On Thanksgiving I ran the local Gainesville Turkey Trot 10k, sponsored by Lloyd Clarke Sports.

I chose to race in my Soft Star RunAmoc DASH shoes, pictured here with the race t-shirt:



A significant portion of the course was beautiful grass or trail. It very much reminded me of a High School Cross Country course. There were nice arrows painted every few meters and some sections were marked with tape:



My RunAmocs (with the 5mm trail sole) really enjoyed the grass. Out of all my shoes, these RunAmocs with the Vibram trail sole get the best traction on surfaces that look like this:




This race allowed me to confirm my previous conjecture that RunAmoc DASH would make a great XC racing flat. There were sections of the course that were on roads, which were not nearly as much fun, but doable. RunAmoc DASH perform way better on pavement than XC spikes, that's for sure. The fact that the RunAmocs are very low to the ground and have a nice wide flat surface combined with the amazing trail sole texture means they were perfect for the off-road sections. Whether the ground was firm or soft or uneven due to mole hills, or whatever was in the way, the DASH did the job. If this were a RunAmoc DASH review, I would score it very well.

Here is a picture of me after the finish:



I finished the 10k with a time of 40:27 (avg. 6:31 per mile pace), 9th overall out of 430+ runners. Overall awards went three-deep and they had separate masters awards, so the faster people were out of the way by the time it came to age group awards. I feel good that I can win my age group once in a while.

I'm happy with the performance but not happy with my execution... I went out too fast and paid the price in pain and suffering. It is much more enjoyable to stay in the aerobic zone for most of the race (as I did in the half marathon a few weeks ago). One thing I didn't like about the course is that we caught up to the slow walkers with their strollers and kids, so I had to weave and dodge in the last mile to avoid ploughing through some people or running over the little ones who stopped right in front of me to pick something up off the trail.

I took some time to enjoy the sun while waiting for the awards ceremony:



Official Race Results by Half Mile Timing: http://www.halfmiletiming.com/Datafil...trot11.htm