More than 800 runners, walkers in Ocean City’s T-day Fast and Furriest 5K
OCEAN CITY — There were 802 official finishers in the 15th anniversary Fast and the Furriest 5K Turkey Trot Thanksgiving morning on the Ocean City Boardwalk. DQ Timing provided statistics for each runner including gender, age, clock time, place, division and age.
There was one category, however, that the company overseeing the results of the fundraising run/walk for the Humane Society of Ocean City failed to register: the aerodynamic impact of turkey-shaped headgear.
Do not fear, dear reader. Although thoughts of the pending turkey day dinner were distracting this investigative reporter, the Sentinel scribbler persisted and delved deep into the effects, both positive and negative, of wearing a turkey covering during competition.
“I’m afraid it might it slow me down. I’m usually a lot faster,” Michelle Porreca Reasso of Collingswood said. Smiling, she added, “I’m trying to give other people a chance. I don’t want to show off too much. I’m a giver.”
“Last year I didn’t wear the hat,” she said. “Last year I was a taker. This year I’m a giver.”
Her brother, Mike Porreca of Ocean City, opted for a different type of garb but kept with a historic Thanksgiving theme. He was wearing a Pilgrim’s hat, not dissimilar to the kind kids make out of paper in elementary school after drawing turkeys by tracing their fingers.
“I’m excited for it. It’s my first year as a Pilgrim. Last year I went as an Indian. I want to see how the other side runs,” he said.
Did he believe the hat would give him a boost? “I hope so. It has a little propeller under it.” (When he raised his hat, a quick sub-investigation revealed there was no obvious propeller. This reporter’s conclusion? He was fibbing about the propeller.)
Asked which persona would be faster, he deferred to the Indian. “The Pilgrim hasn’t trained very hard this year,” he laughed.
“When you think of speed, when you think of something that’s quick, you immediately think of the turkey, if you’re in the right circles,” Riasso’s son, Robert, of North Carolina, said of his big turkey hat. “I’m really thinking that the energy that this brings will be a real advantage to me here.”
When the reporter suggested he looked like a runner, he demurred.
“Maybe 10 years ago when I was in college when I was still playing sports. I work in the food industry now. I’ve been sampling too much of the food. I’m hoping that will give me the energy I’ll need.”
Pressing further, the reporter queried if he were showing too much bias toward turkeys given his varied food connections. “Normally I work with chicken,” he said, “but there is a little bit of professional understanding that during this time of year a little branching out is allowed.”
“This will be the first time I’ll ever be racing with a turkey on my head,” said Porecca’s son (Robert’s cousin), Christian, of Ocean City. “I’m hoping that it will at least give me the inspiration I need to finish the race. And if it doesn’t, it might be my running companion and I’ll have it in my hands at some point. You never know.”
(For the record, Christian Porreca finished first among his family flock and did cross the finish line with the turkey still on his head.)
The Werley family, of Boyertown, Pa., and Wilmington, Del., were fitted out in matching wool caps will googly-eyed turkey faces on them.
“I found them on Pinterest. My son said we needed to wear something,” Meg Werley said. The cap, she noted with full confidence, “is going to make me run my fastest race ever.”
She admitted she had not trained in the hat so was unaware of the potential actual impacts, but faith in their mascot was playing a part. “We believe in the effects of this,” Meg said.
“The data is minimal,” husband Ralph Werley confided. “I feel energized by the hat … and warmed.”
Asked if he felt coerced into wearing that particular hat, their son, Blake, said, “I was excited. I couldn’t wait.” As for the impact of the headgear, he was certain: “Personal records for everyone.”
As any good racer would, Meg was sizing up the competition as she waited with hundreds of others near the starting line by the Music Pier. With a steely look in her eyes, she probed the reporter for critical race information. “I want to know about those guys over there with the turkey hats. Did you interview them? The aerodynamics of those hats are crazy.”
Not wanting to influence the outcome of the race, the reporter quietly slipped away into the crowd without answering.
Once the race started and the first six or seven hundred runners made their way south at a quick pace, Paul and Rebecca Oeser strolled down the boardwalk with Madelyn Saul, 11, and Corey Saul, 9, three of the four in (cooked) turkey hats.
“It’s going to really boost me because turkey power rules,” Corey said of his hat.
“I just want to have fun and walk this with my family,” said Madelyn, who had the added festive advantage of bright pink leggings, tall rainbow-colored socks and a tutu.
“We want to support all the animals, especially the kitty cats,” Rebecca said. “I’m doing it for the kids and the animals.”
“We’re from Rhode Island,” Paul added. “This is a really great way to start Thanksgiving.”
Paul and Rebecca helped the Thanksgiving mood via their T-shirts which read, “Silence of the yams” and “Nobody puts gravy in the corner.”
Some spectators even got into the mood, but at least two of them didn’t get the memo about the Thanksgiving theme.
Jack Spellman and his daughter, Nora, 4, were wearing antlers as son Carter, 6, peeked from behind his dad. Jack and his children, from Jacksonville, Fla., were in Ocean City visiting his sister Sarah Spellman and her husband, Tony Gilbert, who are spending the winter on the island.
“I think they break the wind and it sort of lets us be faster,” Jack said of the antlers. “We’re definitely fast.” Nora nodded in agreement.
But why antlers on turkey day?
“We just like to be inclusive of all holiday animals,” he added. “We just like to represent … reindeer.”
“We love it,” Sarah laughed when asked how she felt about her brother and niece in antlers versus turkey garb. “We gave the antlers to them.”
To cap off the investigation, this reporter staked out the finish line and waited for the top finishers. Not a turkey hat among them. Sheesh.
And now, for those who care about the fastest of the Fast and the Furriest, here are a few other results:
Top five (overall):
— Caleb Clevenger, 20, of Haddonfield, first, 17 minutes and 2 seconds; Isaac Clark, 28, of Pleasantville, second, 17:03; Cameron DiTroia, 20, Ocean View, third, 17:04; David Reichman, 33, Hatfield, Pa., fourth, 17:07; — Stephen Hoffman, 32, Ocean City, fifth, 17:55.
Top five (female):
— Zoe McCullough, 14, Ocean City, first, 20:04; Maura McMahon, 31, second, 20:25; Zoe Rosetti, 41, Ocean City, third, 20:31; Emily Goncalves, 35, Philadelphia, Pa., fourth, 21:03; Jenna Vivadelli, 14, Hammonton, 22:14.
Top five (1 mile kids Fun Run)
— Tripp Lennon, 8, Doylestown, Pa., first, 5:18; — Blake Sansil, 9, second, 5:26; — Sloane Lennon, 10, Doylestown, Pa., third (first female), 5:39; — Carter Weaver, 10, Ocean City, fourth, 5:39; — John Parker, 9, fifth, 5:48.
First turkey hat? Unclear.
Full results online at DQevents.com.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff