Southern Ohio Crime Stoppers is marking the 21st year of the Officer Larry R. Cox Turkey Trot this Thanksgiving, adding a new incentive to get people moving: anyone who picks up a race packet is automatically entered into a free raffle for a 54-inch smart TV, according to the Scioto Valley Guardian, reporting on the organization’s Facebook post.
The 5K run begins at 9 a.m. Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, in Yoctangee Park in Chillicothe, with a fun walk following at 9:15 a.m., according to the Scioto Valley Guardian. Registration costs $25 and is available online only through race sign-up sites, with no race-day registration offered, the Guardian reported.
Race packets can be picked up Nov. 25 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the library’s Main Annex, located behind the main branch off Paint Street in Chillicothe, according to the organization’s post as reported by the Scioto Valley Guardian. The TV raffle is a return of a past promotion meant to boost packet pickup ahead of the holiday race, organizers said, according to the Guardian.
Southern Ohio Crime Stoppers has hosted the memorial race every Thanksgiving since shortly after Officer Cox’s death, dedicating it each year “in memory of our friend,” according to the Scioto Valley Guardian. Proceeds from registration fees go toward the Officer Larry Cox Memorial Scholarship Fund, and in past years finishers have received sweatshirts and participation medals, the Guardian reported. Last year’s race drew nearly 350 runners and walkers to the park, according to previous Scioto Valley Guardian coverage.
Cox was a 19-year veteran of the Chillicothe Police Department who wore badge No. 21 and served as one of the department’s D.A.R.E. officers, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, a nonprofit that maintains public records of officers killed in the line of duty. He was shot and killed on April 21, 2005, at age 44, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.
Cox was off duty when he confronted a robbery suspect in an alley between Chestnut and Church streets near High Street in Chillicothe, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. The suspect, who was wanted for stealing a car and robbing a gas station roughly an hour earlier, shot and killed him; the suspect later pleaded guilty to Cox’s murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole, according to the memorial page’s account as reported by the Scioto Valley Guardian.
What happens next: packet pickup runs Nov. 25 at the library’s Main Annex in Chillicothe, and the 5K steps off at 9 a.m. Thanksgiving morning, Nov. 26, in Yoctangee Park — the same park where Hopewell Culture National Historical Park recently earned an Ohio University Chillicothe partner honor connects local students to the region’s history.