Brown celebrated at holiday race event

PARKERSBURG — About 2,100 runners and walkers Thursday morning participated in the 31st annual Turkey Trot, a race that has become a Thanksgiving Day tradition.


The race was dedicated this year to Rick Brown, a former member of the River City Runners Club. Brown, 65, of Marietta, passed away in October while running in the Detroit Half-Marathon.


Joe Corra, president of the River City Runners Club, said Brown will be missed.


“Rick was a great guy. He was my running buddy,” said Corra. “He was at the Turkey Trot every year helping set up for the race, and a lot of his family members are here today. His whole clan is here.”


The long-sleeved, yellow T-shirts given to participants this year were printed with the phrase “Running with Rick,” a tribute to Brown.


The Turkey Trot has grown significantly in the past five years, and officials said this year’s race has the biggest field in 30 years. About 1,600 participants pre-registered and another 500 more registered the morning of the race.


Dorsey Cheuvront, a longtime member of the River City Runners Club, said runners from 24 states registered for the event.


“We’ve got people here from California, Texas, and pretty much everywhere up and down the East Coast,” he said. “There’s even a woman here from Australia. It’s an interesting mix.”


While some attend the race to compete, many come to socialize and enjoy a tradition with friends and family.


“It’s competitive up front with a lot of the college kids, but in the back you’ve got the families with kids and dogs. I don’t think I’ve seen so many dog walkers today. There had to be around 100,” Cheuvront said. “At the end of the race, we always award the winning male and female a turkey, but then we will hand out 50 turkeys randomly to participants after the race. This year we’ve got 25 frozen turkeys and 25 thawed ones.”


The first-place runner was 19-year-old Tyler Cantley, a graduate of Warren High School.


“I look forward to this every year,” said Cantley, who runs cross country at Ohio University. “I always tell people, as long as I’m in town, I’ll come out and compete.”