TURKEY TROT PARTICIPATION REBOUNDS IN 2011
By David Monti
(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved (Used by permission)

(26-Nov) -- Participation in Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24) running races --commonly called turkey trots-- rebounded in 2011 after barely growing last year, according to an annual survey of events compiled by Race Results Weekly.

A survey of 20 well-established races in 15 states with a total of 155,264 finishers showed 14.4% growth in finishers from 2010, dramatically more than the less than 1% growth last year.

The two largest races in the survey --the Fifth Third Bank Turkey Trot 5-K & 10-K in Detroit. Mich., and the Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot 5-K/10-K and Elite 5-K in San Jose, Calif.-- grew the most. Finishers for the Detroit race surged 35.0% to 17,339, while the San Jose event grew 45.5% to 16,276. The Mile High United Way Turkey Trot 4 Mile (Denver, Colo.) and Thanksgiving Day 10-K (Cincinnati, Ohio), also grew strongly by 40.2% and 29.4%, respectively, compared to last year (finishers at the Denver race last year were depressed by unusually bad weather).

Only three races in the survey reported declining numbers. However, those declines were modest, just 1072 finishers for the three events combined.

More races are held in the United States on Thanksgiving Day, which is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, than any other. Race registration site, Active.com, displayed results from 107 races on Nov. 24.