The Joyce Allen Great Turkey Escape

Race Day: November 27, 2025

REGISTRATION IS CURRENTLY WELL ABOVE TYPICAL LEVELS

We're over 80% of the way to a sellout - trending to closing out as early as a week before race day. You may want to register soon to avoid being closed out.

CLICK ON THE PDF BELOW TO SEE 2025 COMPLIMENTARY RACE GIFTS.

Click the icon below to download the attached PDF.

Place

Redding Community Center
37 Lonetown Rd
Redding, CT US 06896

Description

The Great Turkey Escape 5K road race and 3/4 mile kids run.

We will spoil our runners with a long sleeve tech shirt, an embroidered winter beanie (hat), embroidered running gloves and a finisher's medal along with 3 deep 5 year age group awards. The race begins and ends at the Redding Community Center on Lonetown Rd (RT 107) and all proceeds will be donated to our beneficiaries.

Joyce Allen

On December 10, 2023, our community lost Joyce Allen, a dear friend and runner who will be remembered for her kindness, her undying competitive spirit, and her inspiringly generous nature. A first-class athlete, Joyce was tragically taken from us doing what she loved, running a triathlon. Away from competition, Joyce cherished her family and friends and had an uncanny ability to bring people from all walks of life together. It’s often said but may never be truer – there’s nobody like Joyce.

Terri and I met Joyce and her husband Bill when she ran our first Redding Road Race in 2012. Over the years, Joyce participated in 14 Redding races, winning Age Group awards (mostly 1st place (12 of them to be exact) in all 14 of them. I remember one Turkey Escape where Joyce signed up all her family members for the 5K and “coerced” them to run, regardless of their fitness level or state of recovery from the night before. There might have been a lot of complaints at 6:30am Thanksgiving morning, but there were many good laughs as a result. Aside from her amazing running performances, Joyce and Bill have been our race’s biggest charity contributors over the years, often sending us a check for our race beneficiaries even before being asked.

Going forward, in celebration of Joyce, The Great Turkey Escape will now be called The Joyce Allen Great Turkey Escape. The Joyce Allen Charitable Trust, which supports many charities handpicked by Joyce’s family, will match donations made by the race and its runners to the beneficiary of the race.