Once again I defied the Surgeon General and ran the Troy Turkey Trot — the 5 K — without walking or stopping while still smoking about a pack a day.

I finished in a blistering 36:28, a measly 21:23 behind the guy who won with a time of 15:05, Macky Lloyd of Voorheesville. But, I bet he didn’t stop at the Ale House for a quick pint either — kidding. I didn’t stop or walk and ran the entire thing. To me that’s a win.

One thing that upsets me more than losing to Lloyd, and about 2,000 other people including some who I know are pre-teen little kids, is that Councilman Mark McGrath just blew by me as if I was going the other way.

I picked on the 57-year-old two years ago for doing the same to him and well … fair is fair. He beat me. I won’t tell you what he compared the beating to but safe to say he beat me pretty good, crossing the line at 34:42.

I didn’t see former Councilman Frank LaPosta, who I gave props to last year for pretty much blowing me out of the water. But, according to the results website, the 61-year-old came in at 34:43, a tenth of a second behind McGrath.

I know I’m only 46, not in bad shape and am making too much of running a 5K but hey … I run once a year. I’d rather walk through the woods or ride my bike in those same woods than run through the streets of Troy.

That said, the Turkey Trot is a great Troy tradition, I will run it again next year and I got my sights set on McGrath and LaPosta. Maybe I’ll even quit smoking before then. I think I now have appropriate motivation — those two older guys and being sick of seeing pre-teen kids just blowing by me while talking and laughing as if they were in a sandbox and not plodding along River Street with a smokers’ cough.

Seriously, the Turkey Trot was just fantastic this year. A record number of runners turned out – more than 8,000 - and the usual characters in costume and the families who all get together to run because it’s part of their Thanksgiving tradition and has been for years.

While there was some controversy about who would oversee the race and how much money it cost by taking it out of City Hall I have to tip my hat to George Regan, the race’s executive director, and Mayor Lou Rosamilia for tasking him with the task. I would much rather write that it was $25,000 well spent on a great event than write everything was screwed up.

Next year, I’m hoping to run with my nieces, Alexandra and Madison. And one of them will be wearing my bib just so on paper I beat McGrath and LaPosta — while I hang out at the Ale House.

Na, not really. We don’t need “Trot fraud” to go along with voter fraud.

I was remiss for not mentioning Councilwoman Nina Nichols in the print edition and her seriously blistering time of 26:56 in the Turkey Trot.

I would have been happy to have included her but I just didn’t see her.

If she wasn't going so fast, or if I wasn't going so slow, maybe I would have.

Voter fraud

The second week of Board of Elections Commissioner Ed McDonough kicks off today and last week went pretty much as expected.

A bunch of voters got up on the stand and told the jury that yes, they were defrauded and Councilman Kevin McGrath — no relation to the speedster mentioned above — told the jury he saw McDonough fill in the “excuse” lines on absentee ballot applications during the 2009 battle over the Working Families Party primary.

Now, that’s not necessarily illegal but the only way someone can fill it in is if the reason voters can’t make it to the polls on Primary and/or Election Day is valid, and it has to be filled in with the voters’ consent. Judging from the voter’s testimony last week, neither scenario happened.

And the fraud went further than that just filling out the “excuses.” Four people have already pled guilty to their role in the scam including former City Clerk Bill McInerney and former City Councilman John Brown as well as longtime Democratic Party operatives Tony Renna and Tony DeFiglio, a former employee at the Troy Housing Authority, where much of the fraud took place. McInerney is set to do a stint with the Sheriff’s work order program, and Brown is looking at six months in jail.

Two others are under indictment — former Council President and mayoral candidate Clement Campana and Councilman Gary Galuski.

This is McDonough’s second trial. His first, where he was co-defendant with former Councilman Michael LoPorto, ended in a mistrial. A jury found Michael LoPorto not guilty at his re-trial earlier this year.

When I say the forgery went further than filling in the excuse field I’m not speculating. Actual signatures were forged. One voter who testified said he had his name spelled wrong so that tells me that someone forged it — I do have a knack for the painfully obvious. The voters’ targeted may not have been well-versed in the election process or that well versed in the English language, but I’m pretty confident they know how to spell their own name.

Who did the forgeries? We know McInerney did and he’ll likely admit to as much on the stand. Brown too. Did McDonough have a role? I guess that’s up to the jury to decide.

James V. Franco. He can be reached at 478-5343.