A run before the feast

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RUN BEFORE YOU EAT: Nearly 400 runners and walkers turned out early Thursday morning at Warwick City Park for the Warwick Rotary Club 5K Turkey Trot. Some came wearing dishes while others dressed as Pilgrims all for charity.

SO WHEN IS A DOG A TURKEY? The Laymans answered that question when they dressed their dog, Sahara, for the turkey trot and completed the course appropriately dressed as pilgrims and Indians. Seen here are Terry and Jacqie Layman.

READY TO SEND THEM OFF: Club member Tom Sanford, who started the trot three years ago and coordinates the event, prepares to start the event sending participants around the park loop and partially around again for a full 5K.

THEIR PLATES WON THEM A DISH: Kathryn, Stephen and Mary Quinn wore plates to the Warwick Rotary Club’s annual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning, winning them a gift certificate to a local restaurant.

SIGNING IN: Rotary Club member Betsy Benoit works one of the registration tables at the trot.

WORTH THE HIKE: Craig Schroeder congratulates his wife Jill as she crosses the finish line. The Schroeders, who live in Delaware, visited relatives in Jamestown for Thanksgiving and drove to Warwick for the early morning trot. They said they enjoyed the course and its views of Brushneck Cove and Greenwich Bay.

With every Thanksgiving the Rotary Club of Warwick Turkey Trot has gotten bigger and this year was no exception. Nearly 400 people started showing up as early as 7 a.m. to run and walk the 5K loop in City Park beginning an hour later. This is not a sanctioned run, but that didn’t deter a few avid runners from sprinting into the lead and taking home bragging rights. The trot is the brain child of club member Tom Sanford, who coordinates the event from the smallest detail – he cut out and painted the plywood turkeys that decorated the registration pavilion – to lining up sponsors, ordering t-shirts and ensuring there’s plenty of water. A key sponsor this year was Dave’s Marketplace. Canned foods dropped off by participants went to the Westbay Community Action Marketplace, with the money raised going to KEEP (Kent Employee Emergency Program) at Kent Hospital and the Rotary Charitable Foundation. Father David Ricard of St. Gregory the Great Church gave a blessing before the start of the run/walk.