Turkey trot
A turkey trot is a footrace, usually of the long-distance variety, that is held on or around Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Its name is derived from the use of turkey as the usual centerpiece of the Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey trots are also held in the United Kingdom, usually shortly before or after Christmas Day. In the United States, many courses used for these Thanksgiving events are run at major certified USA Track & Field road race distances between 5,000 and 21,098 meters; others are informal fun runs as short as 1.0 mile (1.6 km). (The Atlanta Marathon, which ran on Thanksgiving from 1981 to 2009, was the only full 42,195 metres (26.219 mi) marathon to run on the holiday. It has since been reduced to a half-marathon, was the nation's longest Thanksgiving Day race, while the city's full marathon is held earlier in the year, but was cancelled in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, when it was replaced by a shorter race, the Peachtree Road Race.) The oldest documented turkey trot, a still-ongoing annual event in Buffalo, New York, dates to 1896.[1]
Notable races
- the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race was moved to Thanksgiving Day in 2020. Over 45,000 have registered as of the end of April.
- the Austin Turkey Trot is the largest 5 mile race in Texas, and one of the largest Turkey Trots with over 20,000 racers;
- the Berwick Run for the Diamonds, a nine-mile race first run in 1908 in Berwick, Pennsylvania;
- the Buffalo Turkey Trot, the oldest continually running public footrace (established in 1896) in the United States;
- the Concord Turkey Trot in Historic Concord, Massachusetts;
- the Cuero, Texas Turkey Trot, which features a unique twist on the tradition in which the participants are all actual domestic turkeys. This event is now held on the second weekend of October (coincidentally the same weekend as Canadian Thanksgiving).
- the Dallas Turkey Trot, with more than 25,000 racers annually;
- the Dana Point Turkey Trot was established in 1977, attracting over 18,000 people to the Dana Point Harbor in Southern California, and has donated over $500,000 to local charities.[2]
- the Feaster Five Road Race in Andover, Massachusetts;
- the Hyde Park Pilgrim Run in Kansas City, MO.
- the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest 5K Fun Run, held on Canadian Thanksgiving in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada;
- the Manchester Road Race held in Manchester, Connecticut;
- the Mile High United Way Turkey Trot, a family running tradition held on Thanksgiving Day in Denver's Washington Park for more than four decades.[3]
- the Plymouth Turkey Trot in Historic Plymouth, Massachusetts as part of America's Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration;
- the Run to Feed the Hungry race, in Sacramento, California, was started in 1994 and attracts over 27,000 runners annually.
- the San Francisco Turkey Trot, takes place in Golden Gate Park on Thanksgiving Day.
- the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot is one of the largest Thanksgiving Day race with over 25,000 participants;
- the Smoke the Turkey Trot occurs annually on Thanksgiving morning in Sylvania, OH. The 5k race winds through the Saint James Wood neighborhood and regularly attracts over two thousand participants. Many participants adorn costumes or wear Michigan/Ohio State colors (the OSU/UM football game is generally played on the fourth Saturday in November).
- the Tampa Bay Times Turkey Trot takes places every year in coordination with the city of Clearwater, Florida and the West Florida Y Runner's Club. Annual attendance for this event reaches over 17,000 registered racers.
- the Invesco QQQ Half Marathon in Atlanta was the nation's largest half marathon run on Thanksgiving morning, originally a marathon and half marathon from 1981 to 2009, but was raced only as a half from 2010-19. The race was cancelled in May 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic that moved the Peachtree Road Race to the Thanksgiving date.[4] Between 1981 and 2009, the event also coincided with the Atlanta Marathon, making it the longest distance for a turkey trot in the United States.[5]
- the Troy Turkey Trot began in 1916 with six runners and has grown into one of the largest and oldest turkey trots in the U.S.
- the American Turkey Tradition boasts itself to be the world's largest Thanksgiving running festival and listed 27 races across 12 US states in 2019[6].
See also
References
- "The YMCA Buffalo Turkey Trot". Ymcabuffaloniagara.org. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
- "Dana Point Turkey Trot – Run the Race Before You Stuff Your Face!". www.turkeytrot.com. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
- "Mile High United Way Turkey Trot | Mile High United Way". www.unitedwaydenver.org. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
- "11,000 to participate in Invesco QQQ Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon, nation's largest". Northside Neighbor. November 20, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
- Larkin, Duncan (November 24, 2010). "No More Thanksgiving Marathon For Atlanta". Competitor. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
- "Participating Events". American Turkey Tradition. Retrieved 19 November 2019.