\u201cTurkey Trot\u201d race events will be held at multiple sites in Los Angeles and Orange counties on Thanksgiving, including in Pacific Palisades in what\u2019s being billed as the community\u2019s first special event since January\u2019s devastating wildfire.<\/p>\n
David O\u2019Connell, a co-founder of Thursday\u2019s 11th annual Pacific Palisades Turkey Trot, said the decision to go forward with the race came \u201cright after Labor Day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTypically, that\u2019s when we start leaning into the event because that\u2019s when the back-to-school communications are and that\u2019s when sponsors are doing their budgeting and when people are making their plans for the fourth quarter,\u201d O\u2019Connell told City News Service.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason we ultimately decided to run it is that the interest was really significant, both on the sponsorship front and the runner side. People started reaching out unsolicited to ask if we were coming back.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen it occurred to me very quickly that this race could be something that the community could really rally around\u201d \u2014 as the destruction caused by the Palisades Fire caused nearly all of Pacific Palisades\u2019 residents to move on an either temporary or permanent basis.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Connell has moved to Century City due to the destruction of his house, but has started the permitting process to rebuild, he said.<\/p>\n
He said he hopes the event \u2014 which consists of 5K and 10K runs and a Kids Race \u2014 will have about 2,000 entrants, its pre-fire amount. About 1,400 people had entered as of Tuesday afternoon, O\u2019Connell said.<\/p>\n
The race has drawn 12 sponsors. It normally drew about six, O\u2019Connell said.<\/p>\n
New sponsors include \u201ca couple of construction companies, a couple of fire prevention companies,\u201d O\u2019Connell said.<\/p>\n
The event will benefit the Palisades-Malibu YMCA, which was destroyed by the fire, but is planned to be rebuilt, while a swimming pool will be built at a different site, O\u2019Connell said.<\/p>\n
A $15,000 donation will be made to the Palisades-Malibu YMCA, with funds coming from race entry fees and the race\u2019s top sponsor, XBP Global, a multinational technology and services company that has an office in Santa Monica, O\u2019Connell said.<\/p>\n
The fire has prompted the races to have new courses. The races had begun and ended at Palisades Charter High School, which was severely damaged. Now, they will begin and end in \u201cdowntown Pacific Palisades,\u201d O\u2019Connell said.<\/p>\n
Other turkey trots in Los Angeles County include:<\/p>\n
\u2014 The 10th annual Drumstick Dash, billed by organizers as the largest Thanksgiving Day run in Los Angeles County, with approximately 8,000 participants expected to run in either the 5K or 10K through North Hollywood\u2019s Arts District.<\/p>\n
Both the 5K and 10K will begin at 8:30 a.m. near the North Hollywood Metro station.<\/p>\n
The event benefits Hope the Mission, a nonprofit that seeks to prevent, reduce and eliminate poverty, hunger and homelessness. The event\u2019s slogan is, \u201cMove your feet so others can eat.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 The 13th annual Turkey Trot Los Angeles in downtown L.A. raises money for The Midnight Mission\u2019s programs of finding ways to self-sufficiency for people experiencing homelessness.<\/p>\n
The event consists of a mile-long Dog Jog at 7:30 a.m.; a 5K starting in waves at 8 and 8:15 a.m.; the 10K at 9 a.m.; and a quarter-mile \u201cWiddle Wobble\u201d for \u201ckids of all ages\u201d\u2019 at 10:15 a.m. in Gloria Molina Grand Park.<\/p>\n
\u2014 The eighth annual Rose Bowl Turkey Trot will begin at 8:30 a.m. Proceeds will benefit the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation and the Pasadena Education Foundation Eaton Fire Response.<\/p>\n
\u2014 The 45th annual Harry Sutter Memorial Turkey Trot three-mile fun run will begin at 8 a.m. in the Sam\u2019s Club parking lot at the Torrance Crossroads Center.<\/p>\n
The run is conducted by the Torrance Community Services Department, which is inviting runners and spectators to bring cans of food for a Thanksgiving Food Drive. The canned foods will be distributed to people in need throughout the South Bay.<\/p>\n
\u2014 La Ca\u00c3\u00b1ada Flintridge\u2019s 32nd annual Thanksgiving Day Run & Food Drive will begin with the adult 5K run at 8:15 a.m., followed by the Kids\u2019 Mile at 9:30 a.m., both in Olberz Park.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Turkey trots in Orange County will be held in Dana Point and Tustin.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, other events planned for Thursday will offer free holiday meals to those in need.<\/p>\n
The Midnight Mission will be among the organizations serving free Thanksgiving meals to homeless and indigent people in Los Angeles County, with nearly 2,000 homeless and near-homeless people expected.<\/p>\n
Sixth Street in front of the Mission in downtown L.A. will be closed as staff and volunteers serve 3,500 pounds of turkey and 500 pounds of stuffing, topped by 50 gallons of gravy, along with 3,500 pounds of oven-baked glazed ham, 1,000 pounds of garlic mashed potatoes, 750 pounds of seasonal vegetables, 250 pounds of cranberry sauce, 300 pounds of dinner rolls and 300 pounds of holiday dessert, according to Georgia Berkovich, the mission\u2019s chief communications officer.<\/p>\n
Volunteers will include Mr. T and fellow actor Nia Long, and Tom Morello, guitarist with Rage Against the Machine, Prophets of Rage and Audioslave.<\/p>\n
Laugh Factory Hollywood is expecting more than 2,000 people for its annual free Thanksgiving feast, continuing a tradition begun in 1979, just a week after the club opened, with a small event that served 71 comedians who were away from home and their children.<\/p>\n
Tim Allen, Arsenio Hall and Tiffany Haddish will be among the comedians serving and performing. Seatings will be at 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
In Orange County, the Anaheim Family YMCA will conduct the \u201cGive Thanks\u201d Thanksgiving Dinner at The Grove of Anaheim beginning at 7:30 a.m. A community dinner will be held at Harry\u2019s Caf\u00c3\u00a9 in Stanton beginning at 1 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cTurkey Trot\u201d race events will be held at multiple sites in Los Angeles and Orange counties on Thanksgiving,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72303,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1043,48,52,51,47,50,49,42384,1602,8320,42385,42386,8364],"class_list":["post-72302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-event","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-milestone","tag-pacific","tag-palisades","tag-post-fire","tag-trot","tag-turkey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72302","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=72302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}