10th Annual Turkey Trot
On November 27th, slip on your sneakers and strut your stuff at the 10th Annual Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot for a great cause, a sense of community, and burn a few calories to boot.
Nationwide, hundreds of thousands of people will ‘earn’ their holiday meal by participating in one of the 400 ‘turkey burner’ events held on Thanksgiving Day. These Turkey Trots attract more participants than any other race throughout the year. With 19,432 finishers in 2013, the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot is the biggest, fully-timed Thanksgiving Day race in the United States.
With the KLA Tencor Foundation 5K, Sharks Foundation 10K, Kaiser Permanente 10K Wheelchair, and a Kids Fun Run, there are competitions for everyone in the family, whatever their age or fitness level. Or, if you prefer not to get physical, you can contribute your time as a race volunteer or by making a monetary donation. Those who pledge $25 or more receive a Commemorative Race Bag brimming with all sorts of swag.
For elite athletes, there is the Amgen Men’s Elite Invitational 5K and Silicon Valley Bank Elite Women’s Invitational 5K, both of which are ranked as one of the fastest and most competitive courses. This status is due to the numerous leading athletes taking part, including NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) champion, Stephen Sambu, who won the 2011 5K Men’s Elite race and chose to sacrifice the award money in order to preserve his NCAA status. American Olympic runner Kim Conley, Olympic steeplechaser Bridget Franek, and NCAA champion Jackie Areson are among the past pedigreed women participants.
In the nine years since the Turkey Trot’s inaugural race, $4 million dollars has been donated to four local charities: Healthier Kids Santa of Clara County, Silicon Valley Housing Trust, HealthTrust, and Second Harvest Food Bank. For the 2014 event, Second Harvest Food Bank in Santa Cruz County has been included among the non-profits benefitting from the proceeds. The goal for this year’s Trot is to raise $1 million to be distributed among these charitable organizations.
Race Day Packet pick-up kicks off at 6:30am with the 10K Wheelchair race beginning at 7:45am followed by the 10K Run at 7:50am, and the 5K Walk/Run at 8:30am.
The starting line is South Market Street at Santa Clara Street and finishes at Santa Clara and Delmas Streets. The race is chip-timed and each participant’s time starts ticking once they cross the starting line mat. The post-race festival will be held at the Arena Green in Guadalupe River Park and will include a variety of vendor booths.
For the ‘amateur’ 5K and 10K races, the top three finishers in each age group receive the coveted Turkey Trot medal as well as gift certificates to Sports Basement. All participants walk away with an official Turkey Trot race shirt and a Commemorative Finishers Medal.
Register online now through 6am on race day. Participants are limited to 30,000 ‘trotters’. (There is no on-site registration so be sure to sign up in advance.)
