“I have to say, I hope there’s no foul play,” he said jokingly.

Thousands braved the cold, running a loop through the Frederick park and neighborhoods. The boldest souls wore T-shirts and shorts. Many runners wore costumes for the race, with the most popular ensemble naturally being turkeys.

Santa also came a little early this year and danced while runners strode past him.

Mark Labozzetta, 39, and his daughter Hadlee, 7, both of Frederick, wanted to do something a little different. They were running the 1K event, and were dressed up like Luisa and Isabella from the Disney cartoon Encanto.

Mark had two of Luisa’s donkeys tucked under each of his arms, while Hadlee wore a purple flower crown.

It was their first time running in the Turkey Trot, they said, and their goal was to simply have fun.

“She’s very athletic. I’m very out of shape,” Labozzetta said.

The 1K event had 494 people registered, said Anna Barthelme, a marketing specialist at Sheppard Pratt. For the 5K, there were 3,307 registered runners.

All of the proceeds from the race will go to Sheppard Pratt’s fund for care and services which supports programs and helps clients and patients, Tamara Chumley, a spokeswoman for Sheppard Pratt, said.

Will Merritt, 23, of Smithsburg, placed first in the men’s division of the 5K. He usually runs in Hagerstown, he said, but he wanted to support a good cause here in Frederick.

“I saw the whole donation thing to mental health and that really appealed to me, so I came across a mountain,” he said.

He ran the 5K in 15:02.

Claire Heasman, 48, of Frederick, won the women’s division with a time of 18:07, a personal record for her.

“Not bad for a mum of two is it?” she said after the race.

As a member of the Frederick Steeplechasers Running Club, Heasman has ran in the Turkey Trot for about seven years, and placed, but this was the first time she placed first, she said.

Christina Hazel, 36, got her cousins Ronald Govans, 39, and Keith James, 36, to run the 5K with her. All of them are from Frederick.

Hazel said she had just moved back from Dallas, Texas, where she also ran races. So, she wanted to do one in Frederick with her cousins, she said.

James said he had also promised Govans that he would run a race with him, and the turkey trot was the one, he said.

Hazel said she planned to nap after the race. James, who’s hosting the family Thanksgiving dinner this year, would be cooking. Govans said he would be eating food all day and watching football.

Rebekah Ley, 28, and her husband, Ryan Ley, 29, were running their first Turkey Trot since high school, they said.

The Frederick couple said that while they were running the Turkey Trot to stay healthy, it was also to help prepare them for the day’s festivities.

“To work up an appetite for this food we’re about to eat,” Ryan said. “That’s pretty much the whole reason.”

Todd Archibald, 61, of Clarksburg, came to the Turkey Trot with his family, all of whom are runners. They run the Turkey Trot every year. They used to have a bigger group, his son Connor Archibald, 28, said, but numbers have dwindled.

“It used to be a tradition where if you didn’t do a 5 or 10K in the morning, you couldn’t have Thanksgiving dinner,” Todd said joking.

The early morning race is a way for the family to come together, they said. After the race, they would be going out to have breakfast together before going their separate ways.

“We’re thankful we can all be together,” Todd said.