Forty- five million turkeys are killed each year for Thanksgiving. Of those who consume those turkeys, almost one million participate in a Thanksgiving Day race.

Of those runners, 7,700 partook in the Naperville Noon Lions’ annual Turkey Trot, which is located at Naperville Central. Additionally, 380 locals volunteered for the race, according to the Naperville Noon Lions.

Many Central students and parents were involved in the race, whose sponsors, the Naperville Noon Lions, had the goal  is to “help the vision and hearing impaired.”

One of these runners was Rick Li, a senior at Central.

Li is a member of Central’s cross country team and this is his second time running the Turkey Trot. He and his teammates run this race in particular because it is the only time that their graduated teammates are home. The race acts as a reunion for Central’s cross country team.

“It’s awesome to see all of your friends after they come back from college,” Li said.

Apart from students, parents also ran the race. One of these was Radka Cabrera, who has a junior son at Central. She is an avid runner and has participated in many local races.

“It’s fun [to run] and [the location] is convenient,” Cabrera said.

The Turkey Trot, however, was Cabrera’s first Thanksgiving Dday race. Rather than running with alone like she normally does, Cabrera was accompanied by her fourth-grade son.

“I wanted to start a little tradition,” Cabrera said.

Many students got involved with the Turkey Trot as volunteers. Many honors societies at Central require community service hours to be members in good standing.

Ellie McDonough, a senior, is a member of National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society. She volunteered at the Turkey Trot not only to get hours for her clubs, but because she enjoys it.

“I volunteer because I enjoy giving back to the community,” McDonough said. “If I have my free time, and if I have the ability to do something, [I find it] so fun to go out and meet new people, have new experiences and help people in different ways just with the extra time you have. It’s so simple, but it’s so much fun at the same time.”

On top of her love for volunteering, the Turkey Trot is special for McDonough. This year’s race was the second Turkey Trot she has volunteered for.

“I like the Turkey Trot because it’s a local race that helps to fund things around [Naperville],” McDonough said. “I also think it’s a great way to bring the community together, especially on Thanksgiving. When you’re feeling thankful for your family and friends, you get to come [to the Turkey Trot] and start the celebration early.”

Photos by Jacek Kulak.