Start your Thanksgiving Day off with a bang: run the Porter-Starke Valparaiso Turkey Trot

Start your Thanksgiving Day off with a bang: run the Porter-Starke Valparaiso Turkey Trot

Are you looking for a way to lose those Thanksgiving calories before you eat them, all while supporting a great cause? We have the perfect solution for you! Sign up to run/walk the Valparaiso Turkey Trot. The annual Valparaiso Turkey Trot is organized by Porter-Starke Services as a fundraiser for their various mental health services throughout the region. This year’s Valparaiso Turkey Trot takes place on Thanksgiving morning, November 28, and is a wonderful opportunity to be active and support the community.

The Porter-Starke Valparaiso Turkey Trot is the largest running event in Northwest Indiana, averaging around 4,000 participants. Many runners in the area look forward to this each year. There’s even more to look forward to this year because organizers have added some new features to the race. There will be a new route for the run/walk this year that Porter-Starke champions as a flat, fast, and true 3.1 mile experience for all levels. There will also be music stations and digital mile marker clocks along the route. 

All runners are welcome to the race. There will be awards for the top six female and male finishers in each age group, receiving a lovely medal at the post-race awards ceremony. The cost for registration is currently $30 and will increase to $35 after October 13, so sign up entire whole family now! The Valparaiso Turkey Trot allows strollers on the course, so even your tiny ones can take part with you.

The Valparaiso Turkey Trot starts at 8:00 a.m. CST with the awards ceremony taking place at 9:10 a.m. That leaves you plenty of time for the rest of your scheduled festivities, and you can take an extra heap of mashed potatoes knowing that you already worked them off with your run/walk that morning. 

This year’s Valparaiso Turkey Trot will start and end at Valparaiso High School. The course takes you in a lovely loop through beautiful Valparaiso neighborhoods. You can catch a nice glance of Silver Lake as you near the finish line. 

Whether you’re an experienced or novice runner, you should sign up! There’s still plenty of time to start training. 

You can find all the important information you need here: https://www.porterstarke.org/events/valpo-turkey-trot

You can sign up for the race here:  https://runsignup.com/Race/IN/Valparaiso/ValparaisoTurkeyTrot

If you’re still not convinced that the Turkey Trot is a great way to start your Thanksgiving Day, peruse our galleries of photos from previous years!

Turkey Trot 2018 gallery: https://valpo.life/photo/turkey-trot-2018/#27ts9Sd

Turkey Trot 2017 gallery: https://valpo.life/photo/porter-starke-services-turkey-trot-2017/#rVq3NcT