With blustery weather more fit for Christmas than Thanksgiving, more than 2,000 runners and walkers braved the 3.1 miles up and down hills in the annual Greensburg Turkey Trot.

Since its inception 34 years ago, the race has attracted those who make it part of their holiday, getting some exercise before partaking in that particular American tradition of eating a lot of food in recognition of the first Pilgrim Thanksgiving some 400 years ago.

About 2,100 people had registered for the race, said Carol Palcic of Southwest Greensburg, race director and executive director the Greensburg YWCA. Watching runners near the finish line behind the Westmoreland County Courthouse on South Pennsylvania Avenue, Palcic said she was pleased with the turnout in freezing temperatures and occasional snow flurries. The wind gusts in 32-degree temperature made the feel-like temperature around 20 degrees, according to the Weather Channel.

The festive atmosphere had runners of all sorts dressed in holiday costumes, with both a Christmas and Thanksgiving flare.

One of those in distinctive race dress was Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department Lt. Carolyn Campbell, 29, who was wearing her full bunker gear as she ran and walked in the 5-kilometer course.

Campbell, a member of Greensburg Hose Co. No 6, said it was not the first time she had run in her firefighting gear. She said she has been practicing running in her bunker gear — heavy coat and pants, helmet, oxygen tank and boots, not light-weight running shoes.

“Everybody thinks I’m crazy,” Campbell said, slowing to a brisk walk after running the downhill portion of South Main Street.

If the other runners and walkers knew how much she was carrying, they might have agreed with what some thought about what she was doing. Greensburg Fire Chief Tom Bell estimated she was weighed down with close to 80 pounds of clothing and gear.

Pushing a stroller along the race was Matthew Frankle of Greensburg, who was giving his nephews, Silas, 5, and Leif Leksell, 4, a ride.

They were joined by the boys’ father, David Leksell, of Greensburg, who was carrying his daughter, Charlie, 2, her small cheeks reddened by the cold.

Waiting for her family members to pass as she stood at the corner of Westminster and West Pittsburgh streets, was 90-year-old Dori Daigle of Greensburg, cheering on the runners.

“I would not have missed this for the world,” Daigle said.

Daigle’s granddaughter, Mary Kathryn Praamsma of Washington, D.C., joined Daigle in cheering the runners rather than running with them because of a leg injury that has her on crutches.

“I’ve been coming here since I was a baby,” said Praamsma, who grew up on Pittsburgh’s North Side. Her father, Tim Daigle of the North Side, did run the race.

Even as the crowds of runners thinned out, Daigle and family stayed to cheer them on, saying they don’t leave until everybody has passed them.

The enthusiastic cheers “makes the runners come alive” in the last leg of the race, said Daigle, who was joined by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Dr. Barry Bupp, a Greensburg dentist and one of the founders of the race, ran for the 34th time, but not without a hitch.

Bupp, 78, said someone ran in front of him and tripped him in the first mile, causing him to fall on his face. It resulted in bloody cut on his chin that left a trail of blood on jacket and a cut on his knee that required a bandage. He finished the race, but later had to go to a medical center for stitches, Palcic said.

The Vietnam War veteran was not deterred and finished the race, meeting up with his family of runners — son Caleb Bupp and his wife, Robin, of Grand Rapids, Mich., and his daughter, Hanah Bupp of Virginia.

“We have to do it,” Robin Bupp said of the race, which she ran with her son, Hugo, 12. He has been participating in the race he was a baby, either on his own or traversing the course courtesy of family members, she said. Her daughter, Matilda, joined them.

Race beginnings

If Turkey Trot runners were an actual flock of the Thanksgiving birds, Bupp would be one of the elder toms overlooking the whole group.

That’s because the annual 5K charity race, pretty much got its start in his Greensburg living room.

“The first year, the whole living room was full of bags with shirts and all of the racing numbers — we ran everything out of the house,” said Bupp, who has run the race every year.

These days, the race is quite a bit more organized, and that’s partly thanks to Palcic, who is marking her 30th year as director for the holiday tradition, which has raised more than a half-million dollars for charity since its start in 1992. The Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department, the Greensburg YMCA and YWCA and the Westmoreland County Humane Society were recipients of the proceeds from this year’s race, Palcic said.

Palcic, who also serves as mayor of Southwest Greensburg, was quick to credit the team of organizers and volunteers who have turned preparation for the race into a well-oiled machine over the decades.

Palcic was working at the American Cancer Society when the race got started, and it was one of the early beneficiaries of its charity.

“When I left the society, one of the organizers asked if I would take the race with me, so to speak,” she said. “I’ve been doing it ever since.”

The Turkey Trot is unique in that it is the only 5K race for which city officials will close a downtown street.

“We were kind of grandfathered in, and everyone else has to use the Five Star Trail or Lynch Field,” she said.

The race begins in front of the Westmoreland County Courthouse on North Main Street and ends behind the courthouse on South Pennsylvania Avenue.

Its proceeds have gone to a wide variety of charities over the years, from the American Cancer Society and Big Brothers Big Sisters to this year’s beneficiary, the YWCA in Greensburg.

Bupp also keeps the memory of his late wife, Gail, alive through the event’s annual shirt designs. The shirts have become so popular the race registration form includes a “shirt-only” box for people who want a shirt but don’t want to run.

“She was a former art teacher, and she would draw the cartoons we’d use on the shirts,” Bupp said.

“She did her very last shirt from her bed in Shadyside Hospital getting cancer treatment. Our printer saved all of her designs over the years, and so each year we choose one to reuse.”

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