San Diego: Turkey Trot Capital of the World!

Busiest Race Day of the Year: Thanksgiving, especially in San Diego!

Did you know Thanksgiving competes with the Fourth of July for the title, ‘busiest race day’ of the year? It is a fact, and while most people may view Thanksgiving as a day of indulgence, runners know it as a day that always begins with a morning Turkey Trot 5K. Click below to keep reading…

In Active.com’s article, “Feast or Fitness Have It Both Ways,” it is stated that the variety of races held on Thanksgiving is unmatched by any other race day of the year. This includes, but is not limited to, cross-country style races, traditional 5K and 10K road races, and even sandy beach runs.

A great majority of Thanksgiving Day races are not long-distance turkey trots; this leaves plenty of time to fully celebrate the holiday with friends and family. The benefits of running before indulging, however, are more than worth the extra effort it will take to get up and run before you bake.

Exercising before eating a large meal (like Thanksgiving dinner) will help your metabolism do its job. Participating in a race is a great addition to the family holiday tradition; it will help everyone to stay healthy and prevent packing on unnecessary weight. Exercise is the perfect tradeoff for those extra calories that are inevitably consumed on holidays such as the feast-fest that is Thanksgiving.

Most of the races raise money for needy families, so while you stay active by running, you are also helping those who are less fortunate, and that’s what “the season of giving” is all about.

The main ‘Turkey Trot’ event in San Diego is Father Joe’s Thanksgiving Day 5K, which begins at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 25. Father Joe aims to provide more than 1.7 million meals to those in need. You can help by simply registering for the race at http://www.thanksgivingrun.org.There are also several others. But, if you cannot make it out of bed that early on Thanksgiving Day for a race you can still register for the San Diego Resolution Run 5K and 15K before December 15th, for an early bird discount!

Head over to http://www.active.com/running/turkeytrot/ for more information about Turkey Trots and their many benefits.

Brittney Schering
Sandy Feet Writer