Thanksgiving Events Encourage to 'Move Your Feet Before You Eat'

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published November 21, 2007 at 12:28 PM PST

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

San Diegans who want to build up an appetite for their Thanksgiving feast tomorrow have several options. There are three Turkey Trots around the county where people can take a few steps to earn their

San Diegans who want to build up an appetite for their Thanksgiving feast tomorrow have several options. There are three Turkey Trots around the county where people can take a few steps to earn their dinner. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The idea of getting a little exercise before confronting the turkey seems to be catching on in San Diego. The newest event is in North County where much of the route runs along the beach in Oceanside.

Organizer Lisa Scholman says the idea is to get little kids and grandparents -- people of all ages -- to join in and run or walk together. She says one motive is to make space for more food later.

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Scholman : If you walk, you burn 100 calories per mile so if you walk at a normal pace you're doing about 300 calories, so you can have one more drumstick or one more slice of pie.

The Oceanside event is called “Move your feet before you eat.” It benefits Oceanside Schools. Father Joe Carroll's 5K Turkey Trot starts in Balboa Park and a third event with the San Diego Jewish Academy runs through Carmel Valley.

All the events raise money for good causes and give walkers a chance to dress up before filling up at their Thanksgiving feast.

Alison St John, KPBS News.

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.