On Thanksgiving morning, Pacific Palisades finally had a reason to gather in the streets again. For the first time since the Palisades fire tore through the community in January, thousands of residents laced up their shoes, pinned on race bibs and filled the charred neighborhood for the 11th annual Pacific Palisades Turkey Trot.
Where burned-out storefronts and hollowed homes once stood in silence, runners stretched, kids laughed and people in turkey costumes posed for photos. For many, the start line felt less like a race and more like a reunion.
“It’s heartwarming to see so many people back here supporting the community after everything that we’ve lost and suffered through this year,” said lifelong resident Brian Garrett, whose home was destroyed in the fire. “It gives us hope that we can build our town back and get back here.”
According to the official Pacific Palisades Turkey Trot organizers, around 2,000 participants signed up for this year’s run, which moved its start and finish to the Palisades Village Green in the heart of downtown. paliturkeytrot.com+1
Racing Through A Burn Scar
The course was a powerful reminder of what the community has endured. The 5K and 10K routes wound through Via de las Olas and neighboring streets, passing blocks where houses once stood shoulder to shoulder. Now, many lots are empty or piled with rubble, and a few surviving homes sit boarded up with warning signs on their doors.
The Palisades fire, which began Jan. 7 and burned until Jan. 31, is considered one of the most destructive wildfires in California history. It scorched more than 23,000 acres, destroyed thousands of structures and killed at least a dozen people, reshaping Pacific Palisades and surrounding communities in just a few weeks. Wikipedia+1
For race co-founder David O’Connell, who also lost his home and is now living in Century City, it wasn’t clear the event would happen this year at all.
“Given everything that’s happened, I wasn’t sure we’d have the Turkey Trot,” he said. “But after Labor Day, the calls started coming in from sponsors and runners. It became obvious the community really wanted something to bring people back together.”
Grief, Memory And New Traditions
Along the route, the emotional weight of the day was impossible to miss.
Micah and Julie Levin and their two sons signed up knowing the course would pass the site of their former home. Since the fire, the family has been renting in Brentwood, but recently returned to a different house in the Palisades.
“I was grateful for doing this today, because every time I’ve gone up to the house has been a sad experience,” said Julie Levin after crossing the finish line. “Now I have something different to project onto it — something more lively and happy.”
Their son Merritt added that the lots are now so uniform and bare that he could barely tell which one was theirs.
There are small signs of physical rebuilding. One of the first fully reconstructed homes recently received a certificate of occupancy, and officials have highlighted additional rebuilding milestones. New York Post+1 But for many families, emotional recovery is moving at its own pace.
“We chose the Palisades because of the community’s strength,” Levin said. “So the fact that we are all here right now doesn’t surprise me at all. We miss the peace and quiet. We miss the sunsets and the ocean. This makes it feel like we’re moving toward that again.”
Businesses Gone, Community Spirit Intact
The Turkey Trot also passed sites where beloved local institutions once stood.
On one corner, Ryann Mackston watched runners stream by the empty lot where her parents’ pizzeria, Beach Street Cafe, had operated for two decades. She and her brother grew up working there.
“It almost feels normal — obviously it’s not normal,” Mackston said. “There’s shattered glass still on the ground and we’re surrounded by rubble. But it’s good to have some sense of normalcy and do something we all used to do.”
Her family lost both their home and their business, relocating to Manhattan Beach after the fire. Still, Mackston says the Palisades will always be home.
“It’s still a part of us,” she said. “We are going to rebuild. People are going to move back in when they can, and they’re still a part of this community. I want to keep it alive, even if I don’t live here anymore.”
A Community In Recovery
From inflatable turkey costumes to turkey-print socks and kids races, the event carried the light-hearted feel of a typical Thanksgiving fun run. But every turn of the new course carried another reminder of loss: the site where the Community United Methodist Church once stood, blackened hillsides on the bluffs, blocks where only chimneys and foundations remain.
For many participants, simply showing up was an act of solidarity.
The City of Los Angeles and partner agencies continue to operate recovery and rebuilding programs for residents affected by the fire, including help with permits, debris removal and vital records. Information on these services is available on the county’s official Palisades fire recovery resources page. recovery.lacounty.gov+1
Meanwhile, the Turkey Trot has become a symbol of what people here hope to reclaim: familiar streets, shared traditions and a future that feels rooted again in the neighborhood they love.
As runners filtered back into the Village Green, medals jangling and race shirts soaked with sweat, the sentiment was the same from longtimers and newcomers alike — the fire might have changed the landscape, but Pacific Palisades’ sense of community is still very much alive.
For one morning, at least, the sound of footsteps and laughter was louder than the memory of sirens.
