42nd Annual Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot to be held Thanksgiving Day
This year’s event will again be held in downtown Elmhurst. Race day events include a performance by the Men of Spirito! and Jim Cornelison singing the National Anthem. The Lima Lima Flight Team are scheduled to fly over the crowd at 8:58 a.m. (weather permitting).
Online registration for runners and walkers closes at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 23. The registration price increases on race day. For registration and further information, visit DanGibbonsTurkeyTrot.org.
It was 1983 and Dan was listening to Ed Schwartz, overnight talk show host on WGN radio. Schwartz was angry because Mayor Jane Byrne was spending $300,000 on fireworks in Chicago for New Year’s Eve when so many people were going to bed hungry. Unfortunately, the problem wasn’t isolated to Chicago. In DuPage County, thousands of people were also hungry. This news really struck a chord with Gibbons and led to his involvement in Schwartz’s Good Neighbor Food Drive. Gibbons’ involvement with the Good Neighbor Food Drive was just the beginning of his education about and involvement with the hunger problem.
An Idea becomes a plan
Gibbons and some of his friends volunteered as football coaches at Visitation Grade School in Elmhurst, IL. The group was reminiscing over their most recent season when the discussion of Chicago’s hunger issues came up. After a group discussion among coaches, it was eventually decided to organize a 5K, even though they weren’t exactly sure what a 5K was. Gibbons had the most time to put towards the event and so the event was dubbed the Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot, appropriately named as the target date for the event was Thanksgiving Day.
The plan becomes a reality: The first Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot
The very first Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot was organized and carried out on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 1984. It was named the 1st Annual Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot, when in reality, it should have been called the “Inaugural” event. Now, more than four decades and thousands of participants later, it seems unimaginable that the Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot might not have been a part of Elmhurst history.
The first Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot was nothing like what is seen today. Numbers the runners wore were handmade and Gibbons used his car’s odometer to lay out the course himself. The first “5K” race ended up being just a little over 2.5 miles. In its first year, the Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot had just 74 participants and no sponsors. The first Trot raised $520, which was given to Schwartz at the 2nd annual Good Neighbor Food Drive. Everyone involved felt a sense of achievement in implementing the one-time event…little did they know, it was the humble beginning of Elmhurst’s Thanksgiving Day tradition.
The 2nd Annual Turkey Trot
In September 1985, 10 months after the first Turkey Trot, Gibbons found himself in a familiar place, the Sunset Grill, soon to become the legendary Silverado Grill. Enjoying a Thursday night Bears-Vikings game during that magical year, Dan was having a couple beers with his long-time friend, off-duty Elmhurst Police Lieutenant Bob Jones. Conversation about the game switched gears and Jones asked about the likelihood of a 2nd Annual Turkey Trot. Gibbons said without sponsorship, not likely. Bob went out to the vestibule to the pay phone, yes that long ago, and called Jim Doherty, fellow board member of the Elmhurst Police Benevolent Athletic Association, the giving arm of the Elmhurst Police. Before the football game ended, Jones secured the first $250 in sponsorship money to go towards the Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot.
In addition to the sponsorship money, having the support of the EPBAA was huge, giving Gibbons the necessary credibility to take the Turkey Trot to the next level. With the Elmhurst Police Department at his side, Gibbons was able to reach out more easily to other potential sponsors.
He soon approached Bob Schiller-Schiller Real Estate and Dave Plummerr-Elmhurst Federal Savings and Loan. Both were on board for $250. Dan now had $750, enough to make the 2nd Annual Turkey Trot a reality. He recruited a small committee of family and friends to plan and implement the event and secured a home base for the event at the Knights of Columbus on York Road in Elmhurst.
The Annual Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot
When organizing the 2nd Turkey Trot, Gibbons realized the potential for an annual event and didn’t feel comfortable with it being named after him. He also didn’t want to diminish the work and effort of all the volunteers who made the Turkey Trot possible. However, the core of volunteers and sponsors prevailed convincing Gibbons of the brand value of the Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot.
Amazing Growth
In just its second year, the event went from having no sponsors to three, just 74 participants to 232 runners and walkers. In 1986 the event was up to 7 sponsors and 407 participants, and in 1987 they had 10 sponsors and 636 runners.
While Dan had every reason to be proud of his accomplishments, he is humble in making it known that the continued success and growth of the event is owed largely to the tireless efforts put in by committee members and volunteers.
In 2010, Gibbons had a minor health setback requiring him to rely heavily on committee members. The 2010 Turkey Trot went off without a hitch and reinforced what Gibbons already knew. The success of the Turkey Trot, as previously stated, is predicated on the dedication of all involved.
Our beneficiaries and mission
To date, the DGTT Foundation has raised nearly $5 million dollars and focuses on keeping all funds local. According to Gibbons, “Our mission is to be a major contributor in the eradication of hunger in DuPage County. To think that 90,000 people in DuPage are at-risk of going to bed hungry every night and of those, 30,000 are children. We find it unacceptable and motivating. For us it’s all about Dignity Served Daily”
We support:
Bensenville Wood Dale Food Pantry
Bridge Communities
Catholic Charities, Diocese of Joliet
Disciples Food Pantry
DuPage PADS
Elmhurst Walk-In Assistance Network
Elmhurst-Yorkfield Food Pantry
HCS Family Services
Immaculate Conception Food Pantry
Loaves and Fishes Community Services
Neighborhood Food Pantries
Peoples Resource Center
St. Pius and St. Vincent DePaul
The Outreach House
United Community Concerns Association
Wayne Township Food Pantry
West Suburban Community Pantry