Day 11 of the 30 Days of Gratitude Challenge: A happy memory.

Answer: Last Thursday. Thanksgiving, obviously, but beyond that, I got to participate in an in-person race with my older son — our first together since 2018. Which, of course, leads to countless other happy memories of races with both of my kids and others in my family.

We were fortunate to share the course with Santa as part of his pre-season warm-up. Why wouldn’t Santa love a turkey trot?

Santa and his Christmas crew walked the course, so I saw them later on the left side of the course as I was running back on the right. Since there were a lot of families running together, I could see a number of children greeting him as he made his way. And he entertained every one of them with a smile, a wave and a “ho-ho-ho.” It was the sweetest thing and the kids were delighted. What a kind man.

Beyond that, it was a solid race for both of us. Wonderful company, a respectable result and a very happy memory.