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Here’s what to know ahead of Ames’ first Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning

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Here’s what to know ahead of Ames’ first Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning

The City of Ames is joining the “Turkey Trot” craze.

The first Ames Turkey Trot 5k will take runners through some of the best parts of town on Thanksgiving, including downtown and Brookside Park.

The inaugural event will start at 9 a.m. on Thursday, giving families plenty of time to rest up for their hearty holiday meals.

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Fitness Sports is sponsoring Ames’ Turkey Trot

Race manager Seth Kilborn, who managed the Ames Fitness Sports store for a year and a half, kept hearing about Ames residents who missed racing downtown.

“I also kept hearing that people wanted a hometown Turkey Trot,” Kilborn said. “Seeing a need for it, (Fitness Sports) and put two and two together.”

Fitness Sports anticipates Thursday’s race will have 300 participants. They hope the event can evolve into an annual tradition.

“We would like to do this every year,” Kilborn said. “We’ll try it out this year and see how the community responds to it.”

The trot is a family-friendly event open to all ages, speeds and abilities. Every participant gets a race t-shirt as well as a finisher’s medal.

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How can you sign up for the Ames Turkey Trot?

Interested runners can sign up online or at Fitness Sports until 8 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 28. Registration costs $50.

Packet pick-up will be at Fitness Sports from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday and from 7:30 to 8:45 a.m. Thursday morning.

Fitness Sports encourages participants to pick up their packets on Wednesday to reduce wait times, and to best enjoy the special offers, deals and coupons from race sponsors.

This year’s sponsors include Fitness Sports, Ames Fitness Center, the Iowa Turkey Federation, Clayton Farms Salads, Woodruff Construction and Hazel Creative.

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Where will Ames turkey trotters run?

The Ames Turkey Trot will start outside of Fitness Sports at 410 5th Street.

The run will take participants to Main Street, across the Grand Avenue bridge, and back to Brookside Park. From there, the route goes up to 13th Street to Ridgewood Avenue and 6th Street, where runners will meet at Northwestern and head back over the bridge toward downtown.

Runners will end where they started outside of Fitness Sports.

Celia Brocker is a government, crime, political and education reporter for the Ames Tribune. She can be reached at CBrocker@gannett.com.

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