Editor’s note: Find more tips for savoring the season in the full feature story.
Waking up every cold Thanksgiving morning to run Evansville Goodwill Industries’ Turkey Day 5K is a father-daughter event for Jim and Amy Seibert. Though they register as individuals, the two Mater Dei High School graduates have participated in the 5K together for the past seven years.
“Once you start going, it’s not too bad,” says 25-year runner Jim about the cold. “Once we started doing it, we didn’t want to stop. We don’t want to break our streak.”
They first ran the 5K together for two years and have walked subsequent races. The father-daughter duo uses the race as a bonding moment and to prepare for a large family meal.
Amy, who has been running for seven years, describes the holiday season with family as festive but “hectic.” She enjoys “getting up early before the craziness of Thanksgiving and hanging out with my dad.”
Thousands have joined the starting line over the past 35 years — some run dressed as turkeys or pilgrims — including Amy’s sister, Leigh, if she’s in town. This year, Cash Brown, Amy’s son, will be there too, extending the family’s participation to three generations.
“We meet a lot of people and see a lot of people we know,” Jim says. “There are a lot of people in the running community; we enjoy going out and seeing everyone.”
Family and fraternity are not the only reasons the Seiberts run the 5K. Supporting a good cause like Evansville Goodwill Industries also motivates them to the starting line every year. The race fundraises for The Excel Center Southeast program, which provides a free high school education to adults and held its first classes at its new facility in August.
Though knee issues have prevented Jim from running the race, he does not expect to stop participating anytime soon.
“I will do it ‘til I can’t anymore,” he says
