Haynes Scaffolding Trots for Turkey

Here at Haynes Scaffolding, we’re always looking for ways to help out our community. One thing we’ve found, which has become a tradition, is the United Way’s Annual Turkey Trot Charity 5k. This year was our 4th year doing the race. You may be asking yourself, What’s a turkey trot? A bunch of turkeys going for a jog? Well, you wouldn’t be far off with that guess; a “turkey trot” is just a fancy name we’ve all collectively associated with charity runs on Thanksgiving. It happens on Thanksgiving morning, usually about 8:00 a.m., before everyone starts to prepare for the feast that comes later on. It’s a great way to start off a day that is filled with eating yummy foods! But enough about that; let’s talk about race day!

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Zach and I started our journey, making it onto the I-95 Northbound headed toward Bradley Park. A smooth ride there, and before you know it, we’re taking the exit at Okeechobee Boulevard to head toward the Flagler Memorial Bridge. Through the streets of West Palm Beach and over the bridge, it’s time to find parking. Luckily, we found something pretty quick and parked the car. We got our race numbers on and made our way to the starting line.

Flagler Memorial Bridge

We both said we wanted to save our energy for the rest of the day, so we decided to stroll the race instead of trying to run the whole thing. The weather was a beautiful 68 degrees, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Eight o’clock is here, and it’s time to start the race. It starts at Sunset Avenue; the avid runners take off, leaving the rest of the strollers, families, and us in their dust. We slowly make our way through the crowd and begin our stroll down Bradley Place. Down Bradley, Zach asks me what I was ready for. “I’m ready for some TURKEY!” I exclaimed to him as we both nodded in agreement.

5k turkey trot
Turkey Trots near me

We make a short detour down Wells Road, passing the Palm Beach Fire Station and continuing our trot onto North County Road. Along the road are yard signs from this year's contributors, like Hedrick Brothers or Livingston Builders. Each sign has the time that the company has contributed to the Turkey Trot. Along with those signs are others that have funny and inspirational messages about the race and Thanksgiving. This is when we passed the Mile 1 marker; that’s one down and two more to go! Continuing our conversation, our path led us to the water station, where we quickly hydrated with a small but needed shot of water and kept it moving!

Turkey Trot 2024
Thanksgiving in Palm Beach fl
what is a turkey trot

After that, we made a series of small turns through the suburbs of Palm Beach until we reached North Lake Trail. This is where the majority of the rest of the race follows along. This trail provided us with beautiful views of Downtown West Palm Beach and the new construction that frequents the city now. It was about that time that we passed the Mile 2 marker. With Mile 2 under our belt, we picked up the pace to try and shorten our time walking. The weather made the whole experience so much smoother, as it wasn’t its typical humid and hot atmosphere. Our conversations were filled with memories of past trots and the things we saw when participating. We remember someone one year who did the whole race on a unicycle. This year we saw three guys in inflatable turkey costumes. Before we knew it, we were coming to the end of the race. It was fun while it lasted, but we were excited to come to a finish and get ready for our Thanksgiving feast!

Turkey Trot Near me

Coming to the finish line, we saw the sign we designed for the race. It was placed perfectly at the end, signifying to the runners to “Go Runners, Go!” It was right in your view when coming around the corner to the end. Whoever was in charge of placing the signs couldn’t have picked a better spot! Overall, we had a blast participating. The weather was nice, and the conversations were brief but enjoyable. This is something that, like we said before, has become a tradition for us. All the contributors were able to raise enough money to provide 6,288 meals this Thanksgiving to families in need. We love the United Way Turkey Trot and can’t wait for next year!

Turkey Trot 5k near me