Well over a thousand turned out for the Thanksgiving morning New Paltz Turkey Trot, a 5K run that is also a fundraiser for Family of Woodstock.
Many first-timers were among the 1,155 who checked in ahead of the main trot. Among them were Abby, Jackie and Nancy. Nancy started training in September to check this off the bucket list, and brought the other two along for camaraderie. David tried it out for “guilt-free eating.” Emily and Jack, recent transplants to the village, brought twin babies to walk the trot with them in a stroller. Zane, who’s heard about the trot through word of mouth for some time, was reveling in the clear skies and temperatures in the 30s at the start. Zane was joined by a group of students from Woodcrest, who were angling to take top turkey in the trot.
Leon, who was running for a second time, remarked, “I didn’t really want to be here,” but that the “whole family was doing it.” Leon’s mom, Aidan, also recruited several friends to join spouse and children for the morning adventure ahead of a trip to New Jersey.
Another second-timer, Alecia, said that the fun of the run was only bolstered by not having to cook in the morning. Later on, Alecia was looking forward to squash soup.
Fresh off the Mashed Potato Run for the youngest competitors, Marlo and Stella sat waiting for the big-person race to get underway. This year’s trot featured sophisticated timekeeping by way of shunting runners through across start and finish lines that scanned their presence and recorded their times. Of their own race, Stella said the Mashed Potato Run was “perfect.” Both sported shiny round objects hanging around their necks, which Marlo observed were “actually fake medals.”
There was a runner who, among those whose heads were adorned with feathers or facsimile carcasses, appeared to be a sentient, six-foot turkey. “I’m just pretending to be a chicken,” said the turkey, who declined to provide a name. After the run, the turkey was planning to “celebrate with family,” but did not specify whether a meal would be involved, or what it might include. Elsewhere on the course was someone dressed as a pilgrim, but it appeared the two did not come to blows.
A harbinger of what comes next was Randall Santa, who identifies as a “form of Santa” that is better suited to running. “This form is 56 years old with bad knees, but not 712.” Randall Santa’s suit included what appeared to be an ermine cape.
Will Brosnahan was the first competitor to finish this year’s trot in a wheelchair, one that Brosnahan has used in the New York City Marathon. While not quite as high-end as some of the ones used in that race, Brosnahan said that it was perfect for this “fun, nice, quiet, mostly flat” race.
Michael Berg, longtime director of Family of Woodstock, confirmed that this was the 22nd Turkey Trot, and that it’s become an important source of income for the nonprofit. “It’s healthy, brings together the whole community, and is community-based fundraising. It fits us so well.”
In Woodstock, runners, walkers and holiday revelers were invited to lace up and take on a gentle, police-supported course starting and ending at Andy Lee Field. While Family of Woodstock has held a trot in New Paltz for over two decades, this is its first in Woodstock.
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