Austin Turkey Trot: About 25K people participate

AUSTIN, Texas – About 25,000 people participated in the 35th annual ThunderCloud Subs Turkey Trot.

Participants could do either one mile or five miles. 

Local perspective:

Jessica and Brandon Andrews do the Turkey Trot every year with their dogs, Lacie, Max, and Scout. Their dogs were dressed up, too.

“This is our diva, and so she gets to wear her dress,” Jessica said, referring to Lacie’s tutu. “This is our absolute liability, Scout, and he gets to look the goofiest, because he is the goofiest.  This is our dignified Maxi Moose, this is probably his 11th or 12th trot, and he’s just like, ‘okay, we’re here again,’ so he just knows what to do. He’s our veteran.”

It was the first Turkey Trot for Gus Lott and Liam Lewis.

“I am Santa Buc-ee. I got this from Buc-ee’s on the way to a swim meet,” Lott said of his costume.

“We’re swimmers, so I just wanted to throw my hand at some running because swimmers kind of have endurance,” Lewis said.

Mother and daughter Karen Fingerman and Lily Yeazell have been doing the Turkey Trot for several years.

“We didn’t start with the tutus. These were an edition last year,” Yeazell said of their costumes.

“Seeing everybody else, the inspiration is part of being in the fun of it,” Fingerman said.

Everyone agrees the crowd and the environment are a great way to start Thanksgiving morning. 

“Nothing puts you in a better mood than a dog with turkey feathers and dogs wearing turkeys and guys wearing turkey hats. It just puts you in a good mood. Then you go home, and you’re like, ‘oh, well, I screwed this up and I forgot to set the butter out,’ but it’s fine because we were here all day,” Andrews said.

This was all for a good cause, raising money for Caritas of Austin, which aims to end homelessness. 

“We love Caritas of Austin. We love the work that they do. We like ThunderCloud Subs, and we’re here for it every year, so Happy Thanksgiving, Austin,” Andrews said.