On the morning of Thanksgiving, Allie Ostrander turned in one of the fastest times in the nation at her local turkey trot.

The Oiselle athlete defended her title at the Alpine Bank Boulder Thanksgiving Day 5K, winning in a blistering 16 minutes, 7.44 seconds. Ostrander averaged a scorching pace of 5:11 per mile to win by 61 seconds and place sixth overall.

Held at 5,430 feet elevation, Ostrander’s time was an altitude personal best and converts to approximately 15:32 at sea level.

The road course featured a few gradual hills, in addition to a handful of 90-degree turns and a pair of 180-degree turns.

After coming through the first mile in 5:19, Ostrander powered to a 5:08 second mile, using the downhill section to her advantage. The former three-time NCAA champion for Boise State moved from 12th to ninth and eventually to sixth overall. Her fiancé Spencer Brown won the overall title in 15:21.

“I feel like I ran the race well and I ended up running faster than I did at the Boulderthon 5K (16:16) on arguably a harder course,” shared Ostrander on her YouTube channel. “So I’m super stoked about that, and I also just felt really strong during the race. I’m thankful for this (turkey) trot.”

The race was her first of her fall training block, after taking a long-awaited break following a variable year on the track, trails and roads. Ostrander utilized the race as a tune-up for the upcoming U.S. Cross Country Championships.

“This is kinda the last hard effort until cross country (championships), so happy to be going into it with a little bit of confidence and momentum,” said Ostrander.

Ostrander’s time of 16:07 was one of the fastest 5Ks of the day nationally, trailing fellow Americans Sammy McClintock (15:51), Rachel McArthur (15:58) and Gillian Meeks (16:05), while a few others ran equivalent paces at longer distances. Of the three, McClintock’s race was the only one at altitude.

Ostrander, along with many of the top U.S. runners, will toe the line on Dec. 6 in Portland, Ore., in hopes of placing in the top-6 to qualify for the World Cross Country Championships.

The Kenai Central grad previously competed at Worlds in 2024, finishing 30th in Serbia and helping Team USA to a fourth-place showing in the team standings. She also won the 2015 junior women’s title at the World Mountain Running Championships in Wales and competed in the steeplechase at the 2019 World Championships in track and field in Qatar.