FARMINGTON — The city might have wobbled onto a big idea.
Farmington Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs department hosted the city's first turkey trot on Saturday morning and 395 runners and walkers participated. That's a big turnout for an inaugural five-kilometer race and nearly double what race organizers were expecting.
"They are huge in other cities," said Leslie Mueller, the recreation manager for the city. "But it's new to this community, we didn't know what to expect."
A turkey trot is a Thanksgiving-time race and the events have become tradition in cities across the country. Some of the most famous turkey trots attract more than 10,000 runners.
Many are Thanksgiving morning, all-weather races and are meant to help racers workup an appetite.
Successful turkey trots are family friendly and "get everyone into the spirit" of the holiday season, Mueller said.
"We're trying to bring people into the downtown area," she said. "We hope it grows every year."
Farmington's race promptly started at 9 a.m. Hundreds lined across Main Street across from Orchard Park and chased a police motorcycle escort and Farmington Mayor Tommy Roberts, who was on his bicycle.
There was a 5-kilometer turkey trot and 2-mile wobble walk.
The race course quickly swerved off Main Street and onto Arrington Street. It took a north and uphill turn on Airport Drive. The five-kilometer race continued to West Navajo Street and the two mile walk took Apache Street
to Orchard Avenue.
Both races finished near on Arrington Street near Orchard Park.
Farmington racers were a diverse field. They ranged in paces from 6- to 12-minute miles, from from middle school students to 60 years and older, and about a quarter of the field was American Indian. Several families ran together.
"It's a lifelong sport and if you want to you can compete against yourself," said Anthony Smagacz, who lives near the New Mexico-Colorado state line and ran in the race with his wife and four children.
Anthony and his son, Pablo, 10, finished the three-mile course in about 22 minutes.
"For kids it's a tough run, it's uphill, but they get through it and think, Hey, this is cool'," he said.
Farmington has the potential to embrace running and mountain biking competitions, which are popular hobbies of nearby families, he said. He drew particular attention to the scenic bluffs south of the city and the climate — it was 44 degrees and sunny during Saturday's race, perfect conditions for a distance runner.
Farmington's "not that far away from a mountain town with milder temperatures," he said.
Kierra Johnson, an 11-year-old student at Ladera Del Norte Elementary School, was one of the younger racers who finished the 2-mile run on Saturday.
"It was fun," Johnson said. She's completed several other races in Farmington, Colorado and Wyoming. "I like to see my improvement."
The only other footrace the city organizes is a 2-mile, 5-km and 10-km run on Memorial Day Weekend at Riverfest. The races at Riverfest this year attracted about 150 fewer runners than Saturday's race, Mueller said.
Racers in both events paid $18.63 entry fees (1863 was the year the first Thanksgiving celebrated in America, Mueller said).
Proceeds from the race will go toward a regional Animal Shelter in the preliminary planning stages, she said.
All race participants received a T-shirt, and Three Rivers Brewery and Eatery catered a lunch
afterward. An award ceremony, festive face-painting stations and children's games will hopefully increase the chances the race becomes a popular Farmington tradition, Mueller said.
"We want (the post-race festivities) to be just as much a part of the event as the race," she said.
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