How do you spend the morning of Thanksgiving? Maybe frantically preparing turkey, stuffing, pies, and other traditional treats? Perhaps sleeping in? Watching a parade on TV? Why not join the Davidson Turkey Trot this year? It’s a healthy alternative that can directly speak to the true meaning of the holiday — gratitude and family.
Before you balk and shake your head, think of the benefits! After a quick 5K walk or run, you will be ready to fill up on all the Thanksgiving goodies with a clear conscience. The bonus is that your registration will help several people in need. Our first annual Turkey Trot, raised money that was used for a charity that provided heart surgeries for six people in Jamaica! This effort continues to grow; last year, thanks to you, the donations contributed to 40 pediatric heart surgeries in Jamaica! We want this year’s race to benefit at least double that! Please do your part!
Run for a Great Cause
Proceeds from the Davidson Inn Turkey Trot will go to Students Offering Smiles (SOS) to benefit Senior Community Connections, Davidson-Cornelius Child Development Center, Feed NC, Davidson Lifeline, LEARN Works @ Ada Jenkins and Gift of Life International. Your involvement will ensure that all of these charities are helped. We must also mention that none of this would be possible without the combined efforts of our sponsors, volunteers, and participants.
SOS is an organization dedicated to bringing comfort, relief, and joy to hospitalized children. The compassionate student volunteers of SOS spend their time assisting medical staff while engaging and entertaining pediatric patients with fun, creative, and educational activities.
How to Enter
It is so easy to register for the race! Just go online and complete the form! Information will be sent to you regarding race details such as where to pick up your race packet with your number. The race starts at 8:00 am on Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 2023. Remember you don’t have to run; you could choose to walk the course!
We originally set a goal of at least 500 participants. We thought it was ambitious, but last year we had over 1200 registrants! On race day, 1076 racers took part, and were cheered on by bystanders, assisted by 18 volunteers, and 30 sponsors!
Sign up early to guarantee your receipt of a cool race shirt. Everyone loves race bling! Packet pick up for the race is from 1 pm to 6 pm on November 21 & 22 at the Davidson Village Inn, and on race morning from 6:45 am – 7:30 am.
How to Train
If you are planning to run the course and have not run a 5K race recently (or ever), we recommend a training program to avoid injury. If you sign up, there is a training plan offered! Most plans for 5K’s call for 6 weeks of a combination of walking, running, and other exercises. Don’t let the idea of training keep you from signing up; this is supposed to be fun! However, it would be beneficial to get out and walk or run a few times before turkey day.
The Race Course
The course for the Turkey Trot is along the Davidson Greenways, which is relatively flat. There is no need to worry about traffic, as all intersections will be monitored. If you are staying at our Davidson Village Inn, the start of the race is a 15-minute walk away providing a good warmup. Expect the weather to be great for running, with a cool morning (around 40 degrees) warming up to around 60 degrees by the afternoon.
A Thanksgiving morning walk or run might not be your current family tradition, but the spirit of Thanksgiving is to share and give thanks not only to your family but also to your community and others in need. The Davidson Turkey Trot in the morning sets the right tone and example for the day, don’t you think? And it also gives you an excuse for an extra piece of pie for dessert!
Updated October 2023
