Feel Like A Run Before The Feast Tomorrow? Here Are Three Local Options!

7 a.m. – BayCare Wobble Turkey Trot.

At Tampa Premium Outlets. Run. Walk. Wobble! The BayCare Wobble Turkey Trot (photo), presented by BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel is coming back for another race at Tampa Premium Outlets. Events include 5K, 1K and virtual 5K runs. Proceeds to benefit the New Tampa Family YMCA. 

The cost for the 5K is now $45. For the 1 “Tur(K)” Fun Run, the cost is now $27.50. For more information, visit runsignup.com/Race/FL/Lutz/BayCareWobbleTurkeyTrot5k. 

8 a.m. – Wiregrass Turkey Trot.

At The Shops at Wiregrass. Join your neighbors at the 12th annual Wiregrass Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day, hosted by the Rotary Club of New Tampa and AdventHealth. This year’s events include the annual 5K Run/Walk, 1-Mile Fun Run and Kid’s Turkey Dash for all under 12 years old, as well as selfie stations, a costume contest, awards, music and fun for the entire community. 

The cost for the 5K run is $45 between Nov. 20-26 or $50 Nov. 27-28. For the 1-mile Fun Run, the cost is $25 anytime. There’s also a Kids Turkey Dash for ages 12 & under, which costs $20. 

For more info, visit TheShopsatWiregrass.com/events. 

8:30 a.m. – TPE Trot for Tessa

This year Tampa Palms Elementary School is hosting a 5K Walk/Run around the Tampa Palms Boulevard loop. They are hoping to enjoy this community event as a school family in honor of a former TPE Eagle, Tessa Wiseman, who loved to learn. loved to read, and who loved running.

Even through two cancer diagnoses Tessa continued to run. It was therapeutic for her, and she shared her passion for running with many people she encountered. In addition to being an avid runner, Tessa was a guide for visually impaired runners during races. Tessa inspired so many people through her journey and reminded her family, friends, and strangers who became fast friends, that focusing on the future, celebrating life with every breath and every mile, and aspiring to love and help others is the only way to live, no matter what difficulties may arise along the way and what insurmountable obstacles we may face. These are values they hope to inspire and cultivate within all of their TPE students. At the end of the race they will plant a tree on the TPE campus in memory of Tessa to create a living legacy for years to come.

For more info, visit app.givebacks.gives/trotfortessa/Campaign/Details

First-Ever RADDSports Charity 5K Runs To Fund-Raising Success! 

Fresh off last year’s successful golf fund raiser at Lexington Oaks Golf Club, the RADDSports Charity 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization is now 2-for-2.

The charity, which is the nonprofit arm of RADDSports, the private partner of Pasco County responsible for the sports programs at the county-owned Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus, hosted more than 100 runners and their families at its first-ever Charity 5K, 1K, Kids Run and Family Fun Festival.

The run and festival were held at the Sports Campus on June 18. RADDSports president and Charity Board chair Richard Blalock says that he is proud that the event raised enough proceeds to provide scholarships for more kids who can’t afford RADDSports’ programs.

“This is still all about changing the culture and helping young athletes, regardless of their ability to pay, participate in our programs,” Blalock said. “Plus, it was a fun day for everyone who came out to participate.”

In addition to the various runs, RADDSports’ sponsors, vendors and business partners had booths at the event. Final fund-raising totals for the RADDSports Charity 5K & Festival had not yet been tabulated at our press time.

Wiregrass Wobble Turkey Trot Ready For 7th Year

The Wiregrass Wobble Turkey Trot continues to grow, from roughly 1,400 runners in its inaugural year of 2013 to a total of 2,263 last year.

Will that number be topped again in 2019?

This year’s 5K (3.1 mile) race is scheduled for Thanksgiving morning — Thursday, November 28, 7:30 a.m., with a 1-mile family walk starting at 8:40 a.m.  

Since the Wobble began, more than 14,000 people have come out to take on the 5K course that winds around the mall and down Paseo Dr. to kick off Thanksgiving morning.

In that time, more an $170,000 has been raised and distributed to area charities by sponsors The Rotary Club of New Tampa, AdventHealth Wesley Chapel Foundation and FitNiche charities.

AdventHealth Wesley Chapel Foundation put its Wiregrass Wobble Turkey Trot 2018 proceeds to work by providing the needed medical/hygiene supplies for Pioneer Medical Group Foundation’s second annual Health Fair. The fair will be at Perry Harvey Park in downtown Tampa and will serve the homeless and underserved.

 There is still time to register for the race at WiregrassWobbleTurkeyTrot.com, which also offers registration for team competitions for families, corporation and schools.

The registration fee is $35 in advance, or $40 on race day.

All runners will receive a tech shirt, with awards for the top three finishers in each 5K age group.

There will be finisher medals for the 1-Mile Fun Run, and post-race festivities and awards from 8:15 a.m.-10 a.m.

5K Road Race & Music Fest Will Benefit Hunter’s Green Elementary PTA

The Hunter’s Green Elementary PTA is hosting a professionally chipped, photographed and timed 5K road race on Feb. 9, which is the school’s primary fund raiser for the year.

On  Saturday, February 9, the Hunter’s Green Elementary (HGE) Parent Teacher Association (PTA) will host a 5K run and 1-mile fun run starting at the school and winding through the Hunter’s Green neighborhood.

“It’s two weeks before Gasparilla, so we’re inviting everyone to participate as a great training run to get your groove for Gasparilla,” says  Emily Milam, HGE’s PTA president, who is one of the event organizers.

Having a chip-timed 5K race in New Tampa, which is open to everyone, is rare, says Milam.

Typically, she explains, these types of races can’t be held in our area because the City of Tampa won’t issue permits to close roads in New Tampa. The roads for the Hunter’s Green race are privately owned by the Hunter’s Green Community Association, which is partnering with the school to bring the race to its residents and the surrounding community.

The race will be professionally chipped, photographed and timed by FitNiche Events. Swag bags and t-shirts will be given to those who register, and medals and prizes will be awarded to winners.

The $35 race entry fee will go to support the school and also includes admission to the second part of the event — a music festival that will be held at Hunter’s Green’s Capt. Nathaniel Hunter Community Park for all residents and race participants from 4 p.m.-8 p.m.

The family-friendly music festival will feature three local bands — Celebrity Romance, Panic Fire featuring Gary Schutt and Chello Hollyday Band. There will be food trucks and bounce houses. While the music fest is being organized by the Community Association for residents of Hunter’s Green, everyone who runs in the 5K race that morning will be invited to come back for the music fest in the afternoon.

“It’s definitely a multi-faceted focus,” says Jenny Giraldo, the social director for the Hunter’s Green Community Association. “The music fest is a great time for the community to come together, take full advantage of our amenities and the wonderful park we’re fortunate to have, while enjoying the live entertainment.”

The Hunter’s Green 5K run and Music Fest will serve as the school’s primary fund raiser for the year. For the past two years, the PTA has hosted an extremely successful gala that raised about $30,000 each year. In addition, the school has held a “fit fest” that included a fun run the past two years.

This year, the PTA is replacing the gala with the expanded 5K run, hoping they can grow it to be as successful an event as the gala has been.

“The gala was great and does really well for us, but it’s an overwhelming amount of work,” says Milam. “We also wanted to move to something that’s really family friendly. Kids weren’t allowed at the gala.  This is a more of a family-targeted event, so your whole family can prepare for it together and run together, then participate in the music fest together.”

She says reaching out to the Hunter’s Green community and the New Tampa area is an important part of the plans, as well.

“It’s a new era in our school,” Milam says. “We’re trying to reach beyond the walls of our school to impact a lot of the neighborhoods around us and support the school where funding (is lacking).”

She says the PTA spends the majority of its funding to go to technology in the school, where the goal is to have a 1:1 ratio of every child having access to a laptop computer at his or her desk.

The PTA also funds supplemental support for music and art, which Milam says are areas that consistently get cut in the School District’s budget, plus school beautification and teacher support.

For more information or to register for the race, which includes admission for your family to the MusicFest, visit HuntersGreenPTA.com/5k. Registrations will be accepted up until the morning of the race.

Volunteer Of The Year Craig DiCecco Makes Impact at New Tampa YMCA

Craig DiCecco volunteer
Tampa Palms resident Craig DiCecco is the New Tampa Family YMCA’s Volunteer of the Year.

Thanks to the efforts of volunteers like Tampa Palms resident Craig DiCecco, the New Tampa Family YMCA continues to help people in need in and around our community.

DiCecco was named the facility’s “Volunteer of the Year” at the annual Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA’s annual Community Impact Awards dinner on Feb. 25.

DiCecco, whose three kids have all participated in sports at the New Tampa YMCA over the past 10 years or so, is a real estate appraiser who is also a member of the New Tampa Rotary Club. He first became involved with the YMCA through the Wiregrass Wobble Turkey Trot, which is an event put on jointly each year by both organizations.

“Craig has really stepped up in many ways, especially with the Turkey Trot, ” says Tony Kimbrough, New Tampa Family YMCA executive director. “The event helps us raise funds to provide programs that impact our members and the community.”

Some of these programs include drowning prevention, teen leadership, the YMCA’s partnership with LIVESTRONG, adaptive programs for people with special needs, and providing financial assistance to kids who need it to attend summer camp.

“There are a lot of families in need,” says Kimbrough, “and we serve them. Summer camp can really help kids close the achievement gap. We see that there’s a lot less of a ‘summer learning loss’ for kids who come to our summer camps, versus those who don’t get that opportunity.”

Honored To Be Recognized

DiCecco says he is honored to have received the award. “The Y is a great organization with a lot of fantastic volunteers,” he says. “It’s tough for me to understand why I deserve this more than others whose faces I see at the Y every day.”

But, Kimbrough says DiCecco absolutely deserves to be recognized for his efforts.

“Craig also serves as vice chair of the New Tampa Family YMCA advisory board, and he’s been instrumental in helping us to raise both money and awareness,” says Kimbrough. “He’s always the first to raise his hand to volunteer when something needs to be done.”

For more information on the New Tampa Family YMCA, call 866-9622 or visit TampaYMCA.org/locations/new-tampa/.