Greensburg Thanksgiving Turkey Trot's popularity hits full stride

From a gathering of a few hundred runners 24 years ago who wanted to burn calories with a run around Greensburg before filling up on turkey, stuffing and sides, the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot has grown to attract more than 2,500 runners, walkers and pets.

“I think it has become a tradition for many families,” said Dr. Barry Bupp, a Greensburg pediatric dentist who co-founded the annual race with running buddy Mark Sorice.

“It has become a way for everyone to catch up with each other,” said Sorice, a Greensburg lawyer. “Even if the weather isn't good, people are still happy to see each other. Everybody is in a unique spirit.”

Bupp and Sorice, both avid runners, said they were surprised the 3.1-mile race has grown as large as it has.

Race coordinator Carole Palcic said the event has close to 2,000 registered for the 25th anniversary, and officials expect to see hundreds more runners and walkers line up outside the Westmoreland County Courthouse on Thursday for the 9 a.m. race start.

“We never dreamed it would get this big,” Bupp said.

“We're shocked,” Sorice said. “It's such a community event.”

Sorice said he had talked with his running companions about organizing a race after hearing a college friend discuss a similar Thanksgiving race in Albany, N.Y.

Greensburg had races on other holidays, so they opted for Thanksgiving — before the heavy eating begins.

“We got rolling on it,” Bupp said.

Before the Internet age, they spread word through fliers passed out where local runners congregated, Bupp said.

Sorice credits former Greensburg fire Chief Ed Hutchinson with helping to save the race after its initial sponsor, the American Cancer Society, bowed out and was replaced by Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Laurel Region.

”Chief Hutchinson came to the rescue. He was a big reason we were able to continue,” Sorice said.

This year's Turkey Trot will be bittersweet for Bupp, whose wife, Gail, died in March after a five-year battle with multiple myeloma. Gail Bupp had been a Hempfield Area elementary art teacher who designed the T-shirts for every race through 2015.

This year's design, done by Steve Kozinko of Off the Wall Graphics in Greensburg, used Gail's characters and inserted two characters representing the Bupps' grandchildren, Hugo and Matilda, as well as the letter “G,” in her memory.

Barry Bupp recalled that in the early years of the race, their living room would be filled with T-shirts and race paraphernalia.

“That was ground zero for the inception of the race,” Palcic said.

As has been Bupp's tradition, he will run the race bare-chested, regardless of how cold it is that morning. He is determined to continue the tradition that includes running without a shirt in 18-degree weather, the race's coldest day. His son, Caleb, and daughter-in-law, Robin, will join him in the race.

Because of his organizing duties, Sorice said he has not been able to run it.

For 20-year coordinator Palcic, the Turkey Trot has special meaning. She left the preparations the night before the race 17 years ago because she went into labor with her son, Sean.

“That's the only thing my kids know on Thanksgiving,” Palcic said She noted that when her 20-year-old daughter, Megan, was younger, she rode with Hutchinson in the pace car.

Not only has the race helped people burn calories before dinner, but it also has raised more than $500,000 through registration fees and sponsorships to benefit several community organizations, Palcic said. Proceeds from this year's race will go to Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Greensburg Fire Department, American Red Cross in Greensburg and Canines for Combat Veterans Program, which is based in Princeton, Mass.

Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-5252 or jnapsha@tribweb.com.