“Are you ready to trot?” boomed the voice of Matthew Fritz, sixth-grade teacher at Northwestern Lehigh Middle School Nov. 13.

The response he received from nearly 200 energized sixth graders, a resounding yes, was even louder than his blasting megaphone.

On a recent chilly, windy, November afternoon, sixth-grade students at Northwestern Lehigh Middle School were chomping at the bit to race a 1-mile cross-country Turkey Trot run in support of the nearby Christ’s Church at Lowhill Food Pantry.

To participate, each student was asked to contribute an “entry fee” of one non-perishable food item to the pantry.

The sixth graders were recently challenged by their teachers to donate 500 items, an amount they surpassed on the last day of collections.

The final total was 571 items.

Sixth graders at Northwestern Lehigh have collectively donated nearly 3,000 items during the six years the Turkey Trot has been run.

After some warm-up calisthenics consisting of “Turkey-Jacks” and “Turkey Windmills,” led by turkey-costumed middle school Principal Bill Dovico, sixth graders lined up to run the hilly course and compete for Turkey Trot trophies.

Bringing home the hardware in the highly competitive boys’ race were Lucas van Lierup, first place, Tarik Hassan, second place, and Carter Smith, third place.

“The hills were tough,” Smith commented, after the race.

“And I couldn’t breathe,” Hassan added.

Ethan Lazarus, another runner standing nearby, agreed with the assessment of the course conditions.

“The wind was a killer,” Lazarus said.

In the girls’ division, Molly McGorry pulled away at the end for a hard fought victory over Morgan Farthing.

Sara Yeakel cruised home for a third-place finish.

Isabella Gonzalez, another competitor in the girls’ field, summed up the challenge in two words, while lying flat on her back in the grass, “I’m dizzy.”

Students were later awarded for all of their efforts with a raffle drawing for various prizes.

Their entry forms doubled as their raffle tickets, so all students were eligible.

Twelve lucky winners were recipients of special gift baskets.

When asked about her experiences at the Turkey Trot, perhaps Ashley Isa, a sixth grader, summed up the day best.

She simply smiled and gave a thumbs up.