2025 marks our 10th Edition of the Save-A-Turkey Trot! As always, we were back at Clover Point on October 11th, but this year we also welcomed a second event in Calgary! And once again we were raising funds for the wonderful Home For Hooves Farm Sanctuary in Duncan. The turkeys there (and all the rescues) can always use sponsorship, click here to learn how (scroll down to the Turkey Mafia!🦃)

Numbers-wise, we had 55 total sign-ups, with 26 from Victoria, 20 from Calgary, and 9 virtual/remote participants (they couldn’t make either event, but still want to support Home For Hooves, so there’s an option for people to participate remotely!) There were more in each location, some signed up as a family, etc, so a couple decent sized crowds!

I’m pleased to share that we beat our previous record of nearly $1200 (in 2023), and raised just over $1400 this year!! A huge thank you to all our trotters!!

For our virtual participants, most were in the Victoria area, with a few up-island, and one from Windsor, Ontario! Two of them won gift cards to Vegan Supply, who generously supported our remote participants!

A huge thank you to Heather Steel and her crew of volunteers for making the event happen there! ❤

Keep on reading below for our regional reports, and also check out our co-sponsor TheVictoriaVegan.ca – Victoria’s long-time online source of news and local resources, including a spiffy Vegan Venue Guide for the island! Also on the site you can find lots of blog posts, including the very first Trot report from 2010! Also check out the social media channels for the site to get updates that way as well.

Victoria

This was the 10th edition in Victoria, which was started in 2010, and somehow all have avoided rain, although we got some very light sprinkles at the end for the draw prizes! It was a cool and overcast day otherwise.

For the uninitiated, it’s a fun 5km walk/run along the scenic pathways that wind their way to Ogden Point, and welcomed over 30 individuals, including 11 who signed up for the run.

As usual, we had some draw prizes to give out at the end, and a huge thank you to Odd Burger Victoria, Green Cuisine, Virtuous Pie and Goldstream Bicycles, thanks to them everyone also left with a goodie! A special thanks to Goldstream Bicycles for also providing podium prizes for our runners!

Speaking of which, as always we’d like to commemorate their times, nice efforts! Two notable groups attended as well, with representatives from the Oak Bay High Track and Field Club (the fastest runners of the event!), and the UVic Animal Justice Club!

• Amanda Cummings 32:36
• Brandon Gusain 29:45
• Calvin Newton 30:42
• Jim Evans 28:10
• Katie Lindsay 27:45
• Kyoka Kurihara 27:45
• Malina Chong-Simard 23:36
• Nat Ferreira 37:45
• Sera Campbell 23:29
• Stella Ormandy 36:33
• Stephanie 38:19

Inspiring runs everyone!! Apologies for the washed-out chalk markers on the course, some runners went a bit off course this year due to some overnight precipitation. 😬

Below is a quick slideshow, also at the bottom of the page there’s a sign-up option if you’d like to get future Trot-related updates. Next year is our 11th anniversary, and hoping to make it the biggest and best one yet!

Calgary

October 11th turned out to be a great day for a trot … warm, sunny and beautiful fall colours (far superior to the following snowy, cold day!). We had 21 registrants (12 of whom were runners) for the Calgary Trot, held near St. Patrick’s Island. Just the sweetest group of trotters you could hope for! Everyone stayed and cheered on each of the runners as they crossed the finish line. We had people stopping to chat and find out what we were doing and why we were saving turkeys!

Our first place runner, Carol Starratt, completed the course in a speedy 24:24!! In second and third place were Tom Flynn (25:57) and Greg Wohlgeschaffen (27:00).

We had amazing prizes donated by local artist Christine Bolcsfoldy (Fishful Thinking Art), local writer Paulo da Costa (Trust the Bluer Skies), Canela Vegan Bakery, Vegan Street restaurant, and Odd Burger Calgary. Everyone came out a winner!

A HUGE thank you to our volunteers: Sarah, Christine, Carol, Kim and Amanda, who helped make it such a smooth and fun event!

We thank everyone who was part of making this such a fun event! See you all for Thanksgiving 2026!

Below is a quick slideshow, also at the bottom of the page, find even more photos here, and there’s a sign-up option if you’d like to get future Trot-related updates.