ACAN shines at 2018 ThunderCloud Subs Turkey Trot 华盟在2018感恩节火鸡跑活动中大放异彩

【Report: Xinmiao  Photo: ACAN Members  Date: 12/07/2018】

【 报道：新苗，翻译：海舟 摄影：华盟成员 日期：2018.12.7 】

It would not be an overstatement to say that for many Austinites every year when Thanksgiving is approaching, the anticipation increases, not just for the feasts but also the run and the festival activity at the ThunderCloud Subs Turkey Trot!

毫无疑问每年感恩节临近的时候奥斯汀人都非常期盼节日的来临，不仅仅为传统美食的缘故，更因为一年一度的ThunderCloud Subs火鸡节跑步活动！

Since its first run in 1991 with 600 people, on Thanksgiving Day, it has grown into nearly 20,000 participants. That means about 2% of Austin’s population will be trotting and 600 will be volunteering and many more will be spectators cheering on. This year these trotters are from 49 states and four countries. It is now the largest five-mile run in Texas! The ThunderCloud Sub Turkey Trot has become a favorite Thanksgiving tradition for many Austin families and individuals who want to do something healthy and helpful before the big meal. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the ThunderCloud Subs Turkey Trot go directly to Caritas of Austin—a nonprofit dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness for people in Greater Austin. Over the past years the trotters donated over $3.5 million to Caritas of Austin.  Caritas builds wellbeing by making sure that people have a safe home, access to healthy groceries, jobs that provide a reliable living wage, and educational opportunities to learn life skills.

Austin Chinese American Network (ACAN) was founded with the mission to serve the Austin community and foster our heritage. Since its inauguration nearly two year ago, ACAN has been an active member in Austin area and its presence has been felt at many community events. And of course, ACAN would not be missed at this great community event!

In 2017 a group of our members participated in the Turkey Trot. We enjoyed the trot and at the same time learned about the volunteering needs and many planning efforts behind the scene. Now One year later, ACAN decided to continue and double the effort! The trotting team continues its run and at the same time we put a volunteer team together to cover not one but two of the five water stations!

For the second year, ACAN Rocks team was ready! Over 40 members signed up, team included father-son, mother-daughter as well as entire families. Some youngest members were only home for the holiday.

On Thanksgiving Day, led by the forever energetic and cheerful captain Jean Shaw, team met in front of the City Hall, many in colorful Turkey costumes, and gave each other encouragements. Captain’s husband, the handsome Ning Shaw, served as the always present designated photographer and recorded the festivity.  As part of the warm up and more for fun, Jean led the Chicken Dance. ACAN’s next generation member, young Rachel led the team for warm ups. Rachel then finished the race in just over 40 minutes!

The run was still the same five miles, but the journey was different: because ACAN’s water stations were waiting for us! Volunteers set up five water stations along the way and ACAN volunteers are at station #3 and #4. How did ACAN start the effort with two water stations? ACAN is now a familiar name to Austin community service organizations. As the 2018 Turkey Trot is approaching, the organizer Caritas of Austin reached out to ACAN’s outreach committee chair CJ Zhao and discussed the various needs of volunteers, including water stations for the 20,000 some participants, to make the run successful! CJ, on behalf of ACAN, signed up for a water station and called for 20 to 25 volunteers. The response was overwhelming and the positions were filled up in less than 4 days with still more people requesting to join. So, committee chair CJ applied for a second water station. Within a week all 50 slots were filled!

On race day, ACAN board members Angela Qian and Qiu Chaoxin led the charge of water stations 3 and 4 respectively.  At 7:15 in the morning, way before any runner’s arrival at the starting line, the first group of volunteers, including ACAN President Peter Chao, Vice president Chaoxin Qiu as well as several other members were already at the water stations! Caritas members, at station 3 was Will （at station 4, Jason),  led the enthusiastic ACAN volunteers to setup the table, cup disposals and water pipe. Soon more volunteers arrived and around 8:50, on the 12 long tables, neatly arranged in two tiers are more than 4,000 cups of water ready for the runners!

The first Trot group started at 9:30, station 3 and 4 were at mile 3 and 4, so the first wave would not arrive until sometime after that. Many of the volunteers would have otherwise been runners and used this time window did some quick run to stretch legs and also took photos and enjoying this lovely Fall day!

At 9:20, Will did a demo of how to hand water to runners in the fastest way and not affecting their speed; how to quickly clear the dropped cups on the road to prevent runner slipping, etc. In addition, he talked about how to cheer on the sidelines and encourage runners. For instance, use runners’ names when visible to cheer them on!

Soon after 9:40 runners started to appear, and the volunteers got to work! Around 10 AM, the brigade started passing by and was too dense to see the end. Amongst the ACAN volunteers nearly half of them were second-generation Chinese-American elementary through high school students. They were both excited and diligent, and they quickly passed water on to the runners. At station 3, the youngest was a fifth-grade elementary school student, Berntrand Qu. He stood upfront and held out four water cups at a time. Station 4 welcomed a talented teenager who was doing marketing. He humored runners into hydrating themselves:  “Gluten-free vegan water, tastes so good and taste like nothing.”

Volunteers worked together as a team, divide and conquer at a stunning speed! Some passed on water to the runners; some replenished supply; and others cleaned up the dropped cups. The whole process was well organized and thousands of cups of water were distributed and as a return: warm thanks and faster and healthier runners.

这个活动从1991年感恩节那天的600人开始，现在每年已有高达2万人参加。相当于2%的奥斯汀市民参加跑步，更有众多的观众，和600位志愿者。今年有来自49个州和四个其他国家的人参加长跑。ThunderCloud Subs火鸡跑已经成为德州人数最多的五迈长跑活动。这个活动鼓励人们在节日大餐前一起积极健身，已经深入人心，成为奥斯汀人最喜爱的家庭传统。每年这个活动的全部收入被捐献给Caritas of Austin(奥斯汀明爱会)。奥斯汀明爱会是一个为帮助大奥斯汀地区无家可归者的慈善组织，他们在住房，日常生活，健康和教育上为无家可归者提供各种机会。28年来，火鸡跑的参加者们已经给奥斯汀明爱会捐献了350万美元！

奥斯汀华裔联盟本着服务奥斯汀社区，传承中华文化的宗旨，在成立两年以来， 已经成为大奥斯汀地区一个非常活跃的社团，在许多社区活动中都可以见到华盟的影子。而这次盛会更少不了华盟！

连续第二年，华盟长跑队ACAN Rocks参加了火鸡跑活动。有40多人报名参加。队员们包括父子、母女甚至全家上阵。还有从外地赶回家探亲的年轻学子们。

华盟Rocks家庭长跑队跑的是和往年同样的五迈路线，今年却感受不同。因为今年有来自华盟大家庭更多的支持，华盟的义务供水队！华盟今年新参加了一项重要的活动，为长跑者提供水站供水服务。数月前，因为华盟的知名度，奥斯汀明爱会向华盟副会长赵CJ寻求帮助，因为他们急需志愿者给近2万人提供饮水服务。赵CJ起初同意承包一个水站，征集25位志愿者。由于华盟成员们的热烈响应，最终华盟承包了全程四个水站中的3号和4号两个水站，一周之内50个志愿者名额全部报满！

感恩节日清晨7：15，华盟会长赵俊达、理事Angela Qian和邱朝欣带领积极的华盟志愿者们，已经开始了水站#3和#4的紧张的准备工作。在规定的9：30的起跑时间和第一位跑步者到达这些水站之前，两个水站设置起桌面，水桶，水管，各摆起十多张长桌，共八千只杯水！志愿者们还抓紧时间热身和拍照，和朋友们一起享受美丽的金秋景色。

8:00，ACAN Rocks长跑队员来到奥斯汀市政厅前集合，在能歌善舞的华盟理事许瑾的带领下，女生们穿着鲜艳的橘红色纱裙跳起了可爱的火鸡舞，引来路人的喝彩和欢笑。许瑾的先生肖宁现场拍摄，给队员打气，由高中生运动健将Rachel蒋带领大家热身，队员们热情高涨地准备迎接五迈的长跑

9:20分，3号4号水站义工负责人Will 和Jason指导志愿者们如何传递水杯给跑步者，如何避免挡住跑步者的道路，如何迅速清除路面水杯防止运动员滑倒，并且教志愿者们如何在路边认清跑者的标牌上的名字给他们们加油。

9：40以后长跑者们开始出现在我们的水站，志愿者们开始忙碌起来。到了10：00左右，大批跑者蜂拥而至，队伍长得几乎看不到头，志愿者们忙得热火朝天。这些志愿者们们大部分是华盟第二代，中学生甚至小学生。最小的五年级学生Berntrand Qu站在最前，一次拿四只水杯。还有一位有创意的小志愿者为他的水打出幽默的广告–“无麸质，全素食，很好喝又没有味道的好东西！”

志愿者们进行非常成功的团队合作，以闪电速度分包和更新，传递，补充，清理水杯，整体操作流畅，没有任何意外。大家把爱心温暖和健康通过水杯传递给了跑者，得到的回报是衷心的感谢和快乐的跑者。

当华盟自己的跑步(ACAN ROCKS)队伍在3迈的跋涉后经过水站时，水站爆发出了热烈的掌声和欢呼声，有拥抱和笑脸，有快乐温馨的合影。在短短的两年时间里，华盟成员们之间建立了亲密的友爱，华盟已经成为很多人的家庭的一部分，受到欢迎的华盟跑步队伍成员的笑脸就是很好的证明。

终点线上ACAN Rocks 传来捷报！高中学生Rachel 蒋以40分32秒的好成绩，六年级学生Benjamin Li以42分38秒跑完全程！华盟的孩子们真棒！

大约11：30最后一位跑者经过水站以后，志愿者们迅速回收垃圾，清理路面，收拾桌子。清理干净的水站没有一点痕迹！负责人Jason非常满意并大加赞扬。

这次火鸡跑步活动给华盟志愿者和跑步者们带来一个快乐的早晨和美好的记忆。参与的华盟家庭非常高兴有机会参加这次活动。希望我们继续坚持这个活动并成为传统，为奥斯汀的感恩节增添更多的快乐！