Naperville neighborhood starts its own mini turkey trot
Ever tried getting a houseful of kids up early on a holiday morning - not to open presents, but to run 3.1 miles?
Some residents of the Maplebrook subdivision in Naperville have in order to run the annual Naperville Noon Lions Turkey Trot 5K.
But they're over it. Because they've got a new idea that still incorporates some pre-feast fitness, but keeps it even closer to home.
With the Windingbrook Drumstick Dash 5K, the subdivisions of Winding Creek and Maplebrook are formalizing a Thanksgiving tradition of running around the neighborhood and turning it into a small-scale race for charity.
"The Turkey Trot downtown is phenomenal, but it's just hard," Maplebrook resident Josh McBroom said, talking about the logistics of getting there in time for the 8 a.m. start and finding a spot among up to 8,000 others, many of them in turkey hats. "It's a convenience thing."
A handful of neighbors in the "uniquely tight-knit" area at the southwest corner of Washington and 75th streets have been running together on Thanksgiving for the past couple of years, McBroom said. It's been informal so far, but it led neighbors to think about hosting their "own mini turkey trot."
"If we can do one in the neighborhood and we have enough people," he said, "why don't we do it?"
Once the McBrooms and other organizers realized they had enough interest, they mapped out a course starting at 281 Winding Creek Drive and set the start time for 8:30 a.m. They set up a Facebook page to take registrations, ordered T-shirts and planned a small post-race party with juice for the kids and bloody Marys for adults.
Then they searched for a charitable option, so runners can give a donation if they choose. They didn't have to venture far to find one.
The cause that will benefit from the new race is a nonprofit organization called P'Jammerz run by 13-year-old Maplebrook resident Sophia Martinez.
Sophia started P'Jammerz two years ago when she was a sixth-grader at Lincoln Junior High School, also right in the neighborhood. The organization takes pajama pants Sophia sews and donates them to homeless shelters in DuPage County, where kids and teens can make good use of a fresh set of sleepwear.
In two years, Sophia and her supporters have sewn more than 200 pairs of soft, patterned pajama pants and donated them to four sites that host overnight shelters for the homeless, such as First Congregational Church, Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church and St. Margaret Mary Parish, all in Naperville.
Sophia said she enjoys seeing the gratitude of kids who receive the pants she sews. And she feels gratitude for all of her donors - especially the roughly 200 people expected to run the Drumstick Dash, who together have donated more than $600.
"It was a little overwhelming at first because I wasn't expecting so much attention," Sophia said. "I'm grateful for all of the support that I've received for my charity."
Using the money from the Drumstick Dash, which still might collect more as race day nears, Sophia said she plans to consider buying a new sewing machine.
Her mother, Emily Martinez, said Sophia's sewing skills have sped up in the two years she's been at it for P'Jammerz. The effort has spread to Sophia's younger brothers, 11-year-old Leo and 7-year-old Oliver, who are serving as seamstress' assistants and learning to sew a bit themselves.
The siblings plan to run their first Thanksgiving 5K in the Drumstick Dash with their neighbors. McBroom said the idea is to keep it low-key, run the race, then prepare to host relatives for Thanksgiving.
"We're all just going to meet in this one spot," McBroom said, "and we'll just start running,"