Some Fast & Furriest runners like to dress the part on T-day
OCEAN CITY — There were many serious runners on a chilly but sunny Thanksgiving morning among the nearly 1,300 people who finished the Fast and Furriest 5K Turkey Trot on the boardwalk to benefit the Humane Society of Ocean City.
Many others were not serious about the run, but serious about having fun and doing a run in all manner of silly outfits.
Cathie Rappoport of Ocean City was sporting a knitted hat with turkey legs above her ears.
“It’s a beautiful day here today in Ocean City. I have done runs in other locations before. This is my first time in Ocean City, but I’m super excited to be here with friends today and neighbors,” she said.
“Why not not run before you go and feast on a great meal today?”
Rappoport said a neighbor gave her the hat and it was the first time she was running with that outfit.
“I do a lot of Disney runs and it’s all about the costume and the camaraderie. It just brings a little bit of extra spirit to everything,” she said.
Later in the day she planned to have lunch with her husband and her centenarian mother, Margaret Schock, who vacationed in Ocean City every summer of her life before retiring here. “There’s a lot of blessings this year,” Rappoport said. “She turned 100. I’m extremely blessed and thankful today.”
For Samantha Franconeri of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., wearing a knit hat and a covering that says “coolest turkey” that could have doubled as a small tablecloth, the trot was helping her train for the Disney marathon. “I have to get my miles in today,” she said.
Visiting her mother-in-law in Ocean City, she said this would be her fifth Fast and Furriest run.
“It’s all about the outfit,” Franconeri said. “When you’re done, you have to go to the bar and have a drink in your turkey outfit. You’ve really earned it after that.”
“I’m going to go to Charlie’s (in Somers Point) to have a drink and then we’re going to go to Ventura’s with the family and have a Bloody Mary,” she said. As a note, she looked thrilled at the finish, raising her arms in triumph before she would go over to raise a glass.
Mother and daughter Christine and Carly Smith from Cookstown were wearing matching tutus and turkey headgear.
“It’s festive and fun,” Carly said. “It’s our first Turkey Trot, so we thought we’d get dressed up.” She noted she does a little running, but planned to walk the trot this time.
Christine said she came up with the idea for the outfits, courtesy of Amazon.com, while her daughter was the impetus for the trot.
The Pfaltzgraff family turned out as an entire flock dressed in full-on turkey outfits.
“I’d have to say it’s completely my daughter; this was her idea. We’ve got the whole family dressed up as turkeys today,” said Rich Pfaltzgraff of South Carolina, a Stone Harbor native who was back for the holiday visiting family.
“I think she just decided it was something to do … so you’ll see five of us all dressed in the turkey outfits for today. I think we’ll burn some calories before we actually have the big Thanksgiving turkey dinner. Burn it in advance and then really build it back up afterward,” he said.
“Because it’s Turkey Day and so you have to do a turkey trot on Turkey Day,” his wife, Tiffanie, reasoned.
Are these turkeys all natural runners?
“Yes and no,” Tiffanie said. “I used to run all the time. I don’t run anymore, but my kids do.”
Daughter Kirstin said it wasn’t hard to convince her siblings and parents to dress up.
“I just asked them if they wanted to do it. I said it would be a fun family affair and they all agreed. It was really easy, actually,” Kirstin said, acknowledging the silly spirit present among her family members.
Asked what time she was shooting for, Kirstin said, “I don’t know how fast it will be in these turkey outfits. They slow us down a bit.”
Admittedly, the outfits didn’t look aerodynamic in spite of being based on a bird.
“Some time between 30 and 40 minutes,” her brother, Edward, estimated. He pointed out that isn’t normal running time, it was turkey outfit running time.
Sister Aubrianna expected she would be slower than her siblings in the run. “I’m probably going to walk most of it,” she said. “I ran cross country in high school, but I really haven’t run since.”
Aubrianna, who is working on her master’s degree, said her academic work was a little tougher than doing a 5K in a turkey outfit. “Probably the master’s,” she said, laughing. “The running is only going to take a little while.”
For the record, Edward clocked in at a little over 33 minutes with Kirstin not far behind in 38. The rest of the family finished eight to 10 minutes later.
Jamie Ford of Ocean City and Ariana Belmonte of Mays Landing were sporting impressive headgear for the run. Belmonte’s head was covered by a (cloth) cooked turkey and Ford’s hat stood tall — a turkey dressed as a pilgrim.
“I think it’s going to give us wings,” Ford said. “We’re going to be flying through the finish line,” Belmonte said. “It’s gobble all the way home,” Ford added as both laughed.
These third-grade teachers from the Pleasantville School District run for fun but weren’t counting on winning times.
“I don’t expect to take home a medal, but I’m going to try,” Ford said. “Maybe best dressed,” she said. And then, looking over at the Pfaltzgraff family in their matching outfits, she admitted, “those turkeys have it.”
“I have lived in Ocean City all my life and I’ve never done it. And I usually do yoga, but my yoga studio’s closed today, so we decided to turkey trot,” Ford said.
“I’ve never done a turkey trot, so I said, you know, what better way to start Thanksgiving than a run with great people and just having fun,” Belmonte said.
Although they thought they might need some bobby pins to keep their headgear on, they both made it to the finish intact, but Belmonte was adjusting hers during the run.
Will the cool hats make an appearance in the classroom?
“You know what? We should have. We dress up for everything,” Ford said. “I forgot to bring the turkey hat yesterday, but we will be dressing up every day in December.”
“The 12 days of Christmas,” Belmonte explained.
“There’s a theme every day for the month of December. We have our outfits lined up,” Ford said.
Holly Grum of Philadelphia and Kacie McDonald of Colorado wore matching outfits — black shirts, black leggings, bright orange tutus and hats with turkeys rising nearly a foot over their heads.
“It’s just so fun. I feel like if you’re gonna run in the freezing cold, you might as well look fun and cute doing it,” Grum said.
“So it’s our first Thanksgiving down the shore and Kacie inspired me to run today. She’s my inspiration,” Grum said.
“What better thing to do with family on Thanksgiving with all these other crazy people,” McDonald said. “It’s a great start to the day.”
McDonald noted she got the turkey outfits a few years before for a turkey trot in Colorado.
“So this is tradition now — tutus and hats,” she said.
They agreed it was too cold to walk so they would be jogging and running the boardwalk course, “but I don’t think I’ll be PR’ing today,” Grum said about a potential personal record time. “If I do PR, I’m wearing this for every race I ever do.”
Spectators along the boardwalk also were enjoying the morning event that kicked off just after 8:30 a.m.
Joe Wagner wasn’t taking part in the trot, but said he was out representing the American Legion and VFW and wanted to support those taking part.
“I’m just here just having fun and seeing everybody get together and helping out any way I can,” he said. Then, Wagner added, “I’m going to enjoy the rest of Thanksgiving and have a nice turkey dinner with my family.”
The serious racers
Matt Hoffman, a 20-year-old former standout runner for the Ocean City High School Red Raiders, was the first finisher, taking 16 minutes and 47.11 seconds to finish the course that started and finished by the Ocean City Music Pier, ran south and then back north again.
Dakota Dalzell, 34; Alexander Ermold, 24, Luke McElmoyle, 16, and Stephen Hoffman, 35, who helps coach OCHS runners, rounded out the top five.
Another former outstanding athlete at OCHS, Renee Tomlin, 37, was the fastest female finisher with her time of 18:43.15. Also among the top five females, in order, were Mia Mastrogiovanni, 20, of Linwood; Angelica Lerro, 27; Kristin Gallagher, 51, of Ocean City; and Savannah Hodgens, 22, of Linwood.
Nearly 100 kids from age 4 to 14 took part in the one-mile fun run for children and there were 260 finishers in the 5K walk, making it one busy morning on the Ocean City Boardwalk.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
