Lots of families have traditions around Thanksgiving and one thing that I’m thankful for is that my family’s tradition involves fitness. My family always makes time to start our Thanksgiving morning off with a Turkey Trot.

I remember back to some of my first Thanksgivings as an adult after college. My sister Lindsey and I were living on the east coast about an hour apart from each other. We couldn’t always afford to travel to our parents’ homes so we had some Thanksgivings together and with friends. She belonged to the Chesapeake Bay Running Club based out of Southern Maryland.

That is where our family tradition of Thanksgiving runs started. The CBRC Turkey Trot was a prediction run style race. Every year they changed the course so you never knew the exact distance or course you would get to do. The course and distance were announced on race morning and at packet pickup you made your time prediction. I was fairly new to running races around this time and always thought this was the neatest concept. The winners of the race were those who ran closest to their prediction not necessarily those who were fastest. My sister and I did this race several times with her then boyfriend who became her husband years later.

Fast forward a few years and both of my sisters are married and have children. We have kept up our tradition but have made some adjustments by selecting a Thanksgiving Day run that is non-competitive around a local golf course. There are two distances to choose from the full 18-hole course which is nearly 5 miles or just the first 9 holes which is a little over 2 miles. This has been a perfect fit for our family of all ages…from my parents to my nieces and nephews. It’s nice that all can select their distance and pace.

My nieces and nephews enjoy running but are still building up their endurance. Often the turkey trot includes bouts of walking, sections of sprinting, and lots of fun in between when you run it with a kiddo. We split up into groups based on pace and distance. We make sure to cheer each other on and then after we listen to the kids tell us about their run experience.

This year my nephew has a goal to lower his 5K time so we have sought out a competitive race event on Thanksgiving morning. He’ll run with his dad and try to beat his time goal. The rest of us will enjoy the start to our day of eating by burning some calories and supporting my nephew on his goal

My family is not the only one with a Thanksgiving tradition that involves fitness, family, and fun. Many of my friends are planning on participating in Turkey Trot races with their families this year. I also have friends that honor the tradition even if they can’t find an organized race near them. Just get outside with your family and get your run or walk on to start off your Thanksgiving Day. You know you’ll Gobble til you Wobble so make some room for all that food with a Turkey Trot!

Northwest Arkansas – Turkey Trot 5K

Little Rock – Go Running Gobbler Turkey Trot

Eureka Springs – Don Gammie Turkey Trot

Kansas City – Ward Parkway Turkey Trot

Joplin – Joplin Turkey Trot

Springfield – 20th Annual Turkey Trot

Whitney Sutherland blogs at Running with Whit about the fun and adventure of an everyday athlete. Whitney works full time playing with numbers and products and unwinds by training for races. She loves triathlons and has completed two half ironman distance races. She completes many races each year and initially discovered blogs while researching different races. Whitney spends her free time with Sidney her runner dog and her family where she gets to be the cool aunt to three awesome kiddos. You can find Whitney running through the winter with her trusty headlamp around Northwest Arkansas.

You can follow Whitney on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.