Trottin’ to Palm Springs

Those of you who know me (either in person or through my blog), know that every year my husband and I put on a 5k race on Thanksgiving morning. We’ve been doing it for 13 years! It’s called the Turkey Trot, and for 12 of those years it took place in Palm Desert, on El Paseo (kind of the Rodeo Drive of the desert).

Click on the photo to register.

Now, I say “we,” but it is really my husband’s project. He does almost everything related to planning a race, from dealing with the city council, to planning the route, to raising sponsorships, to ordering porta-potties. I get the registration set up on Active.com, make the flyers, find the volunteers, then, on race day oversee registration. Years ago, when we were much smaller, I even handled the finish line timing, but now we hire someone to do that (thank goodness!).

I’m excited to announce that in this, our 14th year of putting on the race, we will be moving to Palm Springs! Even better, we will be starting and finishing right on Palm Canyon Drive, right in front of the Marilyn Monroe statue. Alan says we will be holding the awards ceremony right under Marilyn’s skirt. Yes, she is that big.

Palm Springs is a very running friendly community. They are also  making strides towards sustainability, working with the community to achieve goals such as establishing a green economy, water conservation efforts, urban sustainability and mobility, waste management, and energy efficiency. Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet is a runner and they even put on the inaugural Mayor’s Race and Wellness Festival on Earth Day this year.

We are also excited because they are allowing us to hold the race right on Palm Canyon Drive, the main thoroughfare through the city. There are a lot of races in Palm Springs, but most start at a park, the museum, or some other location. To my knowledge, the Turkey Trot will be the only race that will start and finish on Palm Canyon.

So, if you are going to be in or near Palm Springs over the Thanksgiving Holiday (November 22-25), we’d love to have you participate! The course will be flat and fast, the crowd fun and family oriented (we always have a free race for the little kids), and you’ll be done long before the turkey (or in my case tofurky) is ready. In fact, I almost always work at the race, then go home and prepare Thanksgiving dinner for my family.

You can register by clicking this link, the logo above, or if you want to wait until later, there is a link on the side bar. I’d love to see you out there!