Course Records Broken in 2015 Alexandria Turkey Trot

PHOTOS: (1) Diane Charles of ALIVE! accepts a check for $5,000 from Pat Miller, Del Ray Business Association board member. (2) DRBA board member Gayle Reuter presents Mallory Lawhorne with $100 cash, for winning the oldest T-shirt contest. (3-5) Runners in the 2015 Alexandria Turkey Trot held Thanksgiving Day. 

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A record-setting 5,700 runners registered for the 40th annual Alexandria Turkey Trot held Thanksgiving Day under sunny skies on the streets of Del Ray and Rosemont in Alexandria.

Former Congressman Jim Moran served as the race’s grand marshall.

Course records were set for the 5-miler by the top male and female runners:

• Men: Habtamu Arga, 21, of Ethiopia, ran in 23.31 minutes
• Women: Susanna Sullivan, 25, of Falls Church, ran in 27.11 minutes, beating her record last year by two seconds.

Arlington resident Mike Wardian and his dog, Rosie, were, once again, winners of the doggie race, finishing with a time of 28:09. In 2014, the two set the course record with a time of 27:38. In the stroller race, Matias Palavecino, 34, of Alexandria, won with a time of 28:29.

Cash awards were given for the top three runners in each age group:

• The youngest winners were Daniel Colucci, 10, and Lucy Thomas, 9, both of Alexandria.
• The oldest male runner was David Dunn, age 100, from Alexandria
• The oldest female runner was Kaitlin Delenick, 95, of Alexandria.

The Alexandria Turkey Trot contributes to ALIVE! by collecting food and donations. ALIVE! is a local non-profit organization involving 40 religious congregations and the community working together to assist the most needy in Alexandria. A check for $5,000 was presented to ALIVE!

On behalf of the Del Ray Business Association, board member Gayle Reuter presented Mallory Lawhorne with $100 cash, for winning the oldest T-shirt contest; she won with a T-shirt from 1988, which she is holding in a photo above. (Reuter is holding up the runner-up T-shirt, from 1995.)

When Mallory was presented her prizes, including the $100 cash, she announced she would be donating her $100 to the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria for their Adopt it Forward program which waives adoption fees for pets helping to assure a quicker adoption.

Special thanks to the following businesses that donated additional prizes: Pork Barrel Barbecue, Sweet Fire Donna’s, Royce Flowers & Bistro Du Soleil.

PHOTOS courtesy of Del Ray Business Association