It’s almost that time of year in the US: as everyone prepares for the Thanksgiving holiday, many are also preparing for an annual turkey trot tradition. Whether this is your first or 15th turkey trot, it’s a great opportunity to have fun on Thanksgiving while also doing something healthy. Most runners are just looking to enjoy their time participating in the event or just want to get moving a bit before enjoying a day of delicious food. Here are some ideas to make your turkey trot more fun this year!
7 Ways To Make Your Turkey Trot More Fun
1. Run in a costume
What better way to make your turkey trot more fun than by dressing up?! You can be as creative as you want. Maybe find a fun turkey hat or even just a Thanksgiving t-shirt. Usually each year Brooks comes out with some Thanksgiving running shoes!
2. Participate with friends or family
Of course you can make the even more fun by running with others. Recruit some family members or meet up with friends for your turkey trot. Most of the time these races are low key and even kids can participate.
3. Leave your GPS watch at home
If you have spent most of the year training and trying to run certain times, this is a great opportunity to leave your watch at home. Just go out and run for fun! It can be very freeing to run without a watch.
4. Set a non-traditional goal
Rather than trying to run your turkey trot at a certain pace, consider a different kind of goal. This could be thanking at least 5 volunteers or meeting 2 new people on the course. If you still want your goal to be time focused, you could focus on running negative splits or running the whole race without walk breaks.
5. Add some friendly competition to make your turkey trot more fun
If you are running with friends or family, you could add in some friendly competition. This doesn’t need to be about who finishes first; you could have different categories to work towards. Some examples could be “Most Creative Costume”, “Friendliest Turkey Trotter”, or “Most Improve Runner”. You could really come up with anything that works for your group!
6. Document the day using pictures and videos
I’m definitely not suggesting you hire someone to ride an e-bike and film you on the course. But make sure to take pictures and videos to remember the day! You could put together a collage or a video to document all the fun you had and maybe make it an annual tradition!
7. Incorporate doing something good for others
Rather than just going out and running a race, you could consider raising money for a charity, volunteering, or donating to people in need. Doing good for others feels good and may make your experience feel even more positive!
Are you planning to run a turkey trot this year?
How will you make your turkey trot more fun?
You may also like:
How To Run Your Best Turkey Trot This Thanksgiving
6 Tips for Running a Fun and Successful Turkey Trot
6 Fun Ways to Involve Your Kids in Your Running
Now it’s time for the Runners’ Roundup! Link up your running and fitness posts below! Join myself, Coach Debbie Runs, Confessions of a Mother Runner and Runs with Pugs to post your favorite running tips, experiences, race and training recaps, workouts, gear, and coaching ideas.
I love the idea of doing a non-competitive Turkey Trot! I would go with your second suggestion, recruiting as many friends and family as possible. It’s so much fun to run/walk with others, especially on a Family Day like Thanksgiving.
Yes I totally agree! They are the perfect setting for fun and family to get together and move
My hubby and I put on a Turkey Trot for 20 years! It was always fun to see the families and the runners in costume. The only bad part was that I never got to run the race!
Super fun! I have a couple of turkey trot shirts to wear!