Wild Turkey Run

Early Thanksgiving morning, on a clear beautiful morning, 1818 runners, volunteers and spectators took to the streets of Salem to start their holiday participating in the 22nd Annual Wild Turkey 5-Mile Run!

On behalf of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Salem, thank you to our participants for joining us for our 22nd year. Your generosity and support of this annual event benefits youth programs at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Salem, and for that we are truly thankful.

This year’s Wild Turkey Run was the largest race on the North Shore. We started in 2004 with 300 runners and had a high of 1961 runners in 2015. This event has become a great holiday tradition both for locals and visiting family members. 

We had to change the course again as construction at the Willows continued for another year. We ran in the Salem Common for the second time since year one!! We plan to run back around the Willows in 2026.   

Some interesting statistics from this year’s Wild Turkey 5-Mile Run: 

For the 17th year in a row, women runners outnumbered men, 54.86% to 45.14%.  

• Runner ages ranged from 7 years old to 80 years old! 
• The winning time of 24:35 was turned in by the first-place finisher, Claudio Rocha from Peabody,
• The female winner was KyLynn McKinley of Marblehead, who captured her 3rd Wild Turkey win in a time of 28:53.
• 9 Runners have completed all 22 Wild Turkey Runs!
• We had 1818 registered runners up from 1737 in 2024.
• Runners came from 22 including Washington DC and Canada.

Competitors joined us from across the country, representing 22 states, and Canada. The states include Massachusetts, Maine, Missouri, Michigan, California, Virginia, Connecticut, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, New York, Georgia, Tennessee, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Washington, Wyoming, Illinois, and Washington D. C.  

This great event could not be possible without the support of our community sponsors. Sponsors include: Witch City Walking Tours, , New England Running Company,  Peabody Essex Museum, Santiago Family Properties, Education Comes First, Salty Smith  HTM Memorial Fund, Lowell Five Bank,  Planet Fitness, Herrick Lutts Realty Partners,  Seagrass, Major Golf, Salem Five, Institution for Savings, Marblehead Bank,  Groom Construction,  Pediatric Associates, Pro Wealth LLC, Crosbys Market,  A & A Services Home Improvement,  Johnson & O’Connor, Beauport Ambulance, East Regiment Brewery,  Kaloutas Painting, Highland Dental,  John J. Walsh Insurance, Correnti & Kolick LLP,  Duffy Law, Octocog Marketing & Design, Salem Police, Eastern Bank – Cambridge Trust, and North Shore Bank - Abington Bank, and Rockland Trust. 

Special gratitude to the many volunteers who donated their Thanksgiving morning and at the packet pickup to help out at the race:  Stephanie Cooper, Kelly and Todd Pheulpin,  Ellen Talkowsky, Ilene Simons, Carole Donnelly, Mara Mendelsohn, Grace Duran, Elmer Galvez, Tom St. Pierre, Barbara Marino,  Beth Griffin, Courtney Boulay, Nick Mosher, Mick O’Connor, Paul Murphy, Julia Dennis, Bill Gard, Sue Gabriel, Paul Herrick, , Tina Zolla,  Lynne Grenier, Jennifer Berry,  Mark DeLuca, Shari Hewson, Michele and Gif Campbell, Mary Herchenhahn,  Lisa Cammarata, Carol  Libelo,  Debbie Everett,  Jenn Taylor,  Paul Cranney,  Lilly Briggs, John Landry, Suzi Clements, Natalie and Dale Arias-Haavind , Alison Phelan, Amy and Brandon Walsh,  Tim Short, Felicia  Ann Jackson,  Alen Yen,  Joanne Scott, Saul DeLeon, Rosely Vasquez, and Thanks also to the great cheering group from the Salem Willows neighborhood.    

Special thanks to the Salem Police for controlling the traffic during the race to keep the runners safe, and to the many Salem residents along the route who cheered our runners on! Also, Special thanks to Mary Butler and staff at the Peabody Essex Museum for hosting the race once again!!! 

 
Again, thank you everyone for making this another successful Thanksgiving event!

Doug Bollen
Wild Turkey Race Director