Now a Thanksgiving Day tradition in Sacramento, the annual Run To Feed The Hungry will celebrate another Thanksgiving with over 28,500 participants on November 27.

The Run To Feed The Hungry started in 1994.  Only 796 runners participated in the inaugural event on Thanksgiving morning.  That number has increased to over 28,500 over the past 20 years drawing in more runners and more sponsors during the past two decades. The massive number of participants makes it the largest fun run in the country.

The run is owned by Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services and consists of a 10k run and a 5k run/walk and.  All proceeds will directly go to benefit the organization.  The run starts at J Street, west of the opening to the Sacramento State campus and continues through the streets of East Sacramento.

The run will also involve staff from Jesuit High School including Mr. Paul LeBoeuf, Director of Campus Ministry, and Ms. Leah Heine, Visual and Performing Arts.

This year, the Jesuit team will have 167 participants led by team captain Ms. Heine.  It will mark Jesuit’s largest team since they have participated in the run as an official team.

Mrs. Kelly Barnes, Director of Christian Service, who has been involved in the run for 7 or 8 years, has distributed shirts for the team to wear during the run.

“The team this year will be the largest team that Jesuit has ever seen.  It consists primarily of families as well as current and former students.  We are very excited for the team this year and can’t wait until Thanksgiving,” Mrs. Barnes said.

That is a huge difference compared to a little over 20 participants from Jesuit several years ago.

The 10k run will start at 8:15 a.m. and the 5k run/walk will start at 9:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning.  There will be plenty of participants from Jesuit and all of the net profits will benefit The Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services.