More than 200 turned out on a chilly Thanksgiving morning for the first annual Northern Nevada Fire Wives Turkey Trot.
Organizer Penny Robertson said the event, at $35 a head, is a fundraiser for two seriously injured firemen.
Kyle Van Mouwerik of the Carson Douglas fire District was left paralyzed after developing Guillain-Barre Syndrome while fighting a fire in the Tahoe Basin. The disorder causes the body’s immune system to attack the nerves controlling muscles. He was on a ventilator for months and is still paralyzed from the waist down.
The other half of the money will go to Bill Dowling, a Houston firefighter who was severely injured in a fire accident that killed four other and injured 14. He lost both legs and was finally released from the hospital this past week after six months of treatment.
“We’re really going to focus on getting these guys some financial support,” said Robertson.
The runners, joggers and those just walking the course left the starting line at the Stewart Street fire station just after 8 a.m., headed up the block then east on Fifth Street. The five kilometer course finished where it began at the fire station where support volunteers were ready with coffee and other liquids for all.
Robertson said this was their first attempt to organize a Thanksgiving Day run but that they would be back next year with, hopefully, a much expanded event to raise money for firemen injured in the line of duty.