Runners looking to put some miles in before indulging in Turkey Day have a new option this year.
St. George’s Elementary School in Clifton Park will host a 5K on the morning of Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 22. It joins a tradition pioneered by Turkey Trots in Saratoga Springs, Troy and Delmar.
“We’ve had a lot of people say it will be nice to have a race right in Clifton Park,” said Jennifer Curtis, one of the event organizers. “We’re very excited.”
Curtis has a daughter who graduated from St. George’s and her son is currently a student. Curtis helps with fundraising and was inspired to put together the 5K after losing a close friend who was a runner. He always did a race on Thanksgiving, so Curtis thought maybe the race could benefit both his family and St. George’s scholarship fund. But with the one-year anniversary of her friend’s death approaching, his family decided to spend Thanksgiving outside the area, Curtis said, so the race will solely benefit St. George’s.
Approved by the Town Council in early October, the race will start at St. George’s on Route 146. Runners will continue to Moe Road, then turn on to Clifton Park CenterRoad. They’ll enter the Shenendehowa campus by Tesago Elementary, run through campus to the main entrance on 146, and then turn right on Route 146 to finish back at St. George’s.
“It’s a very doable course,” Curtis said. “It’s very flat. There’s not even a hill.”
Curtis said organizers are hoping the event, in which entrants can walk or run, appeals to people looking for a race as well as those looking to support St. George’s. The private elementary school offers kindergarten and first grade; Curtis enrolled her children there to take advantage of the full-day kindergarten, which Shenendehowa doesn’t offer. Although she calls herself a public school advocate — her daughter now attends Shenendehowa schools, and Curtis is a Shen grad herself — she couldn’t say enough about the opportunities her children enjoyed at St. George’s.
“There are 12 kids and two teachers,” she said. “The amount of time they spend learning gives them such an advantage.”
The school has a number of iPads, which her kids have used in subjects from math to Mandarin Chinese, Curtis said. She laughed, remembering the time her daughter came home and greeted her with, “Ni hao,” which means “hi” in Mandarin.
The scholarship money will be directed to children of those who help out in the community, such as firefighters and EMTs, who might not otherwise be able to send their kids to St. George’s, Curtis said. Runners aren’t being asked to solicit pledges; proceeds will come just from the entry fee, which is $22 per runner in advance and $25 on the day of the race. The 5K starts at 8 a.m. and will be followed by a short kids’ race that costs $1, which will be collected the day of the race. Runners for the 5K, meanwhile, can sign up ahead of time on active.com or by printing out a registration form from the school website and mailing it with payment.
Given that this is the race’s first year, Curtis said guessing how many people will run is a “total shot in the dark.” But organizers originally planned to give out “totally awesome” T-shirts to the first 100 entrants, and early response has been strong enough that Curtis is hoping they can print more shirts. The shirts feature a turkey designed by St. George’s students.
Many people have already made plans to run in one of the area’s other races on Thanksgiving, Curtis said, but they’ve told her they’d like to try the Clifton Park race another time.
“In the years to come, we think it will be a very popular event,” she said.
For more information, visit www.stgeorgeschoolcp.org.