Another Turkey Trot win for Benton

Though the morning was dominated by first-time runners, the star of the 31st Turkey Trot's 10-kilometer run Thursday was Christa Benton.

The St. Petersburg resident and former University of South Florida star cross country runner captured her fifth consecutive Turkey Trot crown by setting a personal record with a time of 35:43.

The five-win streak caught Benton by surprise.

"I really haven't kept count," Benton said. "Every year I am thankful to come out and run. This is one of my biggest races."

While there isn't any prize money awarded because the event is a civic fundraiser, Benton motivated herself by poring over the running log she has kept during the years.

She noticed she had never broken the 36-minute mark in the many years she has run in the Turkey Trot.

VoilÀ, a goal was set. And she smashed it.

"I just thought it would be really neat," Benton said.

Benton outdistanced former University of Florida cross country runner and Apollo Beach resident Sara Petrick, who finished in 36:50.

"Christa did amazing," said Petrick, who ran in her first Turkey Trot on Thursday. "I was hoping to try to run with her.

"I was with her for maybe the first mile. She was blazing."

A total of 15,415 participated in the event, which also included a 5k walk, a 5k run and a mile run.

The top two runners in the men's 10k, University of Tampa runner and Seminole resident Tony Nicolosi (31:43) and Florida State University runner and Fort Myers native Jacob Brooks (31:55), both ran in the 10k race for the first time, both at the urging of their college coaches.

"My coach (at FSU) wanted me to get one of these under my belt," said Brooks, a redshirt freshman with the Seminoles.

The Turkey Trot is a Thanksgiving tradition for Nicolosi, who had run the 5k race since his sophomore year in high school; he had just never competed in the 10k before Thursday.

Brooks had never participated in any of the event's races.

"I usually don't take (the Turkey Trot) very seriously because I had run it just for fun. You know, Thanksgiving," Nicolosi said.

"This year, I had to focus on it and I did well."

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