Runtastic THANKFUL
Lehi, UT
- Half Marathon, 10K, 5K, Kids Run
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
Kick off Thanksgiving with a new family tradition at Utah’s Largest Turkey Trot, Runtastic THANKFUL! Gather your loved ones to run a Half Marathon, 10K, 5K, or 1/2 Mile Kid’s Run along the scenic Jordan River Trail. Every runner scores a Runtastic THANKFUL long-sleeve race shirt, epic finisher medal, stickers, … MORE
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Solid way to start T day
I’ve run this 5 times now and always love it as a better than average turkey trot. Runtastic always puts on a great race and they’ve substantially improved the course … MORE
I’ve run this 5 times now and always love it as a better than average turkey trot. Runtastic always puts on a great race and they’ve substantially improved the course each year. It can be cold as he** so plan for that. Parking is exceptional so you can sit in your car till the last minute and then run across the street to line up. It can be a bit crowded at the start as you run through the golf course with the risk of ice on the path but then you pop out onto the river trail and you should be fine. Some minor hills as you go along into the neighborhoods. No traffic (it is Thanksgiving morning after all). Plenty of water stops (god love the people standing around in the cold on Thanksgiving). Love the gratitude signs, make you think about what you should be thankful for. Final mile has a bit of an uphill, sometimes with wind but as you pull into the finish, there is chocolate milk, water, Powerade, pie, rolls…and the medals are always over the top, especially if you Trilogized and if you place, you get an even cooler AG medal. Expo can be a bit of a cluster because of the number of races they have but the location is easy to navigate and there is plenty of parking, but GO EARLY. You do not want to be on the highway at rush hour on the day before Thanksgiving. Trust me!
New Improved Course, Excellent Food
I've run this one a lot and as always, Runtastic does a wonderful job. This may be their biggest (not sure, but seems like it) because so many people are … MORE
I’ve run this one a lot and as always, Runtastic does a wonderful job. This may be their biggest (not sure, but seems like it) because so many people are able to participate in one of the distances they support (5K, 10K, Half, kids fun run). I love that they have a half on Thanksgiving and appreciate the work of the staff and volunteers that make it happen. The medals are always amazing, and if you trilogize, you get extra bling. The finish line is super, pie, chocolate milk, massage, hot cocoa…
They updated the course this year and I think it was a big improvement, you go through the golf course much farther than previously where you used to run to a parking lot, run in a circle (that was always a giant cluster) and I think they tweaked some of the rest of the course along the trail.
This is a great one for your whole family with tons of easily accessible parking, an early enough start time (7:45) that you aren’t blowing the whole day and still not so early that you’re exhausted.
Cold--well run race
I've run this 3 times now and always enjoy the opportunity for end of the year swag. It can be crowded at the start as you work your way out … MORE
I’ve run this 3 times now and always enjoy the opportunity for end of the year swag. It can be crowded at the start as you work your way out of the golf course. You jump up onto the Jordan River Parkway which is a nice winding path along the river. There are climbs that are short but can hurt if you don’t plan accordingly. Coming back, the last mile is flat but there is nearly always a head wind or tail wind on the first half and the opposite on the second half (you cross a bridge and then run back the way you just came from to get to the finish). Be prepared! The medals are awesome, the food is incredible. Love the AG awards. Will always run this one if I’m available!
For the food and the signs
Repeat runner, looking for a race in November…enjoy Runtastic events because they know how to do the swag like no other. Course is a huge meh, and the fact that … MORE
Repeat runner, looking for a race in November…enjoy Runtastic events because they know how to do the swag like no other. Course is a huge meh, and the fact that people have no idea how to self seed is frustrating because the course is narrow to start and finding a line is hard. I had to dart out and around on the grass several times. Don’t be fooled by the fact that this is in the valley and not a canyon race, you’ll work for it—lots of hills on a golf course and in the neighborhoods. Love the gratitude signs to understand what we all should be grateful for. And the medals! And the pie!
Run before you feast
I love Runtastic Events--they put on a great production no matter which race you run. I tend to volunteer at the Thankful 13 (every hour you volunteer is an 20% … MORE
I love Runtastic Events–they put on a great production no matter which race you run. I tend to volunteer at the Thankful 13 (every hour you volunteer is an 20% off a race!!) and did again this year at Packet Pickup. This also is a good opportunity for me to appreciate what it feels like when there is a crowd at the table and the volunteers are going as fast as they can…calm down people! Don’t shout out your numbers, hand them to me so I can read them (ps, please write legibly and preferably in numeric order if there is more than one!!). After 6 hours of volunteering, I went home to sleep before the race. A huge snowstorm was headed in so I didn’t know what to prepare for. Next morning, it was cold and snowing in parts of the valley but not at the race start (just snow showers). You can hang out with the heaters and fire pits in the garage until race time which was nice. The race starts out in Thanksgiving Point and then winds its way through the golf course before connecting to the Jordan River Trail. This is wonderful because it’s paved, scenic and relatively flat (some tough, short inclines were icy so you had to go slow). As you start, the crowd thins (this is a huge race since there is a distance for the whole family, there are lots and lots of people). Running along the river is quiet and pretty. There are dozens and dozens of thankful signs which are nice distractions and humbling to read (“Thankful for a cancer free year” made me tear up…wow I have it easy). You come off the trail to run through some quiet neighborhoods and since it’s Thanksgiving morning there is hardly any traffic at all. After a few miles in the neighborhoods, you rejoin the Jordan River Trail and head back. There are some underpasses that were a little icy so you had to be careful. I made the mistake of worrying too much about wet feet and chose to run in trail shoes which beat the crap out of my feet since I was running on pavement. There is a small segment of the JRT trail that you double back on (it’s sort of a squished figure 8 course with a stick in the middle that is out and back) and then you veer across the river to make it to the finish line. We were lucky and it was only snow showers and cold but not freezing cold…until literally the last 0.2 miles. Uphill into a head wind…ooph! Cross the finish line and get an incredible medal (Runtastic does the best medals!). Hot chocolate, rolls and pumpkin pie were waiting in the garage out of the wind. Age group winners (yea!) got another huge medal and a turn on the podium (it’s the little things that make me happy!). Overall winners took home Thanksgiving feasts. Parking is abundant and free–all the businesses in the area are closed for Thanksgiving so literally you could choose just about anywhere and you were in easy walking distance of the start/finish.
I can’t say enough great stuff about Runtastic Races. If you can’t run them, volunteer…these ladies run a great show. And check out their Black Friday pricing! You can buy a pass to ALL their races at a huge discount, or buy a trilogy pack (they have special medals for those who run 3 in a calendar year).
2 Thumbs Up!
This is a great course to PR on. It's not an all downhill race like many in Utah so you can run fast and still walk around normal at Thanksgiving … MORE
This is a great course to PR on. It’s not an all downhill race like many in Utah so you can run fast and still walk around normal at Thanksgiving dinner 😉 It’s pretty flat with some really small rollers interspersed throughout the race. It’s a loop course with plenty of parking at the start/finish. There are free race photos, free massages, and finish line food included cake! The shirt is a soft, long sleeve shirt that I wear often. They also gave out gloves with touch-screen compatible fingers and the race logo on them in the race bag. The medal was huge and blingy and included people’s thankful items they submitted during race registration. All along the course were signs with more items that people had said they were thankful for. It was a great theme! The weather was ideal- overcast and cool without wind. Race results were instant, packet pick up was a piece of cake, nice expo. I don’t have any complaints for this race. It was well run. I’d totally run it again!
Beautiful scenery
This race has some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen. It had snowed the night before so it was very cold, but I warmed up throughout the run. … MORE
This race has some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen. It had snowed the night before so it was very cold, but I warmed up throughout the run. The good thing about running there is the humidity is low so even though it was cold, it didn’t feel too cold. There’s a huge hill at the end that was challenging, but other than that, it’s a flat course.