Photo © Tracy King | Dreamstime.com
Halloween is behind us and Thanksgiving looms ahead. With it come the Turkey Trots, the most popular 5K fun run in America, traditionally taking place on the big holiday and marketed as a preemptive strike against calories.
Which, if you’re being particular, is just plain, well, optimistic. The average person would have to run 10 hours on a treadmill in order to burn off the average Thanksgiving dinner. (Oh, and thanks, WalletHub, for ruining dinner.)
But back to the main course subject at hand.
Traditionally, turkey trots have been one of the biggest cash cows of Thanksgiving, according to Running USA, which in a 2018 study (the last one made on the subject), noted that nearly 1.2 million runners were participating.
Additionally, these races are a massive contributor to economic impact, accounting for the biggest U.S. running day of the year. In 2021, Thanksgiving Day races raised more than $1.8 million dollars for charities and took in countless canned goods for donations to local food banks.
Now, event owners are partnering with running stores to not only promote their events but to monetize training plans for them. And since those plans run right up until the week of Thanksgiving Day, it’s a great way of promoting races, giving wannabe runners extra incentive and maybe, just maybe, bring them back for future events during the year.
In Rensselaer County, New York, runners have the option of signing up to participate in the Troy Turkey Trot Training Challenge with Troy’s Choice Physical Therapy team through the training challenge website. The 5K and 10K training program is $54.38 and includes a full running plan with information on injury prevention, strength, flexibility and nutritional components. It also includes group runs that are offered twice weekly.
By the way, that $54.38 is in addition to the $48.94 adult race fee. Add those together and you begin to appreciate the bonus in economic impact for event owners as well as partnering companies.
In Maryland, local running store and apparel chain Charm City Run is hosting its own Turkey Trot Training Program in any one of five store locations. The training program targets The Y in Central Maryland Turkey Trot Charity 5K on Thursday, November 27 (or another race in that time frame) and costs $89.88.
In addition to twice-weekly training runs, the program includes a weekly training plan, a training premium, discounts at any Charm City Run location, discounts on specific races, nutrition, gear and injury prevention education.
Nationwide, it is the biggest race day of the year. How it got that way… well, nobody really knows, but Runner’s World has a great history of how it started. Here is an excerpt:
“The inaugural trot took place 125 years ago in Buffalo, New York. The local YMCA hosted an 8K cross-country race that Thanksgiving Day, drawing just six participants, and only four of them made it to the finish line. One runner excused himself after two miles; another dropped out when his “late breakfast refused to keep in its proper place.” The winner, Henry A. Allison, crossed the line in 31 minutes and 12 seconds, averaging a six-minute-per-mile pace.
Despite its humble beginnings, the race was held again the next year, and the year after that, and the year after that. In fact, it’s been held every single year since—even during the coronavirus pandemic, where they kept the in-person field to a meager 125 randomly-selected runners, one per year of the race’s existence. This makes it the oldest continuous footrace in North America.”
Yes, you read that right. The Turkey Trot is even older than the venerable Boston Marathon, which didn't kick off until 1897.
Some races are local, put on by organizations like YMCAs, churches or food banks, but others have established themselves as go-to events. One of those is the San Diego-based O’Side Turkey Trot, which, according to Runner’s World, attracts visitors from 46 states and 460 cities and benefits the Move Your Feet Before You Eat!® Foundation.
Propelling the popularity of these races is the fact that an inordinate number of people travel over the holidays, and often, are seeking a way to get out and get some exercise, whether by running or by simply walking the course. According to Statista, the number of people traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday period was forecast to amount to 53.4 million in 2021.
And these races do their best to be user-friendly, which is why runners in everything from funny headwear all the way up to full-body turkey suits will be seen. Oh, and the rules regarding having dogs present at these things are also relaxed.
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