AUBURN — Bright and early Thursday morning, Wayne Mason had coffee brewing, bagels out and was ready to start the day with a good long run before Thanksgiving dinner.

But this was not just a run around his neighborhood;Mason was joined by a couple dozen other runners for his annual Thanksgiving Day Walk and Run.

This year marks the third time Mason has hosted the run, which begins at his home on Fairway Drive.

Mason, who is also very involved in organizing the Labor Day Classic every year, said that he was inspired to get the Thanksgiving run going when his son, Chris, was in high school.

“My son’s coach, Al Wilson, started this,” Mason said. “It was a smaller race and we usually ran in it. Al went over to Iraq and the race stopped.”

Mason said there was a period of a couple of years where he always toyed with the idea of getting the race going again, but it always seemed to be difficult to find the time.

But three years ago, Mason decided that it was important to find the time and revive this holiday tradition.

“There are a lot of local people that look forward to this,” Mason said. “I decided that it was time to do something about it.”

Organizing a race comes with a lot of logistical issues, planning a course, getting roads blocked off, getting time keepers, so Mason decided to adapt the idea a little bit and transform it into a less competitive and more leisurely Thanksgiving run.

“Races are time consuming,” Mason said. “So we decided just to do a run and see how it went. Just get some people together at the house and go for a nice run around in the country and just enjoy it.”

Keeping with the relaxing atmosphere, Mason invites everyone that runs to meet at his home and have coffee and a bagel before starting the run and to take some time after the run and relax and get refreshed.

While the run is about fun and starting the day on a healthy note, Mason also uses it as an opportunity to help raise funds for Warm the Children, a charity that collects and buys coats for children in need of warm winter clothing.

Donations can be sent to Warm The Children at The Citizen, 25 Dill St., Auburn, NY 13021.

For the complete story from Thursday's run, see Friday's edition of The Citizen.