Hot to Trot 5k/10k/Fun Run

On Thanksgiving Day, Nov 24, 2022

Greetings from head turkey!  What type of race do you get when you combine great weather, a great location, and a great crowd?  You get the perfect race.  And speaking of Hot to Trot races, nearly 2,400 hot to trotters came together on a perfect morning to Parkside Drive for Knoxville's largest holiday family reunion.  Our numbers are slowly building back to pre-COVID range while offering exceptional experience to those who come to our race.  This year we had 8 in our Virtual Run,  347 in our 10K,  1,725 in our 5K, and a record number of 313 in our Fun Run.  Our participants ranged from 1 year old to 85 years young and we had 31 states represented with the largest groups coming from NC, FL, and GA in that order. 

* NEW * Based on popular demand,s we have decided to redo our age group awards for the those 10 and younger and 70 and older.  Going forward, in all our races, we will have 1-6 and 7-10 for our younger runners and 70-74, 75-79, 80+ for our more mature runners.  The results on both RunSignUp and Total Race Solution site has already been updated with these changes.  We will Email directly all new age group winners and will make every effort to get them their hard-won awards.  If you are in town and can stop by the store, please do so and pick up your commemorative Stony Clay Station pottery mug or tumbler.

Invocation & National Anthem

My friend, Brad Hood, presented the starting invocation and reminded us of our blessings and the blessings we can bestow on others.  My most favorite singer, Alex Koza, led us in our National Anthem and infused everyone on the starting line with energy and pride to run or walk their perfect race.

7:30 - 5K/10K start

Our biggest challenge every year is to get everyone lined up and started before our fastest runners come back.  This year we had a super group of volunteers and racers that followed our directions and allowed us to get started on time.  We had 7 heats, each heading out in 1 min interval.  As you can see from the blurry start, they were fast.  

9:00 Fun Run

My most favorite part of the day is leading the fun run group in our traditional chicken dance. Despite not knowing the moves, I am always mentored by some of the young runners in the front as well as the parents near by.  With the warm-up out of the way, the fun run went off spectacularly and with speed as the challenge of the day was for them to catch the turkey on the bike.  They did not catch the turkey!   

Our Training Program

We are so proud of our training program participants who signed up to train with us for the 5K or 10K distances.  Everyone did fantastic with many of the old PRs or expectations shattered.  We now focus on the Knoxville Marathon Weekend races. If you are interested in our Knoxville Marathon Weekend training programs, please click HERE.

Results & Awards

• Thanks to Total Race Solutions for our race day results.   We utilized a new check-in process and it worked beautifu .  One of the benefits is that now we can allow registration on race morning.
• Overall Results are posted in RunSignUp as well as on Total Race Solutions 5K or 10K results  If you find an issue with your results, please notify us immediately so we can correct it.
• You can check your individual results by entering your BiB Here. 
• Overall winners received an additional $20 FFK Merchandise Certificate.  The certificates were Emailed to the winners individually.
• Top 3 in each age group was awarded a commemorative tumbler or mug from Stony Clay Station pottery.  If you placed but did not pick up your award at the race, stop by the store
• * NEW * Based on popular demand, we redid our age group awards for the those 10 and younger and 70 and older.  Going forward, in all our races, we will have 1-6 and 7-10 for our younger runners and 70-74, 75-79, 80+ for our more mature runners.  The results on both RunSignUp and Total Race Solution site has already been updated with these changes.  We will Email directly all new age group winners and will make every effort to get them their hard-won awards.  If you are in town and can stop by the store, please do so and pick up your commemorative Stony Clay Station pottery mug or tumbler.

Give-aways - Shirts & Ornaments

• We have received a lot of good feedback on the soft cotton long sleeve shirts.  Personally, I like the color!
• If you did not get your shirt and need to pick one up, please let us know.    They are at the store but we can no longer guarantee your sizes as we opened the inventory to public for exchanges.
• We still have some of the older shirts that can be picked up for a $5 donation.  This years' shirts are also available with a $10 donation (Cash or Venmo, preferred). We have a good number of XS and S left and some M.
• Also, we have more ornaments if you like to share them with others as a way of inviting them to next year's event.  Grab them at the store.

Pictures - 

• Thanks to our volunteer photographers, we have a lot of good pictures at the start, on the course, and especially at the finish line.https://www.flickr.com/photos/95617268@N05/52535019924/in/album-72177720304113454/
• Pictures are being uploaded to our Flickr account in the 2022 Hot to Trot 5k/10k/Fun Run album

Donations -  

We have 2 charity partners for this race:

• A Hand Up for Women - We have worked with this wonderful organization since 2013 and have donation with our 2023 donation of $10,000 a total of $72,000.  The work they do change lives and we are so proud to be a part of that effort.  I can't say enough of the spirit of the ladies that come out to help our race.  

• Shepherd of Hope Food Pantry - A food pantry operated by the Faith Lutheran church in Farragut, we have patnered with this organization for several years.  We collected much needed canned and non-perishable food for the pantry as well as donated $1,000 cash on behalf of this race.

Volunteers - 

• It takes a lot of resources to put on a race.  It takes a lot more resources to put on a large race like ours.
• Our volunteers are the best!
• They contact businesses for their help and their donations
• They monitor the registration and the supplies and make sure our racers have the best experience
• They give up their Thanksgiving Day morning to make sure our runners have the best time, no matter what happens in the background
• And, we could use more.  So next year, consider joining our team of volunteers and put a smile on someone else's face.

We want to hear from you

Tell us how we can make this event better.  We are constantly thinking of ways to improve and welcome your feedback. Please take our Post Race Survey here.

Race Sponsors

We thank our sponsors for their support in our vision of giving back to our community and making a difference.  

Additionally, I would like to thank the many other organizations/businesses who helped or donated to our race to make sure the event went on superbly:

• Visit Farragut - promotion & general support
• Kern's Bakery - for their monetary donations towards the charity partners
• Staples - donating printer services & 2000 water bottles for our finish line
• Trader Joe's - donations to finish line food
• Turner Homes - donating use of their truck for storing our shirts
• Little Debbie Bakery - donation to  finish line food
• Panera's Bread - donations to finish line food
• Sam's Club - donations to volunteer food
• Costco - donations to finish line food
• Target - donations to finish line food
• Fresh Market - donations to finish line food
• Kroger - donations to finish line food
• Krispy Kreme - donations to finish line food
• Food City - donations to finish line food
• Einstein Bagels - donations to volunteer food
• Blaze - donations to volunteer food
• Marco's - donations to volunteer food
• Bone Fish Grill - donations to volunteer food
• Lowe's - donations to photo booth
• Home Depot - donations to photo booth
• Visit Knoxville - use of their tables and coolers

 See you next year.  Mark your calendar for November 23, 2023 and start training!