TRAVERSE CITY -- Before the feasting and football, kick off Thanksgiving festivities with some movement and fun.
The Second Annual Traverse City Downtown Turkey Trot will be held at 9 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. The laid-back 5K run -- or walk, or roll -- will benefit area nonprofits while offering families an annual tradition to share. The winding, downtown route, which begins and ends at the Holiday Inn, will cover a new portion of the TART Trail including the Boardman Bridge.
Last year's inaugural Downtown Turkey Trot drew 423 participants, significantly more than expected. The event raised $6,000 for the Grand Traverse Bay YMCA's New Y Capital Campaign. In addition, organizers Brian and Enid Hagerty donated $400 to TART Trails and the same amount to the Trojan Ski Boosters.
"We hope to double that this year," said Enid Hagerty of the donations.
The couple launched the race believing that the region could support a Turkey Trot, so successful in other communities. They threw together the 2008 event in just six weeks. This year, the Hagertys are ambitiously preparing for 1,500 participants, working to continue offering the "best goodie bags in Traverse City."
The tradition was born from an offhand challenge that inspired the Hagertys.
"Me and my wife were running in a race in Suttons Bay, the Harvest Stompede at Ciccone Vineyards, and I was grousing after the race that there really should be a Turkey Trot (here,)" said Brian Hagerty. "Someone said to us, 'Well, why don't you put one together?'"
TART Trails had offered a small, minimally publicized event the previous few years, Turkey TART, on Thanksgiving Day that drew maybe 100 participants each time. TART staff members were thrilled when the Hagertys, business owners of EverywhereUGO with a large marketing outreach, offered to transform the concept.
"It was a popular even though it was under the radar," said Missy Luyk, trail program specialist for TART Trails. "The theory of it is that you get a little exercise and less guilt when you go home and get your second helping of mashed potatoes."
Brian Hagerty holds the YMCA organization in high esteem. He likes contributing a small part of the approximately $12 million needed for the initial phase of a new facility on Silver Lake Road.
"These are little gives that hopefully help," he said. "When I was a youngster growing up in Dayton, Ohio, I spent basically every waking non-school hour at the Kettering YMCA."
The New Y Capital Campaign currently stands at $5.3 million, noted Dave Eitland, director of development for the organization. As the YMCA continues raising money and awareness, the publicity boost provided by the Turkey Trot is invaluable.
"It does give some visibility to the YMCA," Eitland said. "The Turkey Trot made a generous donation last year and we expect them to again."
Contact Enid Hagerty at 645-8184 or www.evugo.com and scroll down to select the registration link.
Volunteers are welcome and may contact Hagerty for details. Contact the Grand Traverse Bay YMCA at 933-9622 or www.gtbayymca.com; TART Trails may be reached at 941-4300 or www.traversetrails.org.
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