Wild about running: Thousands race through Salem on Thanksgiving Day
Photos
Wild Turkey runners take the first bend of the race in front of the Salem Witch Museum. This year’s Thanksgiving Day event featured a record-breaking 1,358 participants.
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The number seven was a lucky one for local runners on Thanksgiving Day.
Nov. 25 marked the seventh year of Salem’s Wild Turkey 5-Mile Run. The annual race is open to youths and adults, and this year it drew runners ranging from age 8 to 72.
The winners went home with more than a healthy appetite for their Thanksgiving meal. The top male and female finishers — Max Kaulbach and Laura Kennedy — each received a plane ticket, good for anywhere in the United States, which was donated by AirTran Airways.
Last year the Wild Turkey set a new participation record, with 1,144 people finishing the five-mile run. This year the record was broken: An impressive 1,358 people finished the race. According to event organizers, that’s “a record high for any race on the North Shore in many years.”
This year the city established a new, certified five-mile course, which gave runners more time on the waterfront, at Winter Island and the Salem Willows.
Runners and spectators gathered Thanksgiving morning on Oliver Street by Salem Common for the start of the race. It ended in front of the Boys & Girls Club, which co-presented the race along with the city’s Park, Recreation & Community Services Department.
The overall winner, Max Kaulbach, age 21, of Philadelphia, Penn., finished in 25:57.
Joining Kaulbach as the top five overall finishers were Paul Rupprecht of Lexington, with a time of 25:57; Dan McCue of Cambridge, at 26:47; Caleb Evanter of Marblehead at 27:04; and Alex Gomes of Peabody, at 27:09.
The overall female winner, Laura Kennedy of Brighton, finished in 29:55.
The other top female runners were Danielle Sargent of Danvers, at 32:15; Christine O’Donnell of Charlestown (32:17); Fionna Fallon of Iowa (32:52); and Amanda Walsh of Salem (32:57).
Amanda Walsh was also the fastest female runner among Salem residents. The top male finisher among Salemites was Alex De Rosa, who came in sixth overall, at 27:41.
Race director Doug Bollen, who is also the director of Salem Park, Recreation & Community Services, presented the winners with the prizes and trophies.
For more results — including age group rankings and the walkers and wheelchair categories — visit coolrunning.com/results/10/ma/Nov25_WildTu_set1.shtml.