CLEVELAND — Approximately 10,000 people — that’s how many typically run or walk the Cleveland Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.

“The Thanksgiving Day races are the largest in the country. There's over 1,000 races that take place, and according to running about, 1.2 million runners participate in a Turkey Trot, you know, so that's huge,” said Joe Neroni, who works for Hermes Cleveland, a premier race management company that hosts more than 150 races per year.

The Thanksgiving Turkey Trot is its biggest event of all.

“This is our 39th year, so we've been around a long time,” said Neroni. “It started out very small and it's just grown over the years, but it really has become a family tradition and a Thanksgiving morning tradition.”

Like many others nationwide, Hermes is hosting its trot virtually this year to keep a tradition alive that many families know and love — like the Kenner family. They live in northeast Ohio and this will be their 10th year running the Cleveland Turkey Trot.

“It has just kind of become a fun tradition. We don the Turkey Trot shirts every year, the magic shirts. And, it's either with many layers, as you can see, probably from the previous years' pictures, we've encountered every bit of weather from, warm to snow, to sleet, to rain, to fog, to wind,” said Dhinali Kenner, mom of the Kenner family.

The Kenner family has weathered all types of weather, and now weathering a pandemic, which they aren’t letting get in the way of their Thanksgiving morning fun.

“Of course we're going to do it. I'll be at, it'll be in a different form, but that is just like everything else this year, schoolwork, you know, life. And it's the 10th year. Who quits on the decade mark, nobody, you shouldn't,” said Kenner.

A virtual race gives multiple options to its participants.

“A virtual run is any way a participant wants to stay active,” Neroni said. “They can run on a treadmill. They can walk in the park. They can run in their neighborhood. Most are going to be doing it as a small family. So they're staying responsible and they can do it and then send us their results and then we'll post them on our website.”

Once runners sign up, they’ll choose a time to pick up their packets which include a race medal, race bib, and t-shirt.

“During our packet pickup, locations, dates, and times, we're asking everybody if they want to help us help others. So we're taking canned goods and certain item donations that will be delivered to St. Augustine's Church in Tremont or the Westside Catholic Center in Cleveland as well. So there's a charitable aspect to it as well,” said Neroni.

Mutliple people are working on keeping the tradition alive, while following social distancing guidelines.

“No matter what kind of shape you're in, it's non-negotiable we just, we sign up for it. We're doing it,” said Kenner.

To register for the Cleveland Turkey Trot, go to turkeytrotcleveland.com.