Dan Gibbons, director and namesake of the Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot, holds this year’s bright yellow t-shirt with office assistant Christine Fogarty. This year’s race can be run by groups and individuals throughout Thanksgiving week and, thanks to a smartphone app, anyone can participate, anywhere around the world. “We hope to keep the tradition alive,” Gibbons said. “And the need to fight hunger right now is greater than ever.”
By Dee Longfellow
For The Elmhurst Independent
Usually at this time of year, the Elmhurst Independent brings its readers the details of the next Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot (DGTT), held annually on Thanksgiving Day to raise funds in the fight against hunger in DuPage County.
Naturally, this year COVID-19 has forced many not-for-profit organizations to rethink their fundraising events—including DGTT. And yet, as Dan Gibbons himself put it, “The need is greater now than ever.”
“There are so many people unemployed, so many people, especially seniors, almost trapped in their surroundings making it difficult to do most anything, much less keep themselves supplied with food and household items,” Gibbons told the Independent in a recent exclusive interview.
“We knew this year we had to come up with something that would allow us to continue the annual tradition of the DGTT, while bringing in the kind of support we have counted on to continue to serve the clients who so greatly depend on us.”
Just tap on the app
Thanks to a new smartphone app called RaceJoy and a bright new neon yellow T-shirt, the DGTT is going to continue its tradition—perhaps in a better way than it ever has before. Following the guidelines of the CDC as well as state and local authorities, this year’s 37th annual Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot will be a virtual race.
“First of all, this year everyone has to register online,” Gibbons said. “We’re completely doing away with live registration at [Elmhurst University] on the day of the event, no in-person registration at all.
“Once you register online, you can download the smartphone app, which will allow you to tap in at the time you start your race and it will track everything for you. Thanks to real-time GPS tracking, it will report back to the race directors, who will keep track of everyone’s efforts.”
What happens to the many people who come to Elmhurst from out of town every year to participate? Some people plan their entire Thanksgiving weekend around the race. The event typically draws as many as 8,000 for the race which is roughly three miles long.
“That’s the beauty of this app,” Gibbons said. “Anyone across the country can take part, no matter where they are. Since many people aren’t traveling in the first place, this is still a way to participate. Local people are asked to invite and inform their out-of-town friends and relatives that they can register as usual at dangibbonsturkeytrot.org.”
Out-of-towners will receive their T-shirts by mail. They are urged (as everyone is) to take photos while running in their shirts and uploading the photos to the app for all to see. The better ones will be chosen to appear on the Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot web site.
Go at your own pace –over seven days
Another feature of this year’s DGTT might just make some people very happy. You may run the race any time throughout Thanksgiving week. That is, any time beginning Monday, Nov. 23 at 12:01 a.m. until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 29. (That means, unless you really want to, you don’t have to get up early on Thanksgiving morning!)
The app will also include encouraging messages from Dan Gibbons and others to urge runners to press on.
“I hope if people are driving down the street and come upon a group of runners in bright yellow t-shirts, they’ll give them a honk in support.”
Let’s run around the Earth!
When Dan Gibbons realized that the circumference of the planet is 24,901 miles, it dawned on him that 8,000 people each running 3 miles would equal 24,000 miles—almost all the way around the world.
“So that’s our goal now,” he said. “We want to keep track of everyone’s miles – no matter where they live — and add them all together and see if we can make it around the full circumference of the Earth. Since the race will take place over the period of a week, we can let people know via the app when we’ve made it from Elmhurst to L.A., or to Tokyo, or the Taj Mahal, something like that. We’ll keep reporting the progress.”
Beneficiaries of the Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot include: Loaves and Fishes Community Services, West Suburban Community Pantry, People’s Resource Center, United Community Concerns Association (UCCA), Catholic Charities-DuPage County, DuPage PADS, Elmhurst Walk-In Assistance Network and the Elmhurst/Yorkfield Food Pantry.
To register for the race, visit dangibbonsturkeytrot.org.
