In spite of the frigid and wet weather, hundreds of motivated and excited locals gathered at Lake Yosemite this past Saturday morning, to participate in and celebrate the 50th Annual Turkey Trot race. Not only was this a special occasion because of the massive 50th year milestone, this race saw a major increase in attendance, nearly doubling the organization’s expectations with over 220 participants. In fact, there were so many people who signed up in the days leading to the event that there weren’t enough T-shirts or even completion medals for all of the racers. Additionally, all of the race’s proceeds were raised to the benefit of Toys for Tots, which is an organization that helps secure Christmas presents for those in need throughout our community.
“It’s awesome—it’s great that we have been able to do this for fifty years.” says David Long, who was serving as the Race Director for the 3rd time,
The Turkey Trot consisted of three separate races for the athletes to choose from, the kids 1k, a 2-mile, and a 5-mile, with racers of all ages and skill levels encouraged to participate.
Ashley Victor, who recently began racing and entered for the first time ever, was pleasantly surprised by the experience; telling the times, “It feels pretty good, I came in just hoping to get under 30 [minuetes], and I got around 20 for the two-mile race.” When asked about what inspired her recent decision to start running and racing, she talked about being inspired by her sisters-in-law’s journey to run ultra marathons, and that this race was the perfect opportunity to start her own journey.”
Just moments after being the first to complete the 5-mile race, and still gasping for breath, Christian Ledema spoke with the Times briefly about his experience, stating: “It feels good! This fight was definitely a grind—I had to work for it. I was hurting a lot in the middle of the race, but I found an extra gear, and it feels really good to come on top in my hometown.” If you are a regular reader of the Times, you may have noticed that Ledezma is the same individual who came in first place in the 10k Run for the Fallen two weeks ago. He is hard at work to prove himself as an athlete, as he is a runner for Merced College, and has aspirations of making a Division 1 college team in the near future.