Runners dressed as pumpkin pies and s’mores lined up at the corner of Santa Clara and First streets in downtown San Jose early Thursday to race in the Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot.
Mayor Matt Mahan was among the racers; he said more than 21,000 runners joined him in the 19th annual event, which raises money for local charities.
“Whether you’re an elite runner or a casual walker, I hope everyone had a great start to their Thanksgiving,” Mahan said in a Facebook post Thursday.
Event organizers on the trot’s website say the race has generated $11 million for local charities in the last 18 years. Participants this year were able to compete in a costume contest held at 7:45 a.m. before the races — at 5- and 10-kilometer distances — started at 8:30 a.m. And as of noon Thursday, runners had raised $57,700 of a $62,000 goal for the 2023 trot.
Debbie Clima of San Jose, left, and her daughter Olivia Clima, 16, dressed as a campfire and s’more respectively, wait to run in the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot, Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023, in San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) Hana Ma, left, of Redwood City, her husband, Hiep, and their children, Corinne, 7, and Adeline, 3, who are dressed as pumpkin pie pieces, pose for a picture as they wait to run in the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot, Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023, in San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) Silicon Valley Turkey Trot runners wait before the race Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023, in downtown San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) Silicon Valley Turkey Trot runners in colorful running shoes wait before the race Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023, in downtown San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) Silicon Valley Turkey Trot runners start racing on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023, in downtown San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) Silicon Valley Turkey Trot runners start racing Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023, in downtown San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) Silicon Valley Turkey Trot runners pass “Eyes, Eyes, Eyes!” a mural by artist Frankie McFly, on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023, in downtown San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) Silicon Valley Turkey Trot runners race Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023, in downtown San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) Silicon Valley Turkey Trot runners race Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023, in downtown San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) Silicon Valley Turkey Trot runners race Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023, in downtown San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
