Another Successful Wild Turkey Run!
Early Thanksgiving morning, nearly 1632 runners, volunteers and spectators took to the streets of Salem to start their holiday participating in the 20th Annual Wild Turkey 5-Mile Run!
On behalf of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Salem, thank you to our participants for joining us for our 20th year. Your generosity and support of this annual event benefits youth programs at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Salem, and for that we are truly thankful.
This year’s Wild Turkey Run was the largest race on the North Shore. We started in 2004 with 300 runners and had a high of 1961 runners in 2015. This event has become a great holiday tradition both for locals and visiting family members.
Some interesting statistics from this year’s Wild Turkey 5-Mile Run:
- For the 15th year in a row, women runners outnumbered men, 55.30% to 45.70%.
- Runner ages ranged from 7 years old to 82 years old!
- The winning time of 25:46 was turned in by the first-place finisher, Peter Asaro from Gloucester.
- The female winner was Arianna Maida from Peabody, in a time of 30:02.
- 12 Runners have completed all 20 Wild Turkey Runs!
Competitors joined us from across the country, representing 30 states, Canada and Puerto Rico. The states include: Massachusetts, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, California, Virginia, Connecticut, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Iowa, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, New York, Georgia, Idaho, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Texas, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Vermont, South Carolina, New Mexico, Washington, Illinois, Hawaii, Louisiana and Washington D. C.
This great event could not be possible without the support of our community sponsors. Major sponsors include: New England Running Company, Institution for Savings, Pediatric Associates, Highland Dental Group, Peabody Essex Museum, Planet Fitness, Herrick Lutts Realty Partners, Salem Rotary, Marblehead Bank, A & A Services Home Improvement, Perry & Perry Attorneys at Law, Johnson & O’Connor, Rockland Trust, Salem Five, Eastern Bank, Beauport Ambulance, Kaloutas Painting, John J. Walsh Insurance, Tides Restaurant, Whitestripes Minions, Correnti & Kolick LLP, Duffy Law, and StephenOGrady.com.
Special gratitude to the many volunteers who donated their Thanksgiving morning and at the packet pickup to help out at the race: Beth O’Grady, Kelly and Todd Pheulpin, Ellen Talkowsky, Ilene Simons, Carole Donnelly, Grace Duran, Joanne Scott, Elmer Galvez, Tom St. Pierre, Barbara Marino, Beth Griffin, Kerry Phelan, Lynn Petronio, Mark DeLuca, Domingo Dominquez, Lauren Gabel, Mary Herchenhahn, John Landry, Lilly Briggs, Lisa Cammarata, Carol and Lee Libelo, Mara Mendelsohn , Susan Gentile, Debbie Everett, Paul Cranny, Suzi Clements, Peter Graves, Alision Phelan, Ana Gordan, Felisha Ann Eisner, Nicole Goggin, Amy Walsh, Barbara Meader, Tim Short, Joyce Arcisz, Saul DeLeon, Rosely Vasquez, Mike Pallazola, Jack Danzinger,
Kim Murtagh,BetsyObrine, Patty Scarpelli, Mike Fitzgerald, and the kids from the Boys & Girls Club. Thanks also to the great cheering group from the Salem Willows neighborhood.
Special thanks to the Salem Police for controlling the traffic during the race to keep the runners safe, and to the many Salem residents along the route who cheered our runners on!
Again, thank you everyone for making this another successful Thanksgiving event!
Doug Bollen
Wild Turkey Race Director
Chief Advisor
Boys & Girls Club of Greater Salem