By Robert Anglen
The Cincinnati Enquirer
It is 8 a.m., 28 degrees on a holiday morning. And thousands of people in downtown Cincinnati are warming up for Thanksgiving without the benefit of an oven or even an apron.
Instead, they wear short pants and running suits, sweat bands and pedometers as they stretch and jog across the promenade at Paul Brown Stadium before the start of the 93rd annual Thanksgiving Day Race.
"I've been running this for 24 years," says 71-year-old Talbert Brown of Lincoln Heights. "I think it is a terrific race. It's one of the best races. I just decided to do it for the exercise and I keep doing it."
With a 9 a.m. starter signal, runners follow a 10-kilometer loop course along Second Street to Main Street where they go up and double back toward the river before crossing the Taylor Southgate bridge into Northern Kentucky and end at Paul Brown stadium.
All that running really gets the appetite going, says 21-year-old Kristen Nichols of Mt. Washington.
"It's tradition. You do it once, you have to do it again," she says. "After the race, I'm going to go home, take a shower and then go to my grandma's house to eat."
Dave Roberts, 52, of Liberty Township, says the race was his excuse not to cook. "It was a good way to get out of fixing Thanksgiving dinner for the whole family."
So what's he going to do after he crosses the finish line? "Fix Thanksgiving dinner for the whole family. We're going to smoke a turkey."
This is Mr. Roberts' first Cincinnati Thanksgiving race and he says it will help him get ready for the Flying Pig Marathon in the spring.
"I'm training for The Pig," he says.
The race, which drew 8,997 runners last year, benefits The Anthony Munoz Foundation, Leukemia/Lymphoma Society and the Free Store Food Bank.
Tracey DuEst, co-director of Girls on the Run, says that her agency brought out about 150 runners to the race. She says the race promotes the nonprofit group, which helps adolescent girls deal with various issues through physical fitness.
"It's for a good cause," says first-time runner Sean Suder, 24, of Charlottesville, Va. "It makes you feel good and you can eat more turkey."
Mr. Suder, who is visiting family in Cincinnati, says the race is a good way to get to see the city.
Along with the runners, the race drew out some spectators. Undaunted by the chilly temperatures, family members and friends of runners position themselves along the starting line to get pictures, videos or just to shout encouragement. Ray Davis, 44, of Villa Hills searches for his wife.
"It's the first race she has ever run," he says. "It's massive. I didn't realize how many people would be out here."
Julie Nicholls, 21, of Batavia laughs nervously just before the race gets under way.
"I was kind of unsure about it, then I decided, why not?" she says, adding that when the race ends she is going home for Thanksgiving dinner. "I'll be proud of myself when it's over."
E-mail ranglen@enquirer.com
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