November 29, 2007

Working up an appetite

Third annual Turkey Trot raises fun and funds

By Carol Rosen
Editor

The third annual Applied Materials Turkey Trot brought out 6,160 participants and more than 475 volunteers raising more than $225,000 for three charities and providing fun—and room for turkey—for those running or walking in the various races.

People run through the street of downtown San Jose on Thanksgiving morning at the start of the Applied Materials third annual Turkey Trot in San Jose. Over 6,100 people participated in the event. Photos by Dan Miranda

The annual race was founded by Carl Guardino and his wife Leslee, who listened to a race in Sacramento on Thanksgiving morning in 2004. The couple decided that they could do the same thing in San Jose and do it better.

And, in the three years since they began the race, it’s grown exponentially. In 2005, the first year, 1,200 people turned out. That number grew to 3,000 last year. This year, race officials were expecting about 4,000 people; but those records were shattered when more than 5,000 racers pre-registered and another 1,000 showed up to race.

The money raised will be donated to three local charities—the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County, Second Harvest Food Bank and the Santa Clara Family Health Foundation’s Children’s Health Initiative. In addition, VM Ware sponsored a canned food drive. Racers and those watching were asked to bring 10 pounds of non-perishable foods, which is enough to feed a family for one week. 6,446 pounds of food were donated, which went to Second Harvest Food Bank.

Jose Morales crosses the finish-line as the winner of the Applied Materials 3rd annual 5K turkey trot in downtown San Jose. Morales finished with a time of 15.58.

While there are professional 5K races, the majority of participants walk or run in 5- and 10K races for children, firefighters and police officers as well as a CEO/elected official challenge, moms with strollers, octogenarians and
everyone in between.

Top winners in the elite 5K division were, for the men: Ridouane Harroufi of Morocco with a time of 13:37; Juan Luis Barrios of Mexico at 13:39; and Haron Legat of Kenya who achieved third place with a time of 13:40. The women’s top 5K runner was Rose Kosgei of Kenya at 15:53 followed by Shannon Rowbury of the United States at 15:54 and third place went to Catherine Ferrell, also from the United States, at 16:19.

Among the general participants, the overall 5K men’s winner was Jose Morales and taking first for the women was Talyor Groseclose. In the 10K general participation race, the male winner was Jesus Campos of Fresno and Jasmine Sessions of Farmington, Utah took first place for the women. The men’s champion in the KB Home Quickest Cop/Fastest Firefighter race was Brian Winco of the San Jose Police Department, which also claimed the women’s first place spot won by Barbara Fuji.

8-year-old Sampson Reynolds crosses the finish line during the Thanksgiving Day race. Reynolds finished seventh in his age group and 101 overall with a time of 23:17. Photos by Dan Miranda

Applied Materials sent the most employees to race with 207 entrants. The mid size firm was won by Align Tech, the small firm winner was Kovio and the very small firm winner was the event founder and host, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Jorg Heinemann of Accenture won the SAP CEO/elected official challenge and Pearl Cheng of the Cupertino School Board won for the women.

There also were a number of political celebrities racing and watching. On the racing side, actually walking the 5K were Mayor Chuck Reed and his wife Paula. They were joined by former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery. District 3 Councilmember Sam Liccardo was a runner, while District 5 Councilmember Nora Campos watched.