Reprinted from: The Running Tab, December 1979, pg. 8-9

Pequot Turkey Trot Draws 1,000+

by Jim Gerweck

In only its second year, the Pequot Thanksgiving Work-Up-An-Appetite run has already become an established fixture, rivaling the venerable Manchester turkey trot in attractiveness and popularity. While John Treacy was smashing records up north, they were setting a few marks of their own in Southport.

If the quality in Southport didn't quite equal that of Manchester, there was no question of quantity. Nearly doubling the field from last year's inaugural race, more than 1,000 runners travelled the five mile shoreline course, a fact which had the race directors simultaneously smiling and pulling their hair. For although the big numbers signified that Southport had definitely arrived as a major race, they also overtaxed the finish line system, once again causing many of the slower runners to miss out on an accurate time.

Just as in 1978, there was plenty of strong competition up front as well, though not up to the caliber of last year. Defending champ Mike Cotton was in Florida for the holiday, Bruce Bond had recently run a hard marathon and was in no shape for a fast five, George Pfeiffer had shuffled off to Buffalo or thereabouts, and Veli Bally was in Turkey (the country, not the bird). But with the cross country season just ended, there were some well conditioned young collegiate runners ready to take up the slack.

The race soon developed into an eastern university contest, as Pat Wild (Rutgers), Carl Anderson (Boston College) and Bob Murdock (Bucknell) broke away from the rest of the pack and ran nearly neck and neck for three miles. Several tactical moves were exchanged, but none of the three could gain a significant lead, making a finishing kick inevitable to determine the victor.

As they turned the corner with only a few hundred yards to go, Wild took the inside lane and gained perhaps a yard, but it was all he needed as he accelerated away to the victory in 25:02.6, well off Cotton's time of 24:04. Anderson was second, Four seconds back. "I pretty much figured out what would happen," he said. "I knew I couldn't kick with him." Murdock too was chagrined to have let the race come down to a final sprint. "I should have tried harder to break away in the middle of the race."

Divergent Strategies

Fourth and fifth places were taken by two runners who used divergent strategies. George Basanda had led for the early miles, but was passed by the first three finishers and then by Carlos Amaral, who had started quite conservatively. "I just kept passing people," he said. "Another mile and I would have been up with the leaders."

Although Cotton's record was never threatened, the women's mark of 31:00 established by Muffy Tate lasted just one year. Kyle Mickune of Westport now holds the fastest time for the course, 30:52.7. A junior at Boston University, Mickune is a member of the strong cross country team there, so the Southport race provided her with an unusual opportunity. "This is the first time this fall I've been running to win," she said. "At one mile, I knew I was the first women, and I was feeling really good. I said to myself 'I want to win' and really started to run hard, but I wasn't really thinking about the record."

By running that fast, Mickune had no problem at the finish, as did those who followed her for the next couple minutes. But at around 35 minutes, as the bell curve of finishing runners began to climb steeply, the single finish chute started to overload, and runners backed up beyond the finish line, much as they do in the Boston Marathon. At its worst, the backup mounted to more than 50 yards, throwing times off so much as to make them meaningless. However place order was for the most part maintained, a consolation for those not wearing chronographs.

But most runners didn't mind too much, viewing the Southport race as a social event as much as a serious athletic competition. And with thoughts of turkey (the bird, not the country) and cranberry sauce on almost everyone's mind, that may be the most appropriate way to view a five mile run on Thanksgiving morning.