Turkey Trot coming back for its 22nd Thanksgiving
Sydney Proctor, the Piedmont Turkey Trot's race director, says she'll never forget her first experience participating as a volunteer at the family event in 2011.
Posted along the route and about to reopen a segment of the 5K course along city streets after the last runner had passed, along came a family group whose matriarch was 95 years old and using a walker.
“She told me she'd lived here forever, had never done it before and just wanted to,” Proctor said. “Why do people do it? We say it's our `move your feet before you eat' motto that the locals really take to heart.
“It's a destination fun run, and that's an accomplishment. People come from all over the Bay Area and even the East Coast, and I say Piedmont and the trot win the race if someone in their 95th year wants to walk down the middle of our streets on Thanksgiving morning.”
This year, the 22nd Turkey
Trot will start at 8:30 a.m. Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) at Highland and Magnolia avenues. Participants are asked to line up according to speed, with those who can run a 7-minute-mile or faster pace at the front, followed in order by all other runners, walkers and people with strollers or leashed dogs.
All runners must wear race bibs to show their registration, and carrying water is encouraged for proper hydration. Net proceeds from the race will benefit the Piedmont High School cross-country and trackand-field teams. The Turkey Trot's history originated decades ago, when Piedmont High's cross-country coach needed to raise money for the team.
“It started with about 300 runners and then swelled at one point to as high as 3,100,” Proctor recalls.
Concerned in 2017 that the closed-course, USA Track & Field-certified race had become unmanageable and could be unsafe, Piedmont Turkey Trot organizers capped total runners at 2,400.
“That's doable,” says Proctor. “With so many people starting from the center of town at once and with kids running with parents and people with dogs, over 3,000 isn't manageable. We've kept it safe for years and intend to keep it that way.”
Proctor says the city of Piedmont provides backup help and that 75 volunteers make sure the race starts, runs and ends without a hitch. Local sponsors (17 of which are listed this year on the event's website, piedmontturkeytrot.com) provide items such as pies and turkeys for the male and female winners.
“We call that level of runner the `fast turkeys' who tend to finish the course in 16 minutes,” Proctor says. “The average trotter will finish in 40 minutes; the walkers and people with strollers, in an hour.”
Family groups with up to 18 members are often seen on the trot, she says.
“These are families that in their nuclear form might be only four members, but their relatives come from all over to join in the familyfriendly event. They wear Tshirts, and some have hats.
“We attract runners from age 5 to 88 to 95, so it's what you can say is inclusive. This year, we have people coming not only from Piedmont and all over the Bay Area but from Los Angeles, the East Coast and even someone coming from the U.K.”
The race's route through Piedmont is scenic but not necessarily easy. The route's hills provide enough challenge to attract the “fast turkey” runners but also aren't insurmountable for slower runners, or families with young children and walkers of all speeds. Proctor says what draws generations of families to the event is the small-town feel of the race.
“It's a sense of a whole community, of camaraderie, with support from Piedmonters who have businesses that really help our event and families for whom the trot has become a thing. Everyone's welcome, and it's fun for everyone. What more can you ask?”
Other than asking for an extra spoonful of mashed potatoes or slice of pie — upon having trotted a 5K, after all — the answer could only be “The opportunity to do it again in 2024.”
More information including registration fees, a course map, bib pickup date, location and more can be found at the event website mentioned above.