The Turkey Trot Tumble

By Jack Rightmyer

For many active Americans a Thanksgiving tradition is to wake up early and run in a local turkey trot race. In the Capital Region there are turkey trots in Schenectady, Saratoga Springs, Glens Falls and other places, and the largest and most famous of them all is in Troy. Some of us dress in funny costumes, walk or jog the course and make an early morning party out of it, and some of us train all year with the hope of improving on the time you had run a year ago.

This year’s Troy Turkey Trot, the 75th year it has taken place, became one of the most talked about running races in the country because of the viral video of the finish of the 10-kilometer race that showed Loudonville native and Cornell graduate Xavier Salvador, 25, hip checking 22-year-old Jack Huber into a roadside barrier to try and claim fourth place. The two runners both crashed at the line into journalist Amy Modesti, and fortunately no one was seriously hurt.

Jack, who recently graduated from Michigan State with a degree in Integrated Biology, has always loved the camaraderie of running. “It was a perfect weather day for this year’s race,” he said. “My training partner and Bethlehem High School teammate Cameron Davis and I were running 5:06 a mile with Ryan Udvadia. We were all pushing hard and working together taking turns to lead. That’s what runners do. It hurts to run that fast for a long race, but it helps when you can run together in a pack and help each other.”

Sean O’Brien of Altamont, a junior at Buffalo, captured the 10K title in 30 minutes, 44 seconds. 

Nearing the finish, the pack began to slowly break up with Ryan in second, Cameron in third and Xavier in fourth. “I was really hauling,” Jack said. “My GPS watch showed me that I was running 19.8 miles per hour as I approached the finish. I was flying and really closing in on Salvador who was not moving as fast. I just expected to breeze by him at the line. I had no idea he would try and contest it especially because this was a turkey trot race, and the money only went to third place, and Cam had that spot locked in.”

The video shows how dangerous the battle between Xavier and Jack became with Xavier moving to his right and basically knocking Huber into the metal roadside barrier.

“I would understand that move if this was some important NCAA championship race,” Jack said, “and as we got to the finish I braced for the fall with my hands and fortunately didn’t land on my head. We could have really hurt that photographer, too.”

Jack said he was very upset at the end as he and Xavier lay sprawled on the ground. “I said some things to him that weren’t very nice, and I asked him what he gained by doing something like that.”

Jack’s shoulder also took a major hit and both runners ended up in the medical tent after the race. “I didn’t talk to him there. I was actually happy with my time and trying to not let that finish upset me too much, and when I was getting ready to leave with my family he came over and said he was trying to avoid a manhole cover and that he didn’t intend to hit me, but I wasn’t buying that. He never took any responsibility for what happened.”

When Jack woke up the next day everyone was texting him, journalists, friends, local TV newscasters. “Running rarely gets noticed and when something crazy like this happens at the finish of a race it just seems to have some sort of universal appeal. Maybe it’s because it was a turkey trot race and even people who don’t run will do a turkey trot race.”

Jack spent a few days being interviewed on TV and there were newspaper articles and stories all over the internet especially on sites for runners. There was much discussion about sportsmanship and how distance running normally embodies the best of what sports is all about.

The Troy Turkey Trot games committee, on the recommendation of coordinator George Regan, decided to disqualify Xavier for unsportsmanlike conduct. Jack was officially given fourth place (his time was 31:47), and Xavier’s name was expunged from the race records.

Although Jack was sore, he still went out for his daily run the day after the race. “I’m taking a year to work on my running, and I’m happy to have a training partner like Cameron Davis, who’s training for the Boston Marathon. I’m not dwelling on what happened at the end of the Turkey Trot. That’s over. I’m focused now on trying to find some good indoor races and get a PR in the 5,000 and the mile. I’m applying to graduate school for next year, and working at the Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza. I’m enjoying it there and I get a 40% discount so I can buy all the books I want.”

Jack Rightmyer (jackxc@nycap.rr.com) of Burnt Hills was a longtime cross-country coach at Bethlehem High School and today is an adjunct English professor at Siena College. He has written two books “A Funny Thing About Teaching” and “It’s Not About Winning: One Runner’s Reflections on Fatherhood, Coaching, and Athletics.”