The Turkey Trot lives.
Runners will gather Thanksgiving morning on the campus of Mount Vernon Nazarene University for the 5K race, now in its 10th year.
It, like most events, has been changed by COVID-19.
“We’re doing three different start times instead of one,” Scott Burgess, one of the race organizers, told the Mount Vernon News. The purpose is to prevent runners from congregating in large numbers.
The timed race will start at 8 a.m., followed by two run/walks at 8:30 and 9 a.m., respectively.
“We’re going to gather five minutes before race time,” Burgess said. “People will stay in their vehicles until we call them up. We’re going to make the start and finish lines different.”
In order to keep the race contact-free, there won’t be lines at registration tables because there is no registration or race bibs. Runners will be required to wear masks before and after the race but not while they are running, Burgess said.
Sanitation tables will be set up at the start and finish lines.
“There will be no access to buildings or restrooms,” the organizers said in a news release.
The race is free, and runners will be able to drop off canned food or cash into a can or basket in the parking lot for the race. Food For The Hungry will collect the cans, which in turn will be distributed to The Salvation Army and Interchurch Social Services.
For every dollar raised by the runners, the partner organizations can buy $9 worth of food from the Mid-Ohio Food Bank, organizers said.
The race could have been held virtually like other events this year, with runners going on their own and logging their times onto a website.
“It would be easier to do it virtually, but we still wanted to have it,” Burgess told the News. “If you feel healthy and need some negative calories, come out.”
The race was launched a decade ago as a way for runners to give back to the Mount Vernon community, Burgess said.
For more information about this event or other Food For The Hungry activities, visit FoodForTheHungryCares.org.
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