Record turnout for Turkey Day races in Canton and Avon

Avon’s Carver Morgan (713) leads Xavier High runner Andrew Hawk as he approaches Thompson Brook Road and the finish line at the Falcon 5K Turkey Trot.

AVON, Nov. 27, 2025 – It wasn’t that long ago that if one wanted to run a road race on Thanksgiving, you trekked to Manchester for the famous Manchester Day Road Race, which dates back to 1927.

And it isn’t just a quick drive to Manchester. It involved parking, taking the shuttle bus, running the famous 4.737-mile course with 12,000 of your closest running friends and getting back to your vehicle and back to your loved ones, who have delayed the holiday dinner for your run.

On Thanksgiving morning, more than 1, 400 residents got in their morning run here in their hometown at the seventh annual Falcon 5K Turkey Trot in Avon and the 14th annual O’Briley 5k Turkey Trot in Canton.

In Avon, the Falcon 5K Turkey Trot is in eighth year and its fourth year as the Turkey Trot with nearly 700 runners of all ages competing in the 3.1 mile race that begins and starts at Thompson Brook School.

In Collinsville, the O’Briley Turkey Trot, a 3.1 mile run along the Farmington River Trail in Burlington that begins and ends in Collinsville, also had more than 700 runners crowded onto the trail for a race.

It was a record turnout for both events.

Spencer Lambrecht and his wife, Arielle, moved to Avon in the last year. They were there with their young 11-month-old son, Cooper, dressed up as a little turkey in his stroller. “It’s our first race,” Spencer said. “We’re glad to be part of the community.”

An All-State runner at Avon High in outdoor and indoor track, Carver Morgan came home on Thanksgiving break from American University in Washington, D.C., and won the Falcon Turkey Trot for the first time with a three second win in 16:30.22 over current Xavier senior runner Andrew Hawk, who helped Xavier win the State Open title earlier this month.

Current Avon High cross country runners Brahm Bulow, who earned All-State honors this fall, Chris Campbell and Andrew Kessler finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

The women’s race was won by Avon Middle School eighth grader Madison McGarry with a winning time of 18:31, beating defending race champion Mareen Ek by 20 seconds.

Morgan was a late entrant in the race. He had forgotten about the event but he was glad to get in some work as he trains for the indoor track and field season.

He is currently a senior at American, where he has run cross country for four years for the Eagles. He won the Patriot League championship in the 800 meters last winter during indoor track and won it again in the spring in the outdoor track season.

Avon Middle School runner Madison McGarry won the Falcon 5K Turkey Trot Thursday.

McGarry, 14, has run in Thanksgiving Day races before but she is beginning to focus more on competing than in previous years. “It was a good race,” she said. “I went out way faster than I thought I would.”

She finished eighth at the Middle School national championship race (4,000 meters) in Kentucky with a personal best time of 14:53 earlier this month, second in the U.S. Track and Field Junior Olympics race in Litchfield (4,000 meters) with a time of 15:49 and won the Middle School girls race (3,000 meters) at Wickham Park in October

“We have a pretty vibrant local running community and this is our major fundraiser for our (Avon High) cross country program,” race official Courtney Fusco said. “We get a lot of our current runners, alumni and their families to come out and run.”

Fusco said some of the current Avon High runners were excited to compete against former Falcon runners, such as Morgan.

Runners take off at the start of Thursday’s Falcon 5K Turkey Trot in Avon.

In Canton, there were less than a hundred runners in the early years in Collinsville and it was a bit informal.

But the race has evolved and so has interest in it. Because timing IDs are in race numbers, we saw that it took some runners nearly four minutes to cross the starting line and begin their race.

There were 667 official finishers at the O’Briley Turkey Trot. Unionville’s Charlie Driscoll won the race for the second time in the last three years. Driscoll, who also won in 2023, beat Hunter Wagne of Oak Creek, Wisconsin by five seconds with a winning time of 17:13.3 for 3.1 miles along the bike trail.

The woman’s race was won by Canton High graduate Julia Caputo, who set a new course record of 17:44, erasing the old mark of 19:22 set by Farmington’s Anna Weygang in 2022.

Caputo, who previously won the race in 2019, finished third overall in the race – the highest finish for a woman in the race’s history. Caputo beat West Hartford’s Katie Lorraine-Mace, who was second with a time of 20:07.

Friends catch up and compare their experiences at the Falcon 5K Turkey Trot.

Avon Turkey Trot
At Avon
Overall results (top 10): Carver Morgan, Avon, 16:30.22 for 3.1 miles, 2. Andrew Hawk, East Hampton (Xavier), 16:33, 3. Brahm Bulow, Avon, 16:51, 4. Chris Campbell, Avon, 16:58, 5. Andrew Kessler, Avon 17:14, 6. Michael Arciero, New York City, 17:22, 7. Peter Schuchardt, Avon, 17:36, 8. Greg Schroeder, Westbrook, ME 17:38, 9. Teddy Hoffman, Avon 17:42; 10. Patrick Busbey, Granby, 17:45
Women (top 10): Madison McGarry, Avon (15th overall), 18:31 for 3.1 miles, 2. Mareen Ek, Avon (20) 18:51, 3. Rachel O’Sullivan, San Francisco (22) 19:04, 4. Sarah Frey (26) 19:14, 5. Sophia Rebencivc (28) 19:20, 6. Beth Larson (35) 19:58, 7. Christine Oberhausen, Newark DE (42) 20:13.05; 8. Bella McLaughlin (43) 20:13.54, 9. Mary Daly (45) 20:17; 10. Katelyn Westerburg, Avon (48) 20:21
2025 Avon Turkey Trot complete results

14th annual O’Briley 5K Turkey Trot
At Canton
Overall results (top 10) Charles Driscoll, Unionville, 17:13.3 for 3.1 miles in Collinsville on the bike trail, 2. Hunter Wagne, Oak Creek WI, 17:18, 3. Nicholas Weretelnik, New Hartford, 18:27, 4. Nathan Settevendemi, Unionville, 18:39, 5. Shane Lally, Brookfield, 19:02, 6. Luke Payne, Owensboro KY, 19:08, 7. Connor Ahern, Simsbury, 19:14, 8. Aidan O’Donnell, Somerville MA, 19:30, 9. Meyer Gildren, Hoboken, NJ, 19:35, 10. Paul Dunahoo, Canton, 19:43
Top 10 women: Julia Caputo (third overall), Canton,17:44, new course record. Old mark: Anna Weygang, Farmington, 19:22 in 2022; 2. Katie Lorraine-Mace (14), West Hartford, 20:07, 3. Lindsay Willig (21), Canton, 20:51, 4. Anjuli Szydlo (26), Jamaica Plain, MA, 21:09, 5. Grace Dempsey (35), Barkhamsted, 21:33, 6. Maria Varela (37), West Hartford, 21:42, 7. Kylie Ritchie (38), West Simsbury, 21:34, 8. Julia Settevendemie (39), Unionville, 21:30, 9. Ella Schatz (43), Burlington, 22:02, 10. Chelsea Pelletier (46), Burlington, 22:30
Of note: Caputo won the women’s race for the second time with a course record time of 17:44. She last won it in 2019. Her third place finish is the highest for a woman in race history, beating the record set by Storrie Kulynych-Irvin who finished fourth in 2017.
2025 O’Briley 5K Turkey Trot complete results