Nearly 1,000 runners – almost twice as many as expected – participated in the first annual Turkey Trot 5K run on Thursday. The course began at Palisades High School and continued through the El Medio Bluffs neighborhood before ending at the Stadium by the Sea.
“We had way more people than we anticipated, and everybody was in a great mood and super patient with a first-time event,” Dawn Houston, one of the event organizers, said.
Houston thanked the community residents for their support and said they tried to be good neighbors. She said they handed out fliers to people in the area, closed the streets only when necessary and stopped vehicles along the course from being towed.
Although they still received a few complaints, Houston said the majority of people in the area were supportive.
“We had an outpouring of community support that far exceeded our expectations,” Houston said. “We’re so excited because it turned out to be so great.”
The event was presented by Banc of California. Jann Watenpaugh, vice president of the bank, said she was impressed by the first-time event.
“I had a lot of fun,” she said. “It’s a great event, and you’re in a great area to do it.”
Watenpaugh said the bank, which also sponsored a large charity race in San Diego, can help make the event more fun in the future by setting up different race categories, such as a dog dart and stroller start, and giving away prizes for the winners. The holiday is a perfect time for a costume race, she said.
“It’s amazing how much people get into that,” she said.
They had approximately 850 people registered for the event, but with late arrivals, they reached nearly 1,000 runners. Adult runners paid $40 to register.
The event raised money for Hearts for Hope, which provides medical, dental and humanitarian aid to children with congenital heart disease in underserved areas. Some of the proceeds will also go to PaliHi and Marquez Elementary School.
The event organizers have not yet calculated how much money was raised.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
