Naperville's Turkey Trot often a family affair
Despite his best efforts, David Hanselman just can't catch his son.
"The last time I caught up with him was, in fact, when he was 8," the Naperville dad said with a sheepish grin liberally salted with pride.
Indeed, early Thursday morning 12-year-old Ryan Hanselman again was one step ahead of his father. Or maybe a few hundred steps.
While Ryan clocked in at 20:08 for Naperville's annual 5K Turkey Trot, his pop came in at 23:39. Is the elder Hanselman upset over his defeat? Hardly.
"I'm proud of him," he said.
On a crisp, clear morning when thousands of other middle school students in the area were sleeping in for the Thanksgiving holiday, Ryan was logging miles.
"For running, there's never a day off," the Scullen Middle School student said with the serious tone of a professional athlete.
The first woman across the finish line in the race that drew almost 5,000 runners benefitted from the Midwestern air.
Living in Denver's altitude adds time to 28-year-old Jocelyn Petrella Gallagher's record.
She clocked in Thursday in 17:32, a full 20 seconds ahead of her previously-best time.
The professional triathlete and doctoral candidate returns to her hometown every year for the race - and to visit family, of course, she added.
This year Gallagher talked her sister into running the race in which she and her husband have competed for the past six years. It's officially become a family affair and next year she plans to challenge more relatives to enter, as well.
"It's a great way to kick off Thanksgiving," she said.
One of the myriad spectators alongside the finish line bemoaned the fact that the first woman across the finish line appeared to be a teenager, clearly giving her an advantage.
When informed that she was, in fact, a few years shy of 30, he quickly changed his tune.
"There you go, (running) takes 10 years off," he said cheerily.
In Naperville, it certainly leads to early risers.