Beat the Turkey!: Kyrene de las Lomas Turkey Trot gets young kids moving

Students at Kyrene de las Lomas Elementary School learned that Thanksgiving is not all about food Wednesday at the school’s 24th-annual Turkey Trot.

Kindergarten through fifth-grade students, parents, teachers and turkeys ran and walked the field for a certain amount of time, ranging from five minutes for younger students to 10 minutes for older students.

This holiday activity culminates the jogging and cross country units in Lomas’ physical education program.

"We have been working hard this month teaching the kids pacing and not racing," physical education specialist Leslie DeRuiter-Hudson said. "We did a lot of fun stuff because jogging in a circle is not always fun for the students."

DeRuiter-Hudson created map reading and motion picture activities to prepare the students for the Turkey Trot. Students learned how to read a map and locate areas of the playground while staying active.

"The kids are so motivated," DeRuiter-Hudson said. "For the little kids we read the Tortoise and the Hare and taught them to pace themselves by not running so fast that they are out of breath right away. But for them it’s usually more about just going in the right direction."

DeRuiter also caters her programs to students with disabilities by modifying the course to ensure all students are able to participate.

The Turkey Trot is a long-time tradition for Lomas and this year marks DeRuiter’s 12th year organizing the event.

"We had someone last year complete their 20th Turkey Trot with us," DeRuiter said. "He came when his kids went here and his last grandchild was in fifth-grade last year. This is our way of celebratingThanksgiving with family and friends in an active way."

Kyrene del Milenio Elementary School and Kyrene de la Estrella also held Turkey Trots to celebrate an active holiday Wednesday.