Meals on Wheels serves up a slice of turkey fun

Cayman continued in the century old Turkey Trot tradition when it recently held its 6th Annual Cayman Islands Meals on Wheels Turkey Trot with a total of 200 participants and volunteers. The event kicked off with packet pickup at the Westin Resort and Spa where each participant was given an goodie bag courtesy of CUC filled with an environmentally-friendly water bottle, snacks, event t-shirt and other items. With a cool breeze and glorious sunrise, the race began at the entrance of Grand Old House, circling through South Church Street and Walkers Road, ending at the historic Grand Old House with a socially-distanced coffee and continental breakfast spread on the beautiful deck at Grand Old House.

Jennifer West, General Manager with Meals on Wheels said: “This event raised $17,500 in much-needed funds, we still encourage donations to help meet our goal of $32,500 which is needed to provide one months’ worth of meals for seniors. Meals on Wheels currently serves daily hot meals to 320 seniors, housebound and disabled individuals in all five districts of Grand Cayman.”

Participants enjoyed the 5k walk, waddle, trot or run, there was even five well-behaved four-legged friends who jogged along. Although this year’s event was purely for fun, Race Caribbean generously provided the official finish time and race clock, all participants were awarded a finisher’s medal.

There was plenty of fun to be had this year with over 50 trophies, spot prizes and age category winner prizes, including a Cayman Islands pendant front Rocky’s, a men’s necklace from Magnum, gift certificates from Winners Circle, Kirk Office, Gino’s Pizza, jumbo inflatables from Pool Patrol and more. Top runners in each category received a trophy for their accomplishments as well as a prize.

Blazing the train as the overall winner of the 5k was Abraham Whittaker who completed the course in 20:07. The first female overall was Tiffany Cole with a run of 22:32.

Ms West said she was pleased with this year’s attendance and support.

“With all the current community challenges, we were not sure if the race would even happen,” she said. “We are thankful that we were able to secure all the permissions need under the current covid regulations, and the event was a testament of living life with Covid. We had to take extra safety measures we hope to see this event continue to grow each year as it has become an annual tradition and this year despite all the challenges we face, we have a lot to thankful for and loved seeing participants of all ages, from five months to 75 years old!!”

Meals on Wheels invites the community to mark the calendar for next year’s ‘Turkey’ slated for Saturday, 26 November, 2022.