“A couple of us, 10 years ago, were just saying we’d love to really create something big, and something with staying power that becomes a community event,” says Chuck Dwyer, on the six-person Board of Directors for the Medway Turkey Trot. Now, about 9 years later, the Medway Turkey Trot 5K is an annual Thanksgiving Day tradition in the town of Medway.
“The first goal was to create a community event that families can do.” says Dwyer. “Thanksgiving is a neat day, one of a couple days most people are home, and it’s actually one of the most popular road race days in the country. When we started, we figured we’d get a couple hundred people, and we had over 400. It’s a great family tradition and community event.”
This year, the Medway Turkey Trot, and Thanksgiving, falls on Thursday, November 28th. The race will begin at 7:30 a.m. at Medway High School, 88 Summer St., Medway, with online registration $15 for those under 18; $25 for those aged 18-69 and free for those 70+. The cutoff date for online registration is November 26th, and if you register by November 5th, you get a free t-shirt. On the day of the race, registration costs increase by $5.
The race will track the top 3 males and females in each category of 0-9, 10-14, 15-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and 70+, but you needn’t be a runner to participate.
“Plenty of people walk it,” says Dwyer.
Proceeds from the annual event, which is a 501 c3 nonprofit, fund benefit the Medway High School athletic department.
“We’ve done uniforms for pretty much every team,” says Dwyer, noting that some teams buy their own because they like to keep them. “And we bought a brand-new sound system for the Athletic Department, which we’ll be using Thanksgiving morning.
This year’s sponsors include:
Gold sponsors:
Middlesex Savings Bank, Law Offices of Steven M. Houde, P.C., Sean F. Murphy, CPA, LLC, Lawrence Waste Services (LWS)
Silver sponsors:
Orangetheory ® Fitness, Richardson Financial Services, Inc.
Bronze sponsors:
Micro Tech Staffing (mtsg.com), Northeast Signature Properties, LLC, Russo Insurance Agency, Inc.
Merchandise sponsors:
Muffin House Café, Dunkin’ Donuts, Roche Bros., Shaw’s, Garelick Farms, Kenney & Kenney , ROAD iD, Brand Hero Custom Apparel
If you would like to register for the Medway Turkey Trot, or for more information, visit http://medwayturkeytrot.org.