Lord, Jumper Prevail In Annual Turkey Trot 8K

24th Thanksgiving Race Held At Sports Barn East

  • Thursday, November 27, 2014
  • John Hunt

A couple of former state champions from Baylor knocked off the defending overall champions in the 24th Annual Turkey Trot 8K at the Sports Barn East on Thanksgiving Thursday morning.

Brandon Lord, a 22-year-old senior who has been running for the Georgia Bulldogs in recent years, was the overall winner in 25 minutes, one second while Hannah Jumper prevailed in the women’s division with a time of 29 minutes, 38 seconds, which was 21st overall in the field that included more than 1,000 finishers.

Lord started the race with defending champ Mike Walker and the two ran the first two miles together.  That’s when the 2010 Baylor standout shifted gears, picked up the pace and left Walker in his dust.

Walker then finished second in 26:06, some six seconds slower than last year’s winning time.

Daniel Goetz was third in 26:17 while Bryson Harper was fourth in 26:31 and Joseph Goetz fifth in 26:43.

Jumper is has been running for Vanderbilt since graduating from Baylor in 2011.  She’s dealt with more than her share of injuries during her time in Nashville, but she appeared to be close to 100 percent on Thursday as she averaged 5:58 for the distance.

Last year’s overall winner Jessica Marlier was the runner-up as she crossed the finish line in 30:59, which was 25th overall.

Karla Vrandenburgh was the third lady as she finished 48th overall in 33:22 while younger sister Kathryn Vrandenburgh was fourth in 33:54, which was 55th.  Anne Kemmerer was the fifth lady as she posted a time of 35:05, which was 73rd overall.

Race conditions were pretty good with temperatures in the upper 30s for the 9 a.m. start.  It got warmer as the race progressed, but there was nagging wind that caused problems for some runners, especially on the wide-open sections of Lee Highway in the first and last miles.

Nothing seemed to slow the overall winners.

“I’ve been doing a lot of work on the track, but I was happy to see these guys this morning,” Lord said when looking over the guys who finished after he did.

“I had been told that this was a fast course.  I ran with Mike for the first two miles, but we were going a little slow at that point, so I had to crank it down a little bit.  I didn’t want to completely kill myself, but I had a good run,” he said.

Walker is a 24-year-old social worker who’s employed by Health Connect America.  He is also part of the Fast Break Athletics racing team.  He knew that he would have to run his best time ever to have a chance of repeating as the overall winner.

“It was a good race as I got to feed off Brandon for the first two miles.  Then he dropped a bomb.  He pulled away at that point and was pretty much gone.  I took a big risk trying to run with him.  It didn’t pay off, but it was worth the effort,” Walker added.

Jumper hasn’t run a road race in quite some time, so she was just happy to be part of Thursday’s popular event that benefitted the Kidney Foundation.

“I’ve never run this race before, but I had four cousins who are running today and I came to support them.  There are times when I just can’t turn off my competitiveness, but taking part in a race like this is just something else to be thankful for,” she nodded.

Thursday’s race was the first hard effort for Marlier since a marathon a few weeks ago and the first since getting hit by a pickup truck while out for a training run.

“I think my time was about two minutes slower than last year.  I got second today, but I’m just thankful to be able to run again.  It wasn’t my best race, but I could have still been laid up in bed.

“I would have liked to have broken 30 minutes today.  I was running with Hannah for the first mile or so, but she pulled ahead and I never saw her again,” Marlier suggested.

Joey Howe has been a veteran of this race many times in the past, but his time this year may have been his slowest ever for this event as he finished 569th overall in 47:31.

“Just finishing is a victory for me.  I ran about what I was expecting, but I just tried to run even splits,” the 50-year-old Fast Break sales associate explained.

George Skonberg is another who loves running on a holiday like this before sitting down and eating the rest of the day.

“This is the best race in town and I always enjoy it.  Now I can eat and drink the rest of the day and not feel the least bit guilty,” he explained.

Carolyn Varnell has probably never run this race, but she’s served as the capable race director since its beginning in 1991.

“I think I’ve been doing this for the past 23 years, so it’s time for me to retire,” she said with a laugh.

“It was a great event as always and it’s turned into a family tradition for a lot of folks,” she added.

(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)

 

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