2023 Turkey Trots shatter participation records on RunSignup

RunSignup, the leading US technology provider for endurance events, released their event participation numbers for Thanksgiving Day, the biggest running day of the year. In 2023, the platform had a record 920,761 participants registered to participate in 833 races across the country, with more than $1.9 million dollars raised for charity. 

The topline of the report is that running participation on Thanksgiving has fully rebounded from pandemic lows and actually may actually have exceeded 2019 levels. RunSignup saw a 22% increase in registrants and a 14% increase in races using the platform compared to 2022. Those increases can be attributed to several factors, including an increase in registration market share for RunSignup and new turkey trots entering the market. However, it also appears that the average turkey trot saw an increase in participation, with per-race participation growing 10% compared to 2022 and 2% compared to 2019.

Additional key takeaways from the report include: 

• Races on Thanksgiving Day are larger than average, with an average of 1105 participants per race. 30% of all Thanksgiving Day races exceeded 1000 registrants.
• While races under 5,000 participants all saw growth compared to 2019, large races of 5,000+ still lagged 14% behind their 2019 levels.
• 5 km races are the dominant choice, with 84% of races including a 5K option. The next most popular distance was 1 mile, which 19% of races offered.
• The majority of Turkey trots (79%) supported one or more charities, with 61,658 donors raising a total of $1,990,877.
• Turkey trots appeal to younger runners, with 20.7% of all Thanksgiving Day participants between the ages of 18-29 (compared to just 13.9% in all of 2022).
• The RaceDay CheckIn App saw wide adoption, with 57% of races using the app to check in 60% of registrants.
• Attendance on race day was high, with 93% of registered participants checked in (among races using the app).

RunSignup Founder and CEO Bob Bickel said about the day, “Thanksgiving Day is always one of our favorites. We get to see technology and running come together for community events all across the country. We’re proud of the infrastructure work we’ve done to support so many events simultaneously, from handling 40,300 page views per minute to scoring 308,748 participants with RaceDay Scoring.”

With no composite roundup of turkey trot participation numbers since Running USA reported 961,882 finishers in 2016, it’s hard to pinpoint the full extent of the Thanksgiving Day tradition. However, it seems clear that turkey trots are not done growing yet, and will continue to be a key part of endurance businesses.

For more information, visit: https://info.runsignup.com/2023/11/28/2023-turkey-trots-shatter-records/