Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS -- Thousands of people in Cottonwood Heights prepared for their Thanksgiving feasts by burning some serious calories Thursday morning.
Some runners showed up to the annual Turkey Run in costume, while others stuck to traditional spandex. The Thanksgiving Day race started 26 years ago with just 200 people. This year, it's grown to more than 2,000 runners. Several people even brought their dogs to join in the fun.
"They come from all over the United States, Canada, Texas, New York," said Mike Peterson, director of the Cottonwood Heights Recreation Center and organizer of the run. "A lot of people coming home for the holiday season."
Calories in, calories out. You burn a few more calories in the morning, you can eat a few more calories in the afternoon. It does help a little bit.
–Mike Peterson
Alberta Liimatta flew in from Colorado. She and her daughter-in-law Karin are first-timers to this run.
"We have some sprinters, some trotters and some stragglers," she said.
Veteran runner Jill Waldron says this 5K run has become a family tradition, to break new records each year.
"I'd like to see if we can do it in 30 minutes," she said. "That'd be great."
Peterson says more young people are running this year. "Families getting people together and being active on Thanksgiving morning," he said.
So the real question is, does the run make it OK to pig out during Thanksgiving dinner?
"Calories in, calories out," said Peterson. "You burn a few more calories in the morning, you can eat a few more calories in the afternoon. It does help a little bit."
Email:niyamba@ksl.com.
