My friends and I have either participated in or attended the Western New York Turkey Trot for more than 20 years. The run and post-race party are super, although the party the last two years was extremely disappointing. Last year was the finishing touch. The music was so annoyingly loud it was painful to the ears.

Our running club gets together every year and rehashes the previous Turkey Trots. After repeated requests to the disc jockeys, we all decided to leave. Evidently a lot of people felt the same. The stairways became dangerously overcrowded. If anybody would have fallen, it would have started a domino-effect accident. Where were the fire marshals and the safety inspectors?

The race director should keep in mind that you could probably multiply the number of runners by four or five counting friends, family and spectators. In the event of a fire, the Turkey Trot would be on national TV. Let’s face it, the event has outgrown the Convention Center. And, please get a music service that has disc jockeys with some common sense.

Joseph Maciolek

Tonawanda