventure, too. Happy Thanksgiving!

Love from our family to yours!

Stef (and Dude)