Thousands Flock To 21st Chatham Turkey Trot

CHATHAM – The swarm of people readying for the 21st Chatham Turkey Trot stretched from the parking lot at Oyster Pond Beach up Stage Harbor Road to the downtown rotary.

Once the race began, it took about 15 minutes for everyone to funnel through the starting line. A record number of people turned out for the Thanksgiving morning 5-kilometer event organized by the Lower Cape Outreach Council. All told, more than 3,000 participants registered for the trot. 

From the funds raised, the Lower Cape Outreach Council provided Thanksgiving meals to more than 900 households.

The first overall finisher was Sam Thomas, 27, of Claremont, California, who reached the finish line at 16:17.7. He was followed by Tom Brookes, 31, of Stanford, Calif. (16:25.8), Brian Brooks, 25, of Brewster (16:43.3), Finn Lynch, 24, of Chatham (16:49.1) and Michael Burleson, 40, of Gorham, Maine (16:56.8).

After placing first, Thomas said he was going back onto the course to walk with the rest of his family to the finish line. They all wore turkey hats and shirts.

“I just knew it was going to be fun to get the whole family out,” he said.

In addition to lots of turkey-related garb, also seen trotting through Chatham were Pilgrims, lobsters and Santas. 

Caroline Barry, 26, of Waban, was the race’s first female finisher with a time of 18:25.4. She was followed by Ashley Baker, 54, of Chatham (18:41.4), Jenise Madden, 27, of Osterville (19:26.5), Collins Fleming, 7, of South Yarmouth (19:48.2) and Addie Boyd, 31, of Brooklyn, New York (20:41.2)

Proceeds from the trot, which was sponsored by 31 businesses, also helped the Lower Cape Outreach Council stock nine local food pantries.