Jane Shares Her Over 40 Year Trot Beginning in 1978

The Turkey Trot has been a Thanksgiving mainstay for my family since 1978.

My family moved to Dallas from Ontario, Canada in 1978. My father had a cousin living in Fort Worth who invited us to join her and her family for the Fort Worth Turkey Trot that year. I was four and my brother was two, and we cheered the runners on from the sidelines. In 1979 my parents both ran the 8-mile Dallas Turkey Trot for the first time. From that first Turkey Trot in 1978 until today, we have never missed a year. During the Covid shut down we did our own family only “Turkey Trot,” complete with a homemade finish line banner. We’ve accumulated so many T-shirts from the run that a few years ago my mother had two quilts made from them. When my brother and I were teenagers, my parents asked us if we wanted to keep doing the Turkey Trot. We agreed that we couldn’t imagine Thanksgiving without it.

The Turkey Trot crew was usually my parents, my brother, myself and a dog; but any year we had visitors, they joined us. We’ve had friend[s] and family in from various places around the USA as well as from Canada and England. When my husband and I became parents in 2009, we brought our baby with us. A few years later we had twins, and we had to upgrade our stroller, but all of us were participants. One year I noticed another mom with the exact same orange stroller pushing three little ones as well. It turned out to be a high school friend of mine with whom I had lost touch. The Turkey Trot reunited us, and we still get together and walk. 

The weather report had indicated we might have a rainy Thanksgiving this year. No matter. We’ve come to enjoy the weather surprises each year holds. We’ve run in sleet, snow, rain, as well as many beautiful autumn mornings. The crowds still come. The energy is always cheerful and festive. There are always jogging pilgrims, turkeys, babies, dogs and sundry costumes. One year I saw a chicken being pushed in a stroller. Well-wishers still cheer from their balconies and various places along the course. The bands play regardless of weather.

This year I will participate in my 47^th Turkey Trot. For our daughters, it will be their 16^th and 13^th respectively. My dad has passed, but my mom at 78 still runs with us every year. For my family and certainly countless others, Thanksgiving wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without the day starting with the Turkey Trot.