Hagerstown Turkey Trot Tradition Continues
Start line of the 2015 Hagerstown Turkey Trot 5K – 11/26/15 – photo by author
The Hagerstown Turkey Trot has become the #1 Thanksgiving morning tradition in Washington County, Maryland.
Now in its 16th year, the five kilometer footrace drew a field in excess of 1,400 competitors and participants (many with their dogs), along with a large contingent of children who ran in the shorter “Mashed Potatoes” race. It is a complete family event.
<< Click at the bottom to see event pictures on the next page. >>
Held on the campus of Hagerstown Community College, the race is a benefit event for the school’s scholarship fund.
Leading the field on the two-lap course around the college campus was a contingent of local runners, many of them teammates in high school, and all of them former or current collegiate athletes.
Setting the pace through the first mile was Williamsport High School grad and current Geneva runner Clayton Smith, taking them out in 4:50.
The pace proved to be a bit quick as runners dropped off one by one, leaving former WHS runners Naseem Haje and Evan Hardy for the final kick. It was Lehigh University senior Evan Hardy who brought it home for the win in 15:21, ten seconds ahead of 2014 Adams State graduate Naseem Haje.
Another WHS grad was third, as Scott Long of Bridgewater College finished in 15:39, with Stephen Starliper of Hancock HS and Concord University taking fourth (15:45) and Smith claimed fifth (15:56).
A new record was set for the women’s competition by Eastern Kentucky University freshman Meggan Grams, a Hagerstown resident and graduate of Boonsboro High School. Grams broke the previous best of Jaime Wright (Catoctin HS / Clarion University) from 2008 by nine seconds, winning in 17:45.
Placing second was Williamsport’s Rachel Lilley in 18:40. Rachel ran previously at Hagerstown Community College and currently competes at Shippensburg University. Her brother Mike Lilley was a three-time winner of the event, including the past two years. Third went to York College soccer and track athlete Emily Cronise of Boonsboro in 19:41.
Reflecting on being surrounded by former teammates, Hardy said, “It was fun today, running with Naseem and Clay the whole time; and with about a half mile to go I put on a surge.” Hardy recently placed 34th in the NCAA Division I Mid-Atlantic Regional as the top runner for Lehigh University.
Haje is back to running after some months off due to a stress fracture. He was 23rd in the 2013 Division II National Championships, and placed fifth for the national champion Adams State. He currently is a grad student at Southern New Hampshire University where he is also a volunteer coach. Haje was the 2010 winner of the Turkey Trot in 15:02. <<See the third page for meet history results>>
A part of Bridgewater College’s conference runner-up team, Junior Scott Long was impressed with the early pace of the Turkey Trot. He said, “Clay Smith took it out pretty hard, and Evan and Naseem followed him and I hung on for as long as I could.”
Stephen Starliper is a senior for the Mountain East Conference champions as one of the top two runners on the team. He was second overall in the conference meet, having also run previously at HCC.
Smith, who is a sophomore at Geneva College, broke through the 26:00 minute barrier this fall as the #2 runner on the team. Additionally he is a Division III Academic All-American.
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Meggan Grams is a Maryland State 2A cross country champion from 2013, and she holds every distance track record in Washington County. Winning and setting a record was a bonus on this day, but her biggest joy was beating her older brother Cody, who was a top Williamsport and HCC runner in the past. She said …
“I wanted to beat my brother, and that’s it!”
Coming back from a summer off training due to an injury, Grams has been rounding back into top form over the fall. By the end of the EKU season, she was on the varsity squad in what is a perennially top collegiate distance program.
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