Tri-Valley Turkey Burn Breaks Attendance Record

Area residents responded in record numbers Thanksgiving morning to the 10th Annual Tri-Valley Turkey Burn family fun run, walk, or stroll in Pleasanton’s Ken Mercer Sports Park.

Nearly 3200 runners and walkers from 23 states and British Columbia, Canada, participated in the fun run and related activities, according to Michael Cherman, co-chair of the Turkey Burn Organizing Committee.

Many were visiting to celebrate Thanksgiving Day and Turkey Burn with local family members and friends. They arrived at the sports park to donate enough canned food to fill the Tri-Valley Haven’s box truck for distribution to low-income residents from its Livermore Food Pantry.

About half of the crowd cheered before the starting horn blew when Cherman called for an ovation from first-time registrants. An equally loud cheer then rang out when he asked to hear from participants who attended past Turkey Burns.

In an interview afterwards, Cherman suggested the near fifty-fifty split reflects the Turkey Burn’s resilience and continued growth. “It’s encouraging to hear that many folks have adopted the Turkey Burn as a family tradition, while new people join us every year,” he said.

The Turkey Burn was first organized and is still run by volunteers from the 70-member Rotary Club of Pleasanton North (PNR), noted Turkey Burn Co-Founder W. Ron Sutton. The 5K/10K fun run gives registrants an early morning opportunity to “rev up their metabolisms” as bulwark against all the calories they will consume later in the day, he said.

Sutton also added an element of fun to the Turkey Burn with his “I am thankful for …“ race bibs. Children and adults add personalized messages of thanks to their bibs to share with fellow runners and walkers and to recognize the purpose of the national holiday.

In the same spirit, PNR thanked its 23 local sponsors, including top donor Elation Real Estate, as well as Aura Advisors, BNJA Insurance and Financial Advisors, Big O Tires, Pleasanton, Cal Water, Elite Motor Cars, ENT Networks, and Mallon, Powers, Pitre, and Higgins Financial Advisors.

According to Cherman, the City of Pleasanton has been crucial to the Turkey Burn’s success as well. The Park and Rec Department has granted the club access to the Mercer Sports Park and has helped with banners under Pleasanton’s Main Street sign and at the event’s start-finish line. Pleasanton Garbage has provided disposable trash cans, and Pleasanton Police Department has discretely addressed the Turkey Burn’s security needs.

PNR attained international acclaim for helping persuade the 1.2-million-member Rotary International to adopt Youth Services as its fifth Avenue of Service. The avenues are the cornerstone the Rotary’s “Service Above Self” mission and define priorities for its 46,000 clubs. In recognition of this achievement, the non-profit Pleasanton North Rotary Foundation traditionally distributes a sizable portion of the Turkey Burn’s net proceeds to support local youth-oriented service organizations and PNR’s own youth service programs.