WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — Thanksgiving is a day full of rich traditions for most of us, but there’s always room to add something new to your holiday routine!

“We thought it’d be a great idea to bring everybody together on Thanksgiving to do this 5K and kind of balance out your day. You’re gonna eat all this food, watch football but why don’t you get a nice little workout in first,” YMCA of Wichita Falls Communications Director Tila Grant said.

The downtown YMCA team came together to brainstorm something new for folks to do on Thanksgiving Day, a 5K and one-mile fun run that they are calling the Gobble Wobble.

“Our new CEO came in a couple of years ago and he’s really used to doing a 5K with his family on Thanksgiving, and he was new here in Wichita Falls and wanted to do that, and we really didn’t have a lot of options. You couldn’t go on Google to find a race to join so he was like, why don’t we take this and have this as our big event since we’re phasing out the derbies. Let’s have a 5K,” Grant said.

In place of the Soap Box Derby, the 5k Gobble Wobble will start downtown at the YMCA and go up to the MPEC and come back around, displaying several local businesses to get more folks downtown. Plus, if you participate, you’ll see the great new additions the YMCA plans to have completed by then.

“So down here in this room that we’re in, this is actually going to be a childcare center and then we’re also renovating the room right next door that’s gonna be our E-Sports lounge and we’re super excited about that. It’s another opportunity to bring the younger crowd over and give them something safe and fun to do,” Grant said.

These renovations wouldn’t be possible without the support of this community. Support that they hope to see pour into the new 5K event!

“Hopefully, yeah, it’ll be a lasting staple in Wichita Falls, something each Thanksgiving as people are returning home from school or wherever they may be just to get together and have a good time,” Grant said.

They hope to see you all there, gobbling and wobbling.

For information on how to register, click here.

If you do participate, they ask that you bring a canned good to the event. Those will be donated to the Wichita Falls Area Food Bank to help keep their food supply steady through these holiday months.