While the turkey was cooking in the oven on Thanksgiving morning, runners and walkers took part in the 34th annual Turkey Bowl held at Tel Hai Camp & Retreat. The theme of the event, which included a 5K race and a 1-mile children's fun run was, "Burn calories, not your turkey."

Bruce Gregory, Tel Hai program director, reported that there were 493 finishers in the 5K race and 112 finishers in the 1-mile kids' fun run.

Because of a slight mix-up in the course this year, Gregory noted that participants had to travel an extra distance, so the finish times were higher than normal. The top overall male winner was Maddon McNicholas, 21, of Morgantown, with a time of 19 minutes and 6 seconds. The top overall female winner for the second year in a row was Laura Posh, 21, of Morgantown, with a time of 22:33.

The top overall male finisher in the kids' fun run was Christopher Yoder, 11, of LaGrange, Ind., with a time of 6:24. Tabitha Herr, 8, from Paradise, was the top overall female finisher with a time of 6:29.

Although the event takes place in Honey Brook, it attracts participants from neighboring communities.

Among the local participants was Rachel Foraker, who ran the race with her son Cole Carrigan, a junior at the Pequea Valley Secondary School. "My son's cross-country team does this every year, so I decided to run with them this year," said Foraker.

Foraker said she is not typically a runner, but she takes part in weightlifting and conditioning at the gym on Mondays through Fridays.

Following the event, the family enjoyed their turkey dinner. "We went and celebrated Thanksgiving at our grandparents' house," Foraker said, noting that her contribution was a homemade deep-dish apple pie.

She plans to participate in the event again next year with Cole, who will be a senior member of the cross-country team.

Gap residents Collin Beiler, 9, and his brother, Kenton, 14, also took part in the 5K. Kenton was the champion in the male 12-to-14 age group with a time of 23:12.

"Our family has known about this race for years. I worked at Tel Hai summer camp as a teenager," noted the boys' mother, Rachel Beiler. "We lived out of state for years, but when we moved back to the area, this became a family tradition for Thanksgiving morning."

She noted that Collin and Kenton have participated in the event since 2021. "They just love to run," said Beiler. "We do several family 5Ks throughout the year."

Although they are homeschooled, both Kenton and Collin are part of running clubs in the Pequea Valley School District. "There is an elementary run club, and Kenton is one of the leaders and he runs with the middle school cross-country and track teams," she noted. "Collin is too young for that, but there is a Little Braves run club that runs in Pequea Valley in the fall."

Following the Turkey Bowl, the family enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at their grandparents' house.

For Jared Jones of Narvon, who ran the race with his wife, Sarah, the Turkey Bowl is a familiar part of Thanksgiving.

"We did the Turkey Bowl when we were little kids, and then we had not done it for a while," he noted. "Since I got married, we have (participated) the past three or four years. It's kind of our tradition."

Jared finished the 5K with a time of 28:14. "My wife is a runner; I am not. My wife and her sisters run pretty consistently," he stated. "This is the only race I run. Considering it was an extra half-mile, I was happy with the finish."

He said that after running the 5K, he enjoyed not one, but two Thanksgiving dinners. "We go to my parents' and have a big meal and go to her family and have another big meal," Jared said with a smile.

Chip timing at the Turkey Bowl was provided by Second Wind Race Timing. To view the list of sponsors, as well as all of the results of the 5K and the fun run, visit http://www.telhaicamp.org.