WESTPORT–Drivers travelling on Thanksgiving Day in southeast Westport should finish their travel by 8 a.m. or plan to travel after 11 a.m.

That advisory comes from the Westport Police Department. They have been managing the foot and vehicle traffic around The Pequot Running Club’s annual Thanksgiving Day road race, which began in 1978.

According to promoters, the race attracts about 5,500 runners, making it the state’s second-largest annual running event.

The race starts and ends in Southport, but runners will clog many streets in the southeastern portion of Westport.

Runners will enter Westport on Beachside Avenue, shortly after the race begins at 8 a.m.

Contestants will then run

• north on Sasco Creek Road
• east on Greens Farms Road
• northwest on Clapboard Hill Road
• south on Maple Avenue South
• west on Greens Farms Road
• south on New Creek Road and then
• east on Beachside Avenue

until the race re-enters Southport on Pequot Avenue.

The police advise that Westport roads should be free of organized runners by 11 a.m.