This gives new meaning to the phrase “cold turkey.”
On Thursday morning, 738 people went on a cold turkey trot.
With race time weather at 28 degrees — 17 degrees with the windchill — runners braved the elements at the 37th running of the Orland Park Turkey Trot on a 2.5-mile course near Village Hall, burning off some calories for their anticipated Thanksgiving feasts later in the day.
Heather Lagerwall, of Homer Glen, and her 11-year-old daughter, Nora, ran in their first Turkey Trot. They got a little more than they bargained for with the weather.
“We signed up in July,” Heather said before the run. “I wasn’t thinking of this. Nora is a natural runner. I’ve never done a race. I’ll try to run, but I’m a little nervous.”
After the run, the plan for Heather was to “rush home and start cooking.”
With the exception of a few brave souls who wore skimpy runners’ attire, the majority of the runners bundled up. There were also people who dressed up in turkey attire.
Hector Gutierrez, of Orland Park, and Matt McConahy, of Burr Ridge, are brothers-in-law who dressed as turkeys for the event.
McConahy is originally from western Pennsylvania and enjoys running but started running marathons when he moved to Illinois.
“I’m the opposite of a runner,” he said. “But this is perfect. It’s short enough where I can get off the couch and come up here and run before I have some turkey and some beverages.”
McConahy picked up his turkey costume through Amazon. Gutierrez shopped at the Orland Park Target, not far from the race course. Both said they wanted to have a little fun while they ran.
Interestingly, the winner of the race was Oak Lawn’s Gavin Hampton, who battled the heat in Orland Park July 3 when he won the Orland Park Veteran Liberty Run at Centennial Park.
While the 22-year-old said sweating was a problem in July, he had different obstacles in November.
“Cold air is running down your throat and your snots are freezing,” Hampton said. “You just can’t win. You have extreme heat at the Liberty Run and extreme cold in the Turkey Trot.”
Actually, he can win. And he did win Thursday with a time of 14 minutes, 44.90 seconds over the course.
He was a last-minute entry in the Liberty Run and won it. Peer pressure took over for the Turkey Trot.
“People said ‘you won the Liberty Run, you have to run in the Turkey Trot.’’’ Hampton said. “I was really hyped for this because, in previous years, there has been some pretty good competition. I was hyped to see what I could do and who was going to be out here.”
Avery Landi, a 14-year-old from Yorba Linda, California, who was visiting family in Mokena and Schaumburg, was not bothered by the cold. She won the women’s division when she clocked in at 16:25.16 — 11th overall.
“It was really cold, but I ran a race that was colder in Indiana,” Landi said. “I just don’t think about it. I don’t care about it — the same as when it’s really hot.”
There wasn’t many spectators lining the streets, but one woman and her son cheered from a spot on Ravinia Avenue.
Orland Park’s Lisa and Chase Maleck cheered for Mike Maleck, and Lisa brought a clever sign that said “Go random stranger, go! (and my husband, too). I trained two months to hold this sign.”
It was Mike’s first time running the trot but earlier in the month, he ran in the Skechers Hot Chocolate Run in Grant Park in Chicago.
“He ran in the Hot Chocolate and they had signs there,” Lisa said. “So, we wanted to bring a sign here.”
The weather forced organizers to make a few tweaks. The inflatable start/finish line arch was not blown up because of the wind.
“It was a safety thing,” said Ray Piattoni, Orland Park director of recreation and parks. “We wouldn’t want that coming down with all the people we had. But overall, the wind didn’t really affect the race.”
He said the race was sold out at 1,000 runners and having a large majority show up in the cold was impressive.
“It’s Thanksgiving and people are in great spirits,” he said. “They had a good time out there and that’s what really matters.
“Thanksgiving is the biggest running day of the year and they come out and earn that evening dinner.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
