Long before the family sits down to Thanksgiving dinner this year, there will be thousands of people walking and running, as part of the 35th Annual Feaster Five Thanksgiving Day Road Race in North Andover, Massachusetts, hosted by the Merrimack Valley Striders.

The hub of the event is Brickstone Square in Andover, just a little more than an hour’s drive from where the original settlers sat down to their first Thanksgiving. The Feaster Five is sanctioned by the Road Runners Club of America, and it draws walkers and runners from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Southern Maine, and this year as far away as New York, Virginia, Maryland, Canada, and Switzerland. The race attracts world-class runners like Billy Rodgers, Joan Benoit Samuelson, and Team Hoyt, as well as walkers, and runners of all speeds and ages.