PIEDMONT — It should have been a joyous occasion, a beautiful holiday morning when athletes and couch potatoes could have gotten together for a workout under clear skies before their Thanksgiving meals. Instead, somber faces walked, one by one, Thursday morning toward the oak tree planted along a sidewalk at the halfway mark of the annual Piedmont Turkey Trot. As dozens approached and laid flowers at the tree’s base, many walked away with tears in their eyes, holding each other close for comfort.
Their mood was still shattered and shocked after a crash Wednesday killed three people and critically injured a fourth . “I can’t remember anything this bad here,” volunteer Race Director Sydney Proctor said just before addressing the runners and other visitors to the event. “We’re all doing this with sad hearts.
” The annual Thanksgiving Day 3.1-mile race went on with close to 2,500 runners even as authorities continued to probe what happened early Wednesday. The Tesla Cybertruck, carrying four people, crashed into a retaining wall near Hampton Road and King Avenue, then became engulfed in flames.
Authorities said they were alerted to the crash by an automated message from a phone. Three people were killed in the crash; a fourth was pulled from the wreckage by a person who had left the same event as those in the Cybertruck and was driving behind them when the crash occurred. Authorities have not publicly identified any of the three people who died.
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