By Khalida Sarwari
Families and friends from all walks of life have made participating in the Turkey Trot in San Jose an annual tradition. Record numbers of people are expected to participate in this year’s race, the largest timed turkey trot in the country, according to Steve Wright, a spokesman for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group Foundation.
The race, sponsored by Applied Materials and produced by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group Foundation, has become so popular over the years that last year organizers had to expand the start and finish lines to accommodate the large number of participants.
The goal this year is to collect 25,000 pounds of food and raise about $850,000 for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara, San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties; the Housing Trust of Silicon Valley; and the Healthier Kids Foundation Santa Clara County.
When it’s time for Elena Li’s sixth-grade class to take off for PE class, she, too, laces up her sneakers and hits the pavement with her students. Some days they run half a mile; other days they push themselves to do a full mile around the track at Cedar Grove Elementary School. For a busy mom of three, Li has found that when attempting to fit exercise into her schedule, a little creativity goes a long way.
Li, who resides with her family in Saratoga, has been running regularly since the spring of this year and has no plans to stop anytime soon. On Thanksgiving Day, she will join thousands of others—mothers, fathers, sons and daughters—for the Turkey Trot in downtown San Jose.
Li has completed almost one race every month, but this one will be special for a couple of reasons. With the San Jose Giants Race, Color Run and Rock ’n’ Roll Mini Marathon all under
her belt, the Turkey Trot marks Li’s first 10K. “I feel nervous but determined,” she said.
Secondly, it will be the first time her children–Nathaniel, 7, Addison, 5, and Ryan, 2–will be able to transition from spectators to runners themselves, taking part in the Kids Fun Run. Addison might even don the white tutu she wore on the sidelines of the Color Run earlier this year.
For Li and her kids,there is no resting on their laurels and putting the sneakers away after the Turkey Trot. Once the race is done and the turkey, trimmings and pie have been scraped clean from their plates, the family plans to reconvene in December at the start line of the Santa Run in San Jose. In January, Li plans to participate in the Hot Chocolate 15K Run in San Francisco. Eventually, Li hopes to work her way to Disneyland, where she said she plans to participate in the half-marathon at the “Happiest Place on Earth” next fall.
“I’m hoping I can keep building up my stamina,” she said. “My whole goal is to get back in shape and just being able to fit into my clothes more comfortably and having energy to keep up with my kids.”
Li has proven that motherhood doesn’t have to signify the end of a regular exercise regimen. In between running a classroom of sixth-graders and coming home to make dinner and help her kids with their homework every night, Li squeezes in running when and where she can. When it’s not at school during her students’ PE class, it’s on Saturdays during her daughter’s dance class.
“I think it’s just a good way for me to just kind of clear my head,” she said of her new hobby. “It’s something I don’t really need equipment to do. For me, it’s also just a stress reliever and it’s something fast to do.”
For a woman who would go to the gym five to six days a week at 5 a.m. every morning before having children, one would not expect anything less.
The Silicon Valley Turkey Trot will begin at 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 28 in downtown San Jose, near the SAP Center. For more information, visit svturkeytrot.com.
