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“All politics are local” is a saying whose soliloquy is found in running. The best of small town road races mirror their community – and that's where the heart of running lays. Such was the Block Island Turkey Trot this past weekend.

To digress for a minute, I've spent most of the month going to big races – VERY BIG races such as the near 40,000 runners at the New York Marathon. Huge marathons are spectacular events and testaments to both the popularity of running and the sport's unique focus on maximum participation. Say what you will about the excitement of an America's Cup, a Super Bowl or even the World Series. But in none of them are 40,000 people invited to join the fray.

Yet, even events such as the New York, Boston and Chicago marathons are to a degree elitist – because there are so many more runners who would like to run but can't. The applicants far exceed manageable numbers so caps are placed on entries, many athletes don't have the time to travel the distance to these locations and the cost can be prohibitive. For example, it's easy to drop $1,000.00 on a New York weekend.

The true measure of running is the small town races. Throughout last week there were hundreds of local races in New England ranging from mile to half-marathon. Many held a Thanksgiving theme, from Turkey Trots to Gobble-Gobbles. These races are where it starts and where it finishes. They ignite the passion of running/racing within kids, while fulfilling the desire to fight inertia in those of us that can politely be called “aging”. And we all get to toe the starting line with the best of the area. These “little locals” are even attractive to the big city marathoners. I was wearing a New York Marathon shirt (it was too large for my daughter who ran in it) and two more people came up to me wearing the same shirt.

Block Island's Turkey Trot was 5K – 3.1 miles to the uninitiated. Being an out and back was great, allowing us to watch and cheer for the true masters of the roads as they headed back toward the finish, remarkably quicker than most would guess. Then there were the rest of us - every type of runner/walker imaginable. In small town races its OK not to know how to wear your number, and to worry about whether you can run the whole thing. Where participants can jump in the front of the line and sprint for 400M before stopping and walking. Grandfathers and grandsons can jog together, or a mother can pace a daughter in her first big race. Or whole families can get together, which was my group's incentive.

Put on by the Chamber of Commerce to support the “Ball O'Brien” basketball court, it also served as an incentive for a few more tourists to visit the island – a destination run. I don't know what the usual turnout is, this race being in just its' third year of existence and my first time participating. From what I gather, the numbers swelled beyond predictions. Even by small town race standards, it wasn't big. Just over 150 started the race. That is typical of a third year, the make or break point for most fledgling races. All indications are that it will continue to grow.

The sunny but cool (40 degrees and breezy) weather was perfect. The race staff seemed a little overwhelmed by the numbers. They handled the usual last-minute registration surge without lines getting too long. Delays were on the other end. This is still a “hand tally” race. Results bogged down with the winners waiting well over an hour. The hot chocolate ran out and most other participants were back home eating turkey sandwiches or at the Shopper's Stroll before awards were handed out.

But the race held all of the elements you'd expect, organized by a tight knit group of volunteers and supported by many of the businesses in town. With a little tweaking of the recording process the large group of volunteers should be able to speed the results next year.

Back to the race itself!

My group was on the island for our annual Thanksgiving family reunion. A month earlier seven of us had decided to run the race. We were a microcosm of what you find at these races, spanning ages 19-55 and including both serious and first time runners. And we covered much of the spectrum of personal goals. Matt and Emily, being the true distance runners, reached the starting line unsure of whether to race or run for fun. For them the two are often the same. They settled into a comfortable pace early and won with very respectable if not PR times of 16:14 and 18:47. That night they enjoyed winner's meals at the Beachhead – compliments of generous first place gift certificates.

Arlene and I (the oldest of the group) were time oriented. A month earlier we'd barely met our goal of sub-8 minute miles at the Wellfleet Shuck and Run 5K. This time we were determined to break 24 minutes for the 5K. We were fairly confident since adding our once a week track workouts and after checking the USATF map-a-route site. It turns out that Block Island offered a course with exactly half the amount of vertical rise as Wellfleet. Our niece Tess recently developed the running bug while helping Matt with his NYRR project – chasing glory. She decided to stick with Arlene and they both took off fast. I trailed them most of the way, an unfamiliar position since recently I've been the pacer for Arlene. Eventually I benefited because I know they pulled me to a faster time than I would have had if I were in charge.

They passed the mile in 7:20 and I followed along 10 seconds behind. At two miles we were even. Arlene eventually pulled away at the top of the last rise. Her 22:48 was well ahead of our goal and I was happy with a 22:57. With 400M to go island residents Brooke and Marion Ortel came flying past me. As a long time girls' track coach I love to see emerging female runners. Brooke is in 7 th grade. Even if I could have kept up – pictures of my knee lift vs. theirs confirms I couldn't   – I wouldn't have wanted to beat Brooke. She's going to be a good one.

Tess exceeded her goal with a 23:18. Though not a runner, she played a variety of sports in high school that required stamina - including lacrosse. Her next goal is a half-marathon.

I was most interested in how Tess's parents would fair. Rob's last race was in high school – maybe 35 years ago. Virginia has never been a runner. Somehow with their busy vet schedules they've found time to do a lot of walking over the years, and recently started jogging in preparation for the race. Rob had to be happy with his time of just over 26 minutes. If he keeps this up I'm going to start hearing footsteps. The night before the race Virginia was sure she'd have to walk part of it. The size of her smile at the finish confirmed that she didn't have to.

That's what these races are about! Different runners, different goals and different approaches. Yet, all can be successful.

Congratulations to Block Island for putting on a fun race. I hope it was a successful fundraiser. I'd like to say I'll see them next year but I won't. Every Thanksgiving is a different location for our family Thanksgiving. But you can be sure that I'll be looking up the results looking for the Ortels, and to see if the men's race comes down to a battle between Stan Mikus, Mike Cranfaglione, and M. Mikus.