ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – Amy Pace and her family have devoted the last 15 Thanksgiving mornings to moving their feet so others can eat.
What started as a quick visit to the Rescue Mission to see how she could get involved, quickly turned into a Thanksgiving tradition.
(Photo Credit: Pace Family, Michael Doti, WFXR News)
“It’s been important to us because my kids can see what it is to give back to the community, by doing something like this event to be a part of the community,” Pace said.
Giving back is a major value in her family. After experiencing all the things, the Rescue Mission has to offer, they love to help out in any way they can.
“Supporting the Rescue Mission has been important to me, and it’s also been important for Mark and I to get our kids volunteering and giving back to the community and understanding what that means, and how important it is,” Pace said. “The Rescue Mission just offers so many important services to those in need in our community.”
With all that said, the Paces are quite the competitive family, with each other. Everyone guns to be the winner for bragging rights in the family at the dinner table.
While nobody seriously trains for the race, some members get creative with preparation, like Pace’s husband Mark, who works in construction.”
“I usually work out at about 5:30 in the morning and we get a lot of steps in construction,” he said. “While I might not run the entire race, I think we can do the 5k with no problem.”
This year, the Pace family has a new challenger. Amy’s son Nicholas Pace got married earlier this year to Caroline Pace, her daughter-in-law, and she comes from a running background.
She ran track in high school and tries to do one organized 5k once every other year. This year she has one simple goal.
“(I want) to beat everybody,” she said. “(I have to) earn my meal.”
The two of them will race virtually this year with another new addition to the family, their puppy Frank.
“He’s super fun to be around and we look forward to running with him,” Nicholas Pace said. “Hopefully it will wear him out so he can sleep during Thanksgiving dinner.”
After years of just being a group of four, Amy Pace said she’s excited to see the numbers grow with each passing year.