A Change of Pace Foundation hosted the 27th annual Davis Turkey Trot running event last Saturday at the Civic Center Park downtown. The event had categories for every participant with a 5K, 10K and half-marathon for adults, and 1 mile, 1/2 mile, 1/4 mile and 200-yard dash for children.
Despite the light rain on the morning of, approximately 3,000 attendees participated in the Turkey Trot. Participants came from various cities throughout Yolo County. Some participants even came all the way from Reno City and Nevada City.
“We do try our best to get out [in marketing] of Davis and really explore all the communities to come to Davis,” said Jared Ney, event coordinator and a member of the A Change of Pace Foundation.
One participant in the 5K race, April Lynn Gemein, came from West Sacramento.
“I think it is very well-run and a good local event. It brings a lot of people together and gets people active, [try] to get out and have fun,” Gemein said.
Over 500 volunteers were involved in this event. The volunteers were given different shifts — positions included volunteer check-in coordinator, race timer, food and snacks coordinator, course monitor and t-shirt vendor. Several volunteer were UC Davis students. Edgar Zaragoza, a 4th-year communication and linguistics double major, was one of the volunteers.
“I usually like to volunteer [in these kinds of events], and help put the event together and make it possible for everybody else,” Zaragoza said.
There were several concession stands and vendors at the event. Many of the vendors were related to health and fitness organizations such as the Carmichael Running Club, U.S. Cryotherapy Treatments, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Fit House.
“There are a lot of things going on to keep people occupied. [A lot of] free things [that are] good for [participants’] health,” Zaragoza said.
A Change of Pace Foundation, a non-profit organization, has organized Davis Turkey Trot since 1987. The proceeds of the event go to charities throughout CA.
“We used proceeds from our events throughout the year to support running and fitness in various Northern California communities through scholarships, clubs, programs, youth programs, after school running activities, etc,” said Jeannine Henderson, assistant race director in A Change of Pace Foundation in an email interview.
According to Henderson, The Davis Turkey Trot also benefits a few local groups who helped in the fundraising of the event, such as UCD women’s lacrosse, Imani Clinic, Will C. Wood High School ASB, Kappa Gamma Delta (UCD) and DHS Advanced Treble Choir.
A Change of Pace Foundation has also organized other running events, some of them held in Davis.
“Our events take place throughout Northern California and include other Davis favorites like the Stampede (2/8/15), Moonlight Race (July), California Kids Triathlon (Aug) and Positive Energy Kids Triathlon (June), plus events in Sacramento, Elk Grove and Clarksburg,” Henderson said.
According to their website, the organization strives to “encourage, educate and motivate kids to inspire life-long habits towards a healthy lifestyle.”
“[We are] getting families to come out and race together, [and] bringing fitness awareness to families,” Ney said.
The first-place winner of the 5K marathon in the 30-34 year old age group was Davis local Nathan Kwan. With a time of 14:57.617, Kwan beat last year’s winner, Kai Benedict, whose time was 15:38.3. Kwan however, did not break the record for the best time in the 5K and 10K races, preventing him from receiving the cash prize of $250. The current record in the men’s 5K division is held by Jonathan Peterson in 2008 with a time of 14:37. In the 2008 women’s 5K, Lorin Scott holds the record with a time of 16:45. The 10K men’s division record is held by Patrick Parsel with a time of 30:27 and the 10K women’s division record is held by Catherine DuBay in 2000 with a time of 36:04.
