During the Thanksgiving holiday, lots of emphasis is placed on family gatherings, maybe even having your own traditions. For one Jefferson resident, he has incorporated exercising for a good cause as part of his own Thanksgiving tradition.

Jeff Lamoureux has been running in the Gobble Gobble 5K in Paton since its inception in 2011 and hasn’t missed a Thanksgiving morning yet. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio the process he goes through before enjoying his family’s Thanksgiving Day meal.

“That’s my ritual. Every Thanksgiving, I get up and put the turkey in the oven, drive up to Paton, run a 5K, then come back and celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. So it’s just a great event and I’ve enjoyed it. You know, a lot of people have put some time into it, it’s just a fun event.”

Lamoureux explains that not only are you feeling better about yourself by participating in the fun run/walk, you are also helping out those less fortunate, with the registration fee being non-perishable food items that are then donated to the food pantry in Jefferson, the Greene County Action Resource Center.

“We’re all being thankful for how fortunate we are, you know, and the abundance that we have. And like, ‘Okay, this is a way I can kind of give back too.’ So, bring those items for the food pantry to help them out. They’ll take cash donations (at the race) as well, if you don’t want to bring the food, you can just give cash, which I understand at the food pantry, they like that.”

Lamoureux recalls that over the past 14 years, his family has joined him, since he is also the Greene County High School Cross Country coach, sometimes high school runners have done the race; and his long-time friend and former and retired Jefferson City Administrator Mike Palmer is also one of the charter members that has been to all 14 events.

Lamoureux adds that pumpkin pies are awarded to the fastest overall male and female, along with the male and female that comes closest to their predicted finishing time. Organizers invite anyone to participate in the 15th anniversary of the Paton Gobble Gobble 5K to meet tomorrow morning around 8am at the Loren Shriver Community Center in Paton, with the race to begin at 8:30am.