Some 7,000 people flocked to Troy for the Turkey Trot on Thursday, and I was one of them.

*gobble, gobble*

I decided to finally keep my promise in 2009 to do the Turkey Leg portion of the Trot which is when, after about one mile, runners stop at the Ale House to drink and join holiday revelers.

I kept with my tradition of not registering for the event, and ran with my brother who tried to duck out at the last minute - in true Sanzone style - afterall, we are not morning people.

As we approached downtown, we knew it was going to be a popular event - families and runners were everywhere. Luckily, I got one of the last parking spots at The Record's lot (ironic since I actually have a parking pass there and most of the other people who parked there didn't) and we walked over to 4th Street.

The starting area was a bit different than I remembered since the last time I did the run there were sections labeled for certain 5K running times. But this time there was just a mass of people.

The false start was the same as I remembered though, as well as the "fun" of running/breathing in the cold air.

I was actually in shape when I did the run before and this time I hadn't seen the entrance to the gym in weeks. That's why I decided to do the Turkey Leg.

The one thing no one told me about the Turkey Leg, however, and that I didn't really think about, is that you still have to walk/run back from the Ale House once you get there. So...you still end up doing nearly 2/3 of the 5k anyway.

We ran for a bit, then walked, then ran for a bit more as we got closer to the Ale House. The crowd there was awesome with beligerent but friendly folks cheering us on.

But, as luck would have it, I forgot my flask (and my brother is under 21 anyway so it was just as well), so we walked over a block and started walking with the rest of the group that had already turned around and were making their way back downtown.

We approached the hill that I loathe and eventually were within eyesight of the Green Island bridge.

At this point, at least a dozen kids had yelled "Hey Spiderman/woman!" And another dozen adults had yelled "It's Tricky Dick" to my brother. Yes, we were dressed as Spiderman and Richard Nixon.

I actually saw another Spiderman in the crowd - on a side note, he has now become my arch-nemesis.

He ended up running nearly the whole thing and was obviously in front of us - but we did make it back to the finish line.

I'm not sure what you would call the run we did since we did run more than just to the Ale House.

I guess I'll dub it - the Turkey Wing.

Next time....because once again I have a feeling there will be a next time (especially since my brother wants to run the whole thing next year) I think I'll wear a new costume. Spiderman costumes are not meant for people with curves.