5th Annual Petaluma Turkey Trot
(and 1st Food Drive)

Trot Info.

The Fifth Annual Petaluma Turkey Trot (and 1st Food Drive) is scheduled for Thanksgiving morning for a 9 am sharp start! It’s free, healthy, social and fun!  (No registration, no medals, show and go!) Runners, trotters, walkers of all ages are welcome. Show up by 8:45 am to choose your running mates. Maps will be provided at start of race.

Trot History.

Five years ago, I started spending Thanksgiving at home in Petaluma with family and friends. I looked for a Turkey Trot around town and found nothing going on. The only solution was to make my own. The basic idea was simple, group, fun run. No registration, no fee, no volunteer support, no T-shirts. Just running or walking with community and feeling darn good about the calorie burn before the big feast.

A group of 20 runners came out the first year. Next year more showed up and the third year we had about 50 trotters. Due to negligent notification on my part, extreme cold and an early start on year four, we had 36 people show. So this year, we are getting the word out broadly and early - and we start at 9am for the party-ers, cold wimps and the sleepyheads. Hopefully that's enough time to prep for the big Thanksgiving feast or get to grandma's house.

The Course.

We changed the route last year to try to get people to end the run/ walk at the same general time. That way there will more people at McNear Park to give out high fives and hugs.

4 mile Route Map: If you walk this, you might arrive at the finish when the majority of the 6 mile runners get back. If you trot or run this, you might hang out for a while and take some photos of incoming walkers/ runners and send them to this site. 4 milers follow the orange ribbons! [ download map ]

6 mile-ish Route Map: The ish is because we sometimes get inspired and add a little more or less to the course or people get lost. If you walk this, it will take a long time and we will not wait for you because we've got a turkey to roast. Just know that we wish you the best. 6 milers follow the yellow ribbons! [ download map ]

Food Drive.

Bring your cans, pasta and cereal to help our Food Drive for the Redwood Empire Food Bank – the largest provider of food to people in need in Sonoma County. We will have a big orange barrel that holds 200 pounds of food for this cause.

One in every five Sonoma County residents are touched by hunger. Your support will help to ensure that 78,000 children, families and seniors receive the food assistance that they deserve. A full barrel provides the food necessary to feed a family of four for two weeks.

Most Needed Food Items:

• Canned Tuna and Chicken
• Beans and Rice
• Canned Soups
• Canned Fruits
• Boxed and Canned Juices
• Peanut Butter
• Pasta
• Canned Stews
• Canned Vegetables
• Breakfast Cereal

(Please no homemade foods or glass).

Benificiary.

You. Me. Us. Redwood Empire Food Bank.

Liability.

You. It's just a group run. Be careful and help your fellow trotters.

Photos.

We need your photos! Feel free to hang around after for some quick photos. Please take some of your own and send them to this site for next year. We want to post the Turkey Trot community to inspire more to come out.
View Turkey Trot 2011
photos on Facebook.

Trot Organizer.

MAD architecture, Mary Dooley and Chris Lynch 

Contact.

Mary Dooley - mary@madarc.com.

If you are planning to show up, send back an email to mary@madarc.com

Follow.

Follow us on
Facebook!

Safety Tips.

• Be well hydrated prior. Drink lots after.
• Warm up prior. Stretch after.
• Run with a partner.
• Adults are responsible for children. **
• Always yield to traffic.
• Run Against Traffic.
• Be Highly Visible.
• Know your route.
• Don’t wear Headphones!
• Dress for the weather
• Wear Identification

** A statement of the obvious, perhaps, but we don't want any kids getting lost because they run faster than their parents!