Dash Before You Dine-The History of the Turkey Trot
The Turkey Trot in San Diego Country Estates was a community tradition from 1999 to 2019. Recreation Manager Amy Holsapple-Lueck recalls the 20 years of turkey trots she worked on.
The SDCE Turkey trot was started in 1999 by Julie Perrault, Recreation Manager at the time, and Sandy Balcom from Get Fit Gym, which was located where Country Hardware is now. Current SDCEA Recreation Manager Amy Holsapple worked with the Recreation staff at the turkey trot every year until it ended.
The event was held annually on Thanksgiving morning, rain or shine. It was a 3-mile run/hike around Stone Mountain Trail. In addition to getting exercise before the traditional Thanksgiving Feast, the purpose of the turkey trot was to raise money for the RUSD Elementary running clubs. Holsapple enjoyed seeing all the families come and run it together.
“The Turkey Trot stopped in 2019 once we hit 20 years,” Holsapple says. They were running into issues with the county and safety issues on the trail, and participation was getting lower and lower. Get Fit and the Recreation Department decided to end the event on a high note.
Let’s take a quick jog through history to find out how the turkey trot became a Thanksgiving tradition. In the US, a turkey trot is a footrace that’s usually long-distance and held on Thanksgiving Day. It’s called a turkey trot because turkeys are traditionally the main dish of a Thanksgiving dinner. There are also turkey trots in the UK that occur shortly before or after Christmas Day. The turkey trot is also a dance from the early 1900s that was done to fast ragtime music. So, you could turkey-trot a turkey trot if you wanted to.
As reported by Runner’s World, the first turkey trot was in Buffalo, NY, in 1896. It was a cross-country 8k with just six participants. Only four finished. One runner stopped after two miles, and another stopped when his “late breakfast refused to keep in its proper place.” The winner was Henry A. Allison, who finished the race in 31 minutes and 12 seconds, about a six-minute mile.
Regardless of its lack of popularity the first year, it happened the next year and every year since then, making it the oldest continuous footrace in North America. The tradition of wearing costumes started in the early 1980s—at least in Buffalo—when participants dressed up like Canadian hockey players.
For fitness enthusiasts, if you are interested in participating in a Thanksgiving Turkey Trot, you can join the 23rd Annual Father Joe’s Villages Thanksgiving Day 5k in Balboa Park on Thursday, November 28. Click here for more information.
