PARKERSBURG — The 46th annual Turkey Trot, presented by the River City Runners and Walkers Club, is set to take place at 9 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning inside Parkersburg’s City Park.

The first male and female finisher to cross the finish line will receive a dressed turkey.

Following the conclusion of the race, all registered participants will be eligible for door prizes, which will be drawn randomly.

“The pavilion at City Park is no longer there due to a new recreational center being built,” said Sharon Marks. “The new location will be the Wood County Recreation building, which is across from the old pavilion site.”

Entry fee is $20 per person if received by Monday, Nov. 18 and the cost is $25 thereafter.

Also, there is a special group rate of $18 for four or more people, which also must be paid by Nov. 18.

“A lot of people use it,” Marks said of the group discount. “I’ll get some with 10 and 12. There are a bunch of them that sign up, a whole bunch of people.

“We’ll start right by the ballfield. The big thing is the pavilion is down so the registration and T-shirt pickup will be right across the road at the Wood County Recreation building.”

Marks is hoping Mother Nature stays as it has been before the race.

“We had right around 2,300,” Marks said of last year’s race. “If the weather stays like this we’ll have a bunch. The nicer the weather the more we get.”

Marks said the very first Turkey Trot was put together by Gary Ogilvie.

“This is our big money maker for the scholarships and the kid’s race,” she said. “That (2,300 last year) was pretty close. I don’t know if it was a record, but it was pretty good.”

The course, for both the runners and walkers, is a 3-mile trek that starts and finishes inside City Park.

After starting near Bennett Stump Field, Marks said “you go around the ball field and around the pond, out to 23rd Street, up 23rd to Park Avenue and down Park Avenue and then up Washington Avenue, back down Washington Avenue, back in the park and all the way around the park, around the pond and back to where you started to finish.”

Runners or walkers must be present to claim their door prizes.

Anyone who wants to register for the race can do so at runsignup.com/Race/WV/Parkersburg/ParkersburgTurkeyTrot or at facebook.com/parkersburgturkeytrot.

For more information, email Sharon Marks at runsharon@hotmail.com or call 304-481-1741.

Runners also may register or pick up their T-shirt at the Wood County Recreation building from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 27 and from 7-8:45 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning.

“We’ll have baby carriages, dogs, you name it, we’ll have it,” Marks added.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com