Lake Merritt\u2019s Eastshore Park will be filled to the brim Thursday morning for what\u2019s become a tradition for many: the Oakland Turkey Trot. \u00a0<\/p>\n
In its ninth year, the trot brings \u201cThe Town\u2019s\u201d community together to run or walk five kilometers (3.1 miles) around the lake. It\u2019s a particularly big draw for youth and families.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe real kind of genesis and rally behind this event is that it is 100% neighborhood- focused. There\u2019s a ton of civic pride,\u201d says Ryan Dawkins, race director of the Oakland Turkey Trot and CEO of Mascot Sports, which produces sports and entertainment events. <\/p>\n
The trot gets underway at 8:30 a.m. on El Embarcadero\u00a0near the Lake Merritt Pergola. There\u2019s also a kids\u2019 run, about a quarter of a mile, for ages 2 to 7 at 9:40 a.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The race\u2019s community spirit is evident, from the local artwork at the start and finish lines, mile markers and photo backdrops, to the many volunteers, vendors and beneficiaries, including the Alameda County Community Food Bank, the Oakland Public Education Fund and Running for a Better Oakland.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Plus, the race boasts a large number of participants. Last year, there were 4,300 trotters. Dawkins estimates that over 5,000 people will be at this year\u2019s event, the highest count to date. About 2,000 registrants are kids with their families.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t ever see that across any of the other events that we do all year long,\u201d he says. \u201cIt just shows you how much of a neighborhood- and community-focused event this is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now a Lafayette resident, Dawkins and his family used to call Oakland home. He\u2019d go on weekly runs with his daughters around Lake Merritt and walk to Lakeview Library and the Grand Lake Farmers Market. These experiences factored into his decision to create the first Oakland Turkey Trot in 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a natural fit for us to do it in our hometown, kind of our home base, in terms of movement and walking and running,\u201d he says. \u201c[Oakland] is a large part of our life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Members of Running for a Better Oakland, a nonprofit offering free running programs for kindergarten through 12th grade Oakland students, have attended the trot every year. They\u2019ll be there again this year, volunteering and running, says RBO executive director Jessica \u201cJDL\u201d de Leon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited to represent RBO at the race on Thursday,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
About 140 RBO members have signed up, though de Leon anticipates the number will increase.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a big part of it \u2014 not only encouraging the students to run, but making it a family affair,\u201d she says. \u201cOftentimes, the students want the program as an opportunity to do their own thing, but we love seeing the parents support them. They\u2019re all, I think, excited to see each other run on Thanksgiving morning.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Culminating RBO\u2019s fall running program, the Trot marks a significant moment for young RBO runners as they make their way to the finish line. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving that sense of pride is huge, and we\u2019re seeing that with the students at RBO,\u201d says de Leon. \u201cThey\u2019re telling us, \u2018I never thought I could run three miles without stopping\u2019 and \u2018Oh my god, I can\u2019t believe I did that.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A mother of three, de Leon hopes to continue her tradition of participating in the kids\u2019 run with her 4-year-old daughter alongside fellow moms in Hella Bae Running, a Bay Area women\u2019s running group she founded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the plan. As long as we can get all our RBO runners situated, I\u2019m going to sneak off and help her with the kids\u2019 race,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Oakland Turkey Trot starts at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 27 at El Embarcadero and Lakeshore Avenue, Oakland. Pre-race registration costs $72.04 through noon Nov. 26 and increases after. The kids run starts at 9:40 a.m., with a $29.75 pre-race fee. Visit https:\/\/oaklandturkeytrot.org<\/a>\/. For more about Running for a Better Oakland, visit https:\/\/www.rboakland.org\/.<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lake Merritt\u2019s Eastshore Park will be filled to the brim Thursday morning for what\u2019s become a tradition for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[41403,41404,41405,41406,143,145,144,41407,41408,41409],"class_list":["post-70316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-hella-bae-running","tag-jessica-jdl-de-leon","tag-jessica-de-leon","tag-mascot-sports","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-oakland-turkey-trot","tag-running-for-a-better-oakland","tag-ryan-dawkins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}