Palmer College of Chiropractic plays major part in Silicon Valley Turkey Trot

December 3, 2010 — For the second year in a row, Palmer College of Chiropractic played a major part in the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot.

Despite record-setting low temperatures in San Jose on Thanksgiving morning, the Turkey Trot still enjoyed a record-setting day for registrant numbers (14,500) and fund-raising (more than $416,000 for three Santa Clara County charities).

Produced by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG), whose membership includes more than 300 of the region’s most prominent companies including Palmer, the Turkey Trot debuted in 2005 with approximately 2,000 participants. It has since evolved into an event that brings together South Bay businesses and residents, and has established itself as a prominent Thanksgiving Day tradition.

The West Campus successfully defended its title as one of the five “Fittest Firms” in Silicon Valley by having the greatest number of Turkey Trot registrants in the small company division (50-100 employees).

The Palmer Spine did not formally participate in the costume contest this year, but the block-long stretch of 25 segments walking the 5K course through the streets of downtown San Jose once again provided “the backbone of the Turkey Trot.”

The West Campus Sports Council also returned as the event’s primary sports care team and provided pre- and post-race care for walkers and runners.

“Palmer’s co-sponsorship of the SVLG’s annual Turkey Trot has turned into a wonderful relationship with the powerful business community of Silicon Valley, and San Jose,” said West Campus President Dr. Bill Meeker, who accompanied the Palmer Spine from start to finish for the second year in a row. “It really is a great event. We always obtain top billing because of our eye-catching Spine, and our Sports Council tent is always filled with grateful athletes during and after the race.”

“We thoroughly enjoyed working with Palmer College again this year, and we appreciate their support of the Turkey Trot as one of our event co-sponsors,” said Carl Guardino, SVLG president. “The Palmer Spine definitely gets a lot of attention as it makes its way along the course and has become a Turkey Trot tradition. It’s great to have an organization like the Palmer Sports Council providing care for our walkers and runners before and after the event.”

Members of the Palmer Spine team included: Dr. Pauline Anderson (Clinic, ’90 West alumna), Rachael Awbry (Student Services), Beth Anne Baretich, Justin Brame, Brad Corlett, Nick Cruze, Lisa Davis (President’s Office), Amanda Dluzniewski, Danielle Fratellone, Johanna Gan, Baljinder Gill, Kim Huddleston, Kim Huynh, Jason Hooyman, Stephanie Johnson, Jason Kim, Kim Kerch, Mike Larson, Dang Le, Raheel Mann, Deb Marin, Carolyn O’Meara, Walter Su, Missy Tashiro, Birgitte Thomsen, Dr. Randy Waters (Clinic), and Quinn Will.

West Campus faculty member (and ’97 alumnus) Dr. Jonathan Slater ran in the 10K race, finishing second in his age group (40-44), and 21st overall (out of 4,170 registered runners in the 10K event), with a personal best time of 37:11.

West Campus 12Q intern JP Amonte ran in the 5K race, finishing second in his age group (30-34) and 31st overall (out of 7,131 registered runners in the 5K race), with a time of 19:37.

Source: Palmer College of Chiropractic, www.palmer.edu