The sound of the air horn sent more than 100 people racing through downtown Siloam Springs on Saturday morning. It’s all part of the 2012 Turkey Trot.
“We always hold this race a week before Thanksgiving and it`s just a community event, a fun event, it`s not sponsored, just by Parks and Recreation and provided just to bring the community out and get folks exercising,” said Scott Hodge, Siloam Springs Parks director.
Tim Woodson and his family, including his three grandchildren Sam, India, and Jude, took part in the fun run, an event they've been looking forward to for quite some time.
“Family time is probably the best gift you can get,” Woodson said. “We take every opportunity we can to be here and just our family and the community. It`s awesome. It`s a great gift, a great blessing.”
Medals were awarded to those with the top times in each category and to those who participated in the one mile fun run. Several donated items were given away including 10 turkeys just in time for Thanksgiving.
The Turkey Trot is a Siloam Springs tradition standing more than two decades strong, the Turkey Trot drew in more runners this November than year's past.
“We had more people pre-register for the race this year than we had run in the race completely last year,” Hodge said. “We are just really excited to see the growth of it and just the fact that we see the community actually caring about being fit.”
Even though little Sam was the very last one to cross the one mile fun run finish line, his grandpa Woodson said he enjoyed every minute of it.
“They love being a part of activities and being in the middle of everything, they are very active, so they are just enjoying it with us,” Woodson said.
The Siloam Springs Turkey Trot is just one of many going on in our area.
Several will take place on Thanksgiving Day including the NWA Turkey Trot 5K in Rogers, the Mercy Thanksgiving Day 5K and 10K in Fort Smith, and the Turkey Trot 5K in Springdale.