TURKEY TROT HISTORY AND PEP TALK

Original Turkey Trot blog post image 10/29/2015. PKSenagore all rights reserved.

NOTE: The very earliest Earned Runs blog posts were to introduce followers to the Turkey Trot tradition in America. As posts now resume after 2 years of a hiatus, it seems most appropriate to address this topic again. Turkey Trot events are so much more than  competitions. The following is an update of the 2015 post
 
GET READY!  Decide today that you’ll participate in a Turkey Trot (TT) event in 2023.  Whether or not you’ve trained to run a 5k distance, there’s fun to be had joining crowds of others in an organized race or planning a custom event with a small group. You might also consider a solo outing that sets a personal first effort time or improves on an existing personal record (PR). For many years I ran my own solo race before getting to work in the kitchen preparing food for our feast later that day.
 
An article by Jenny McCoy for RunnersWorld.com, “How the Turkey Trot Became the Most Popular Race in America,” might inspire some to get going.

 Honor an existing TT tradition or establish a new one. Regardless of what you have done on past Thanksgiving Days, change up this year’s effort to fit circumstances as needed. The pandemic has wreaked havoc on family and friend traditions for many since 2020. We now realize alternative celebrations can be meaningful and fun but require ingenuity and flexibility to pull off.
 
A Turkey Trot can be walked, skipped, walk-run, or run. The start and finish lines can be crossed pushing a stroller in many races Youngsters manage to successfully utilize a combination of all these moves. The 5K distance is 3.1 miles. A brisk walking pace will allow a finish in less than an hour, plenty of time to return home and eat a slice of breakfast pie!
 
Not excited about a 5K? Make it a fun one-mile distance, or a longer competition.
 
Your first step will be to identify a race near home or location of the dinner you hope to enjoy that day, if an organized event is your style and is feasible. Or request Earned Runs bibs for a custom designed solo or smaller group competition. Most simply, decide you will manage without bibs.
 
The next step will be to use the few weeks prior to Thanksgiving to prepare physically for the event. You may have a tried-and-true training regimen in mind. If not, an internet search can provide advice and free plans. However, most plans will be 4 or more weeks in duration and require adjustment to a 22- day schedule, if you're starting today. 
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Earned Runs has a plan designed to help you prepare to safely run/walk a 5k distance over just these few weeks. Check it out at the end of this post.
 
Before you head off to train, here’s a bit more background on the Turkey Trot in America from a 2015 blog:
Buffalo NY has a solid place in the history of the event, as it held the first TT in America in 1896, sponsored by the YMCA. It was an 8K, not the shorter 5k that is popular today. The article explains how the tradition grew and expanded.

One historical fact jumps out: women were not allowed to run the Buffalo race until 1972!!! It had not occurred to me before reading this piece that women were excluded from this (and probably other) holiday event for so many years. It makes sense that 1972 would be the year the race opened its gates to female runners; in April that year women were finally included in the Boston Marathon.
 
Are you fired up yet? Here's a link to a race finder site  (Running in the USA) to help you locate a holiday race nearby. This post has a link to the REQUEST BIBS page. 
 
Still need encouragement? What if you knew costumes were common and welcomed at Turkey Trot races?  Read the Runners World article “10 Delightfully Weird and Wonderful Turkey Trot Costumes”  for more about this race day custom.

Start planning todayl There are only 22 days before the holiday,  If you will be involved in preparing dinner and don't think you can manage getting to and from an organized race, run/walk a personal customized race like I have in years past. REQUEST  Earned Runs bibs to make your effort a bit more official,
 
RUN AND  MOVE HAPPY!

2023 Earned Runs Turkey Trot 22 Day Preparation Plan
 
https://www.runnersworld.com/thanksgiving/how-the-turkey-trot-became-the-most-popular-race-in-america
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Marathon
 
https://runningintheusa.com/race/find-by-state/

https://www.runnersworld.com/thanksgiving/10-delightfully-weird-and-wonderful-turkey-trot-costumes
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https://sparkleathletic.com/thanksgiving-running-costume-round-up/
 

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