It's one of those laid-back annual events that draws close to 200 people. Or 100 people. Or maybe 225 people. Just depends.

This year's 36th annual Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot will start, as usual, at the Enaville Resort "Snakepit" Restaurant at 9 a.m. The route is the nearby Rails to Trails and the racecourse is as long as participants want it to be. When they run out of steam and/or enthusiasm, they just head on back to the starting line. Dogs, baby strollers and congenitally lazy spouses are encouraged to participate.

Race founder Marthanne Worley said that most people will manage about a mile.

"Except, of course, for those college kids who feel like they have to show off and do 5 miles," she said.

Much like a family's Thanksgiving dinner, this year's Turkey Trot will continue despite the absence of a beloved organizer, community member and friend of many participants.

Joe Peak, longtime owner of the Snakepit with his wife, Rose Mary, died last November after a long battle with cancer. But days before he passed away, Peak attended his 35th Turkey Trot and had a chance to visit with runners, customers and friends at the annual event.

The Snakepit, established in 1880, was bought by the Peaks in 1978 and the first Turkey Trot took place that year. After Rose Mary and Joe died in 2012, the restaurant was sold this year and recently re-opened under new ownership.

The entry fee for the Trot is a donation to the Silver Valley Food Bank, Worley said. If you want to give money, be sure it's cash. If you're bringing food, it must be of the nonperishable type.

In addition, all race entrants are urged to bring stuff for the race raffle such as homemade cookies and muffins. If you're participating, you put your name in a bowl and when it gets pulled at the end of the race, you'll get to take someone else's goodies home with you.

How does anyone know when the race is over?

"When everyone's back at the Snakepit, of course," Worley said. "Usually it ends around 11, because people need to go home to get dinner on the table."