A turkey trot at work is a short walking challenge that a company runs in the week of Thanksgiving, usually ending with a group walk on the Wednesday before the holiday or a logged walk on Thanksgiving Day itself. It borrows the name from the Thanksgiving morning fun runs that more than a million Americans sign up for each year, but nobody has to run. Most workplace versions are a week long and count steps from any phone or watch. The holiday walk is the finish line, not the whole event.
- Thanksgiving is the biggest running day in the United States. A record 1.33 million people registered for Thanksgiving Day races in 2025. Your team already knows what a turkey trot is, which saves you the explaining.
- A short walk after a big meal helps. A 2022 meta-analysis found that light walking breaks of two to five minutes lowered the blood sugar rise after eating by about 17% compared with staying seated.
- Run it as one week, Monday to Friday, ending on the Wednesday office walk or the Thursday family walk. Longer than that and it collides with the December calendar.
- Family steps count. The point of a Thanksgiving week challenge is that people keep moving while they are off, so the rules have to work at a relative's house as well as at a desk.
- Across 5,500+ organizations running challenges on Pacer for Teams, the challenges with the highest participation are the ones tied to a date everyone already has on the calendar. Thanksgiving is that date.
Why a Turkey Trot Works at Work
Most workplace challenges have to be sold. A turkey trot sells itself, because the name already means something. According to Running USA, a record 1,330,726 people registered for 1,056 Thanksgiving Day races in 2025, which makes it the biggest running day of the year in the United States. The first one was held in Buffalo in 1896 and it has not missed a year since. When you announce a turkey trot at the office, half the room has either done one or watched a relative do one.
The second reason is timing. Late November is when the step counts on most teams fall off. The days are shorter and the holiday week breaks every routine. A challenge that ends on Thanksgiving gives people a reason to walk through exactly the week they would otherwise skip. It also lands before the December rush, so it does not compete with holiday parties or year-end deadlines.
The third reason is that it is the easiest challenge of the year to make inclusive. Nobody needs to run. Nobody needs to be in the office. A walk to the end of the street after dinner counts, which is the point.
If you have never run a step challenge before, the workplace step challenge guide covers the general setup. This page covers what changes when the challenge is a week long and the finish line is a holiday meal.
What Walking Before and After the Feast Does
The after-dinner walk is a tradition in a lot of families, and there is more to it than getting out of the dishes.
A 2022 meta-analysis in Sports Medicine pooled seven studies that compared sitting, standing, and light walking after meals. Short walking breaks, two to five minutes at a time, lowered the rise in blood sugar after eating by an average of 17% compared with staying seated. Standing helped less, about 9.5%, and standing did nothing for insulin, while walking did. The walks in those studies were slow and short. A lap around the block after the turkey is in the same range.
The walk before the meal does a different job. A morning walk on Thanksgiving, whether it is an organized trot or twenty minutes with the dog, puts movement into a day that is otherwise built around sitting. For most people it is also the only time that day they will be outside in daylight. That matters in late November, when sunset is before 5 pm across most of the US and the mood dip that comes with short days is real. The heart side of a regular walk is covered in our World Heart Day walking challenge guide, and the same case applies here.
For a workplace challenge, the practical version of all this is simple. Count the Thursday walk, whatever time of day it happens, and tell people why. A line in the announcement like "a ten-minute walk after dinner takes the edge off the food coma, and the research backs that up" gets more people out the door than a step target does.
Three Turkey Trot Formats for Work
You do not need all three. Pick the one that matches how your team is spread out.
1. The office trot (Wednesday before Thanksgiving). A group walk at lunch on the last workday before the holiday, usually a mile or two on a fixed route. It is the closest thing to a real turkey trot and it doubles as the send-off for the long weekend. Works best for in-office and hybrid teams with a core group on site that day. Add a paper bib with a number and a hand-drawn turkey and people will keep it on their monitor until December. If you need a route or a twist for the walk itself, the office step challenge ideas list has a dozen that fit a lunch break.
2. Trot Week (Monday to Friday of Thanksgiving week). A five-day step challenge with a daily goal and a team leaderboard, ending Friday so the Thursday walk and the Friday walk both count. This is the format that works for remote teams, because nothing in it requires being in the same place. It also produces the thing HR actually wants, which is people moving on the two days they are off.
3. Gobble Miles (two weeks, November 16 to 27). A team step total that equals a Thanksgiving-flavored distance, such as the 40 miles from Plymouth to Boston or the 210 miles of the Macy's parade balloons' trip from New Jersey to Manhattan and back a few times. Teams finish the route before the holiday. Pick this if your team just finished a Halloween step challenge and wants a longer runway, or skip it if two weeks feels like too much in November.
| Format | Length | Best for | Finish line | Effort to run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office trot | 1 lunch break | In-office and hybrid teams | Wednesday, November 25 | Very low |
| Trot Week | 5 days, Monday to Friday | Remote and mixed teams | Friday, November 27 | Low |
| Gobble Miles | 2 weeks | Teams that want a longer run-up | Wednesday, November 25 | Medium |
Most offices do well with Trot Week plus the Wednesday office trot as its mid-point event. That is one announcement and two things to run.
How to Run a Turkey Trot at Work in 6 Steps
1. Pick the format and the finish line. Decide now whether the challenge ends on Wednesday (office trot), Thursday (the family walk), or Friday (Trot Week). The finish line determines everything else, including whether steps on the days off count. For most teams, count through Friday. The dates this year: Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26, the office trot is Wednesday the 25th, and Trot Week runs November 23 to 27.
2. Set a daily goal that survives a holiday. A regular challenge might use 8,000 steps a day. For Thanksgiving week, use 6,000. People are traveling or hosting, and a goal they can hit with a morning walk and an after-dinner walk keeps them logging. Our guide on how long a step challenge should last explains why a short challenge needs an easier daily number.
3. Score by team average and count every day. Team average lets a three-person team beat a ten-person team. Counting every day, including Thursday and Friday, is the whole point of this challenge. Cap any single day at 25,000 so one person's long hike does not decide it. If you are tracking in an app rather than a spreadsheet, the step challenge apps for work roundup shows which ones score by average out of the box. The scoring rules guide covers the edge cases.
4. Announce it two weeks ahead, by November 9. Thanksgiving week fills up fast with travel plans, so people need to know early. Lead with the Wednesday walk and the prize, then the dates, then the rules in two lines. Put the sign-up link at the top, with a short list of team names to pick from. The announcement email templates have a version you can adapt, and there is a copy-ready one below.
5. Run the Wednesday trot like a small event. Fifteen minutes before, hand out paper bibs. Take one group photo at the start, not the finish, because people leave straight from the finish for the long weekend. Thirty minutes total. If part of the team is remote, ask them to walk at the same time and post a photo.
6. Close it the Monday after and hand out prizes that week. Announce the winning team on Monday, November 30, while people are still telling each other about the weekend. Prizes should be small and seasonal: a pie, a pumpkin bread, a half day off on a December Friday. The prize ideas list has options by budget. Then tell people the date of the next challenge, which for most teams is a New Year challenge in January.
Rules That Work in a Holiday Week
A Thanksgiving challenge has two rule problems a normal challenge does not. Half the team is off for two of the five days, and a lot of them are at someone else's house with no routine. The rules have to be built for that.
| Rule | What it says | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Days off count the same as workdays | Thursday and Friday steps count in full | The point is to keep people moving on the days they would otherwise sit |
| Family steps count | A walk with relatives, a trip around the mall, the kids' football game, all of it counts | Nobody should have to choose between the challenge and the family |
| One device, declared on day one | Phone or watch, not both | Removes the double-count dispute |
| Cap at 25,000 a day | Anything over counts as 25,000 | One Black Friday hike cannot decide a five-day challenge |
| Travel days count | Airport steps are steps | Travel is the biggest reason people stop logging during holiday weeks |
Decide one more thing in advance: whether the Wednesday office trot is scored as steps or as a separate bonus. Either works. If someone cannot make it, a solo walk at the same time counts, so remote staff and people who left early are not penalized.
The Announcement, Ready to Copy
Subject: Office Turkey Trot: walk with us the week of Thanksgiving
Hi everyone,
From Monday, November 23 to Friday, November 27 we are running a Thanksgiving week step challenge. Teams of three to six, daily goal of 6,000 steps, and every day counts, including Thursday and Friday wherever you are.
The main event: a group walk at 12:15 on Wednesday the 25th, two miles, back in time for the early exit. Paper bibs provided. If you are remote, walk at the same time and send a photo.
What you can win: the team with the highest average daily steps gets pie delivered the following Monday and a half day off on a Friday in December.
The rules: one device per person, days over 25,000 steps count as 25,000, and family steps count.
Sign up and name your team by Friday the 13th: [sign-up link]
Walk before the feast, walk after it. See you Wednesday.
[Your name]
Swap the dates, the prize, the link, and your name. Keep it under 130 words.
Mistakes to Avoid
- Running it into December. A turkey trot ends at Thanksgiving. Anything that runs past the holiday weekend turns into a December challenge, and December challenges lose to the calendar.
- Using a normal daily goal. An 8,000 or 10,000 step goal during a travel week convinces people they cannot win by Tuesday. Use 6,000 and let the weekend walks carry it.
- Not counting the days off. If Thursday and Friday do not count, the challenge is three days long and misses the two days it exists for.
- Announcing the week before. By mid-November, travel plans are set. Announce by November 9 so the challenge is part of the plan, not a surprise on top of it.
- Ending without a finish. The Wednesday walk is the finish people remember. Skip it and the challenge ends in an email nobody reads over the weekend.
- Leaving sign-ups to chance. If fewer than half the team has joined by the Wednesday before the challenge, use the participation fixes that work in the first 72 hours. Most of them are a second announcement from a manager.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a turkey trot at work?
A turkey trot at work is a short walking challenge run during the week of Thanksgiving, usually five days long with a group walk on the Wednesday before the holiday. It takes its name from the Thanksgiving morning fun runs, but the workplace version is a walk that counts steps from any phone or watch, including on the days off.
How long should a Thanksgiving walking challenge be?
One week, Monday to Friday of Thanksgiving week, is the right length for most teams. A single Wednesday lunch walk works for a small office. A two-week version starting mid-November works if the team wants a longer run-up, but anything that continues past the holiday weekend collides with December.
Does walking after Thanksgiving dinner actually help?
Yes. A 2022 meta-analysis in Sports Medicine found that light walking breaks of two to five minutes lowered the rise in blood sugar after a meal by about 17% compared with staying seated, and did more than standing. A slow lap around the block after dinner is enough.
How do remote employees join a workplace turkey trot?
Steps are tracked on a phone or watch wherever the person is, so a remote employee competes on the same leaderboard. For the Wednesday office trot, remote staff walk at the same time in their own neighborhood and post a photo. Family and travel steps count the same for everyone.
What is a good daily step goal for Thanksgiving week?
Use 6,000 steps a day rather than the usual 8,000 or 10,000. People are traveling or hosting, and a goal they can hit with a morning walk and an after-dinner walk keeps them logging through the days off.
When should we announce a Thanksgiving step challenge?
Two weeks before it starts, which for 2026 means by November 9. Travel plans for Thanksgiving week are set early, and a challenge that people hear about in time becomes part of the plan instead of an extra thing on top of it.
What are good prizes for a turkey trot at work?
Keep them small and seasonal. A pie delivered to the winning team the Monday after, a pumpkin bread, a half day off on a Friday in December, or a donation to a local food bank in the winning team's name all work. The group walk and the bragging rights do most of the motivating.
The Bottom Line
A turkey trot at work is a one-week challenge with a finish line everyone already has on the calendar. Pick the format, set a daily goal low enough to survive a travel week, count the days off, and run the Wednesday walk like a small event. Announce it by November 9 and it becomes part of the holiday plan instead of competing with it.
If you would rather not run it on spreadsheets, Pacer for Teams tracks steps from any phone or wearable and scores by team average automatically, at the office or at a relative's house. Start a free 7-day trial and the challenge can be set up before you announce it.
Leo Lei is a Marketing Specialist at Pacer, where he covers workplace wellness and walking challenges. He works with step data from thousands of companies on Pacer to write practical guides for HR and people teams running their own challenges.
