The 35th annual Turkey Bowl will be run on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 26, at the Tel Hai Camp and Retreat, 31 Lasso Drive, Honey Brook. The event will feature a 5K cross-country race that will take participants through the camp and around the lake. The event will also include a roughly half-mile children's fun run.

This year's event will begin with registration and race packet pickup from 7:45 to 9:20 a.m. in the camp's dining hall. The fun run, which is open to children age 12 and under, will begin at 9:10 a.m. Parents may run alongside their child in the fun run at no charge. The 5K race will follow at 9:40 a.m.

"When it was originally started, the guy that started it before me wanted to kind of make it stand out from the regular turkey trots," said Bruce Gregory, program director at Tel Hai Camp and Retreat. "Everyone calls them turkey trots, so he made this a turkey bowl race."

Second Wind Race Timing will once against provide chip timing for the 5K race. Online registration and mail-in registration forms can be accessed from the Turkey Bowl page on the camp's website, http://www.telhaicamp.org.

Online registration will be open until the end of check-in on race day. Participants will need to register online before they arrive or when they arrive using their cellphones.

After poor weather in 2024, last year's race had some beautiful weather, something Gregory is hoping for again. Last year's event had 649 total participants, more than 100 more than the year prior.

The 5K is a 3.1-mile race that will cover a mixture of paved, gravel and grassy paths, including some hills. The kids' fun run will be one lap around the 5K course.

"They'll start on the main campus and go across Beaver Dam Road and go around our lake," Gregory explained. "They go up into the retirement property. ... You'll have some of the residents come out and cheer them on. They like to see it; they'll come out on their porch and cheer them on."

Children who complete the fun run will receive a finisher's medal. First-place trophies will be awarded to the overall female and male runners of the 5K, and medals will be given to the top three finishers in various age groups.

Gregory said the race has become a popular Thanksgiving Day tradition in the area. Both local runners and out-of-town visitors for the holiday participate in the event.

"We get a lot of families that come out and run together," Gregory said. "We get them from all over - Kansas, Boston, Virginia, Maryland. They come from all over to visit family and then come to the race."

New for this year's race, those who register prior to Thursday, Nov. 12, can pick up their race packet at the camp's dining hall from 2 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 25.

Proceeds from the event are used to benefit Tel Hai Camp and Retreat. According to a history of the camp, "Tel Hai" (meaning "Hill of Life" in Hebrew) Camp was founded in 1950 and incorporated in 1951 as an independent, nonprofit, Christian camp.

The facility includes a gymnasium; a miniature golf course; a gaga court; an archery range and rifle range; a swimming pool; a climbing wall; and a challenge course, which includes a giant swing and zip line. The camp also offers banquet and luncheon facilities and offers retreat programs for churches, Christian schools and other related organizations.

Special events include a Mother and Daughter Spring Getaway offered in May and a Dad and Lad Camp offered in June.

Tel Hai Camp and Retreat also offers events that are open to the community, including spaghetti dinners and an annual vendor and craft fair. Information about the activities can be found at http://www.facebook.com/TelHaiCampRetreat.

Those who would like to volunteer on event day are asked to contact Gregory at 610-273-3969 or bruce@telhaicamp.org for more information.