MILFORD, CT — With a little over 1,000 participants, the Milford Turkey Trot is nearing its ambitious goal of raising $30,000 for Milford organizations.
“We went from 600 the first year to 850 the second year, and now we are over 1,050, which is exciting,” Tor Blackstad, Milford Turkey Trot director, said. “So we hit our goal of people, which is super cool, and now we are only about $4,000 short of hitting our goal of donating $30,000 to charities.”
The Third Annual Milford Turkey Trot Charity Event is set for Thursday, Nov. 23. at 9 a.m. at the Natatorium Parking Lot, 80 Park Circle.
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“We are asking people to start showing up around 7:30 a.m.,” Blackstad said. “If you didn’t come to the four early packet pickets, we need you to come around 7:30 a.m.”
The Music starts at 8 a.m. by the Rum Runners. The announcements start around 8:45, and the race will begin around 9 a.m.
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“We told the band to stay at least until 11, but the Rum Runners are awesome, and they said they will go as long as people are having a good time because it’s all for such a good cause,” Blackstad said.
Early Packet Pickup locations:
For more information, route race information, and to register for the Milford Turkey Trot, click here.
Blackstad said it’s not too late to register, and even those who forgot or didn’t know about the Turkey Trot until the day of the race can still register at the start location.
“There are still people signing up, which is nice, and there are people who are just donating the website, which is nice,” he said. “You don’t have to register to donate, but if you register, you can donate additional money to the charities.”
For the third straight year, all the costs to make the turkey trot possible are being covered by sponsors.
“When people donate money on our website, all that money is going to go directly to the charities,” Blackstad said. “A couple of sponsors have said they are going to donate some pretty cool raffle prizes for the raffle on the day of the event.”
This year, the three organizations benefiting from the Milford Turkey Trot are Milford Public Schools PTAs, The Purple Pantry Boxes and Avery’s Little Army for The Cure Starts Now.
With just over 1,000 turkey trotters, Blackstad said they are doing things to ensure they keep the runners safe and have a good time.
“We are going to have barricades this year,” Blackstad said. “We are going to be going in waves, about 100 people at a time, to spread it out on how fast people are going to be.”
Managing the soccer field layout where everyone gets ready before and after is critical for Blackstad and the Milford Turkey Trot team.
“It’s something we tested with the 600-group crowed, the 800-group crowed, and we’ve made little tweaks every year,” he said. “Now, with the 1,000 people, we are better prepared.”
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