Turkey Trot Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
- 10K, 5K, Kids Run
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
Don’t miss LA’s best Thanksgiving tradition, the annual Turkey Trot Los Angeles, and see downtown like you’ve never seen it before. Imagine no morning traffic, a beautiful sunrise and running past historic buildings like the Walt Disney Concert Hall, all before finishing at Grand Park for the post event festival. … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Nov 27):
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
| H (°F) | 80 | 66 | 72 | 70 | 77 |
| L (°F) | 58 | 57 | 52 | 48 | 50 |
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Why is Thanksgiving always hot here?
I love DTLA. The music center, the old Parker Center building, more architecture than I can remember. Close to Chinatown. The race website said the parking is free on holidays … MORE
I love DTLA. The music center, the old Parker Center building, more architecture than I can remember. Close to Chinatown. The race website said the parking is free on holidays (meters), but we had trouble figuring out how to find parking close without getting mixed up in the course, so we paid $16 for all day parking at Union Station. It was about 5 blocks from the race start and finish.
We walked to the start, got my packet and went back to the car. Sadly the 10 day started way later than the 5k…Walked back, made our monetary donation to the Midnight Mission (the recipient of the funds raised by the race). There were not a ton of porta-potties but no way was I going to complain when I saw so many folks living on the street…when do THEY get porta-potties? Right?
Downtown L.A. is HILLY!!! Good grief I thought how can it be uphill both ways? LOL I don’t think there were enough downhills to explain all the hills yet we finished back at the same spot. And the weather, while welcomed by many, was not helping us run after 9 on hills.
Even so, I did enjoy running around downtown and the views of the Disney concert hall and The Broad…such a cool building.
We took advantage of having all day parking by strolling through the very beautiful Union Station, one of my fave buildings in L.A. and then we walked to Chinatown for our traditional Thanksgiving day meal: Kung Pao Chicken. (We do the big meal on the weekend) We acted like tourists for a while and went home to watch football. There is always something to be thankful for.
The course was short
Basically that’s my main issue. I’m pretty sure the course was about .4 short. I’m frustrated that I didn’t have the opportunity to run a full 5k. MORE
Basically that’s my main issue. I’m pretty sure the course was about .4 short. I’m frustrated that I didn’t have the opportunity to run a full 5k.
Rainy and Hilly but somehow I PR'ed
Great way to spend Thanksgiving morning so you can eat your meal guilt free. I picked up my packet the weekend before and it was very easy. Along with the … MORE
Great way to spend Thanksgiving morning so you can eat your meal guilt free. I picked up my packet the weekend before and it was very easy. Along with the bib you got a T-shirt, sunglasses, a drawstring bag and a clif bar. I took the metro to the race. I enjoy races that are at metro stops so I don’t have to worry about parking but parking in a nearby lot didn’t seem too bad. It was a chilly and rainy morning. It really rained during the 5K but luckily the rain slowed down for the 10K. It was probably too cold for most Los Angelenos but I actually loved the weather. The course went through downtown LA and there were a lot of hills and a lot of great architecture. I took advantage of the downhills and the chilly weather and PR’ed by nearly 6 minutes despite this not being an easy course. Although it is well designed so the hills are mostly in the beginning and it starts uphill and the last segment along spring street is pretty flat. You got a small finisher medal with a cartoon of a turkey and LA. There were some vendors and booths in front of city hall to look at before and after the race. Afterwards you can go enjoy your turkey (or tofurky in my case)
Gobble Gobble
Perfect day with cool wind, refreshing rain, and free ponchos!!!! There were plenty of water stations (I didn’t use any) clear signage, amazing views of the downtown buildings with amazing … MORE
Perfect day with cool wind, refreshing rain, and free ponchos!!!! There were plenty of water stations (I didn’t use any) clear signage, amazing views of the downtown buildings with amazing snow capped mountains in the background. Will be repeating next year, rain or shine.
Nice trucker's hat & cute medal
I had just injured myself 3 weeks before the race, so I had to walk this one, but that was good because there were several hills along the steep streets … MORE
I had just injured myself 3 weeks before the race, so I had to walk this one, but that was good because there were several hills along the steep streets of downtown LA. The start/finish line was at Grand Park, which is the perfect place for an expo. You wouldn’t think that there would be much scenery in a race through the city streets of L.A., but we passed some beautiful architecture along the way. Mayor Eric Garcetti was giving high fives to all of the runners at the start line, so that was a pleasant surprise! The pre-race packet pick up a week before was easy. I liked that we received a trucker’s hat instead of a t-shirt for this race. It was unique & different! The turkey-shaped medal was cute. A perfect way to start off your Thanksgiving with a fun run or walk. (There were several families walking the event all dressed in costume.)
Ran out of Medals in 2016
It was fun seeing everybody dressed up in turkey themed attire and costumes. Course was hilly and challenging but they ran out of finisher medals!!! I didn't get one at … MORE
It was fun seeing everybody dressed up in turkey themed attire and costumes. Course was hilly and challenging but they ran out of finisher medals!!! I didn’t get one at the finish line. Volunteers were kind of useless with info. Had to have my medal mailed to me a month later which sucked. (I like to get pics taken with my medal immediately after the race).
Come'n get it!!
This was my first 10 K and I came into this not seeing what the buzz was all about. However, once I arrived and started seeing others in turkey costumes … MORE
This was my first 10 K and I came into this not seeing what the buzz was all about. However, once I arrived and started seeing others in turkey costumes and the dj was rocking 80’s music. It was so much fun running int he streets of LA. the only thing that happened that was kind of off was that when I was running under the bridge and tunnel network my phone runkeeper app added one extra mile to my run. My audio cues went from saying ‘4miles’ to ‘6 miles’, totally skipped the 5 mile cue. anyways, days later I found out that my wife’s friend, during last year’s race, had trouble with her Garmin not reading accurately while under the bridges and tunnels. All in all a fantastic race. Cliff bars and baked potato company showed up and were handing out tasty samples. I will be back next year for this race. Plus it cuts down on the post thanksgiving dinner meal. Gobble gobble!!
Buildings blocked GPS Signal
I did the Double Header Challenge (both 5k and 10k). If you know the streets of Los Angeles, they are very hilly and they implemented the course to be that … MORE
I did the Double Header Challenge (both 5k and 10k). If you know the streets of Los Angeles, they are very hilly and they implemented the course to be that way. A lot of runners complain about the distance, but I don’t think people realize the tall buildings and tunnel were blocking the GPS signal…so we may never know if this was a true 10k/5k distance.
Overall, great event before munching on turkey. The news cast always come so if you’re lucky, you can be on the morning news. The give away this year was boxers, which I liked, but a lot of people wanted shirts.
Last year they had a problem with bathrooms. They fixed it this year, but the problem this year was the line to pick up bibs. They should extend the gathering area for all runners. It gets way too crowded.
A 10K that wasn't 10K, but it was fun!
OK, first of all, if you're trying to run a fast race and want everything to be perfectly aligned so you can do that, this isn't the race for you. … MORE
OK, first of all, if you’re trying to run a fast race and want everything to be perfectly aligned so you can do that, this isn’t the race for you. This is a race with lots of U-turns, corners, up-and-down hills, street people who randomly decide to cross the road in front of you, freeway overpasses that block your Garmin signal, and random joggers who’ve never run a 10K before yet decide to try to run their first mile at 6:00/mi pace. Oh, and the course was about a quarter of a mile short (at least). BUT with that said, if you want a fun Thanksgiving morning turkey trot with lots of photo opps, a chance to see some of the cool architecture in downtown LA, a good DJ and a fun vibe, then this race could be for you. The medals were kitschy and cute, age-group medals go three deep, they give out shorts rather than a T-shirt (!) and the proximity of the Civic Center Metro station to the start means you don’t even have to drive to the event! Just hop on light rail! Then enjoy your turkey. Gobble gobble.