BATON ROUGE - More than 2,800 people gathered in downtown Baton Rouge to take part in the 38th Turkey Trot.There was a one-mile fun run as well as a 5K. The races benefitted the March of Dimes.Peyton Chiasson, a college athlete at UL Lafayette, won the race with a time of 15 minutes and 16 seconds."It was really nice, it was fun to go through the experience of running through Baton Rouge. It was a good event," Chiasson said.His teammate, Samantha Ponzo, another runner at UL Lafayette, was the second-place female finisher. She said it was fun to start her Thanksgiving with a race."I was really just thinking about all of the runners, there's so many people out here and it's just such a great community event. I was just proud to be out here," Ponzo said.Another runner said the Turkey Trot was training for future races."I've done a whole lot of races. My third half-marathon is on Saturday. I get the biggest hype and vibe and happiness being out here with all these racers and it's so much fun!", Turkey Trot Participant Ruth Linder said.Another group at the Turkey Trot was Ainsley's Angels. Landis Manchester is the Baton Rouge Ambassador for Ainsley's Angels. The organization helps spread awareness about people with special needs to advocate for inclusion in the community."I'm going to cry, you know? Today, as you'll see, all of our athlete riders will get out and walk across the finish. Some can't, so we'll continue to walk across the finish line for them," Landis Manchester said.Both of Landis Manchester's sons, Daniel and Matthew, participated in the Turkey Trot."Me and my brother Matthew, we have the same disability, cerebral palsy, but he has it worse than I do, so he has to be in a wheelchair, a walker, he can't walk as far as I can," Daniel Manchester said. "Been doing this for five, six years now, I love it. The reason I'm doing it is because of [Ainsley's Angels], if it weren't for them, I wouldn't be doing it."Daniel and Matthew both crossed the finish line on foot.Permalink| Comments