The Wallkill East Rotary Club held its seventh annual Turkey Trot 5K at the Galleria at Crystal Run in Middletown Thanksgiving morning.

The race began at 8:30 a.m. and was held around the perimeter of the mall parking lot; beginning and ending near the movie theatre entrance on the ground floor.

“The trot is the largest single fundraiser done by the Wallkill East Rotary Club,” race director Lauren Rowley said. “Annually it averages $15-$20,000 in funds raised.”

“Most of those funds go to The Wallkill East Rotary Club Scholarship fund,” Rowley said. “ The rest goes to local charities, donations and community service projects.”

Since its inception, the race has raised over $100,000 and has become a fun family event for all to enjoy.

Last year this writer even ran, or rather jogged the 5K and it turned into the coldest November on record. This year, the temperature was much more seasonally appropriate and made for a much better participant experience.

Still for others, it’s much more about being a competitive runner than community and holiday festivities. One such example is Aiden Berlinski, 18 of Unionville, who came in having won the trot last year and did so again Thursday with a time of 16:01.

“I enjoy this course,” Berlinski said. “I won this last year and it feels good to come back and win it again.”

Directly behind Berlinski were number two and three overall finishers Lucs Reilly of Port Jervis and Will Lindau of Middletown respectively. Reilly, 21, finished with a time of 16:34, while Lindau, 22, finished tied for third at 17:52.

The top three female finishers, per Eagle Timing, the official race timer of the trot, were Gabe Crawely 16 of Bloomingburg, Kristin Banse, 50 of Port Jervis, and Yasmin Aguilar, 14 of Middletown.

The youngest of the trio, Aguliar, is currently a freshman at Pine Bush High School.

“This is a harder course than others I’ve run,” Aguilar said. “ the inclines just come one after the other, when you think you’re done with one there’s another one just like it.”

This was Aguilar’s first time running the trot, but the cross country competitor says she’s likely to do it again. “Yeah probably,” Aguilar responded when asked if she’d race it again next year. “Other members of my team are here so it’s something we kind of do together.”

The freshman named the course at Saugerties high school as among her favorites.

For a full list of times and finishers, visit: eagletiming.com and search for the Wallkill East Rotary Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving day.