For Garden City's Turkey Trot, Race Day Starts the Night Before Thanksgiving
November 5, 2026
November 5, 2026
On Thanksgiving morning, the streets around St. Paul's School close to cars before the first runner starts. Thousands of people will be on foot near Stewart and Rockaway avenues. That includes the Challenger Division competitors at 8:30 a.m., the Fun Run walkers and stroller pushers at 9:30, and the 5-mile field at 10. The race's own instructions put it plainly: "THERE IS NO RACE DAY PARKING AT ST. PAUL'S AND THE ROADS LEADING TO ST. PAUL's CLOSE EARLY SO PLAN AHEAD!"
The 2026 Garden City Turkey Trot is on Thursday, November 26, at St. Paul's School, 285 Stewart Avenue. The race has grown enough that most of the planning for Thursday now happens on Wednesday, and some of it happens this week.
Garden City News reported that "just about 7,000 runners" took part in the 48th annual race on Thanksgiving 2025. The paper counted close to 3,000 of them in the 1.4-mile Fun Run. That makes this year's race the 49th.
The bigger change shows up in the timed race. Elitefeats, the race's timing company, posted 2025 results showing 1,726 men and 1,555 women finishing the 5-mile course on November 27, 2025, for 3,281 finishers in all. The 2024 results show 1,147 men and 870 women finishing the same distance, or 2,017 finishers. That's an increase of 1,264 people, about 63 percent, in one year.
For comparison, Garden City News called the 40th race in 2017 "the biggest race to date," with close to 7,000 runners. The total crowd has been large for years. What has changed recently is how many people line up for the 5 miles at 10 a.m., and they all need a bib, a timing chip and a T-shirt from the same field house.
Packet pickup runs Wednesday, November 25, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the St. Paul's School field house, 295 Stewart Avenue. That's next door to the 285 Stewart address the race uses for the event itself. The race's FAQ page makes the case for coming then:
"Please help us by picking up your race number and timing chip on Wednesday evening. It's quick and easy with parking right outside the field house door!"
On Wednesday you can park outside the field house door. On Thursday you can't park at St. Paul's at all. The FAQ suggests Garden City High School, the Garden City train station and the Garden City Library. Race-day pickup starts at 8 a.m., and the event asks anyone picking up Thursday to get there at least 60 minutes before their start. For a 10 a.m. 5-miler, that means reaching the field house by 9, after parking somewhere else and walking in.
Pickup works the same way on either day. Pre-registered 5-mile runners collect their number and chip at the pre-registration table, where numbers are handed out by bib number. Fun Run and Challenger entrants have their own tables, and everyone picks up shirts at the T-shirt table. Your bib number comes by text to the cell phone on your registration before the race, so it's on your phone when you walk in.
Here's what to have done by Wednesday night:
The 2026 registration page on Elitefeats lists three price tiers. Each one applies from the date shown, and processing fees are added at checkout.
| Event | Early bird | From November 14 | After 9 p.m. November 24 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.4-mile Fun Run | $20 | $25 | $30 |
| 5-mile race | $30 | $40 | $45 |
This post publishes on November 12, so early-bird prices have two days left. Waiting until after 9 p.m. on Tuesday, November 24, adds $15 to a 5-mile entry and $10 to a Fun Run entry compared with signing up this week. A family of four doing the Fun Run would pay $40 more. The deadline for having your name printed on your bib was November 1, so new 5-mile registrations get a number only.
Late registration is still available, but the rules differ by event. According to the race FAQ, online registration for the 5-mile race stays open until 9:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving, and your bib number is texted shortly after you sign up. You can also register in person at St. Paul's, but only with cash. Late registration for the Fun Run and Challenger is in person only, at the field house, and ends at 9 a.m. It's cash only, and spots are limited.
Once the Wednesday errands are done, Thursday follows the schedule below. The course is controlled by police and closed to cars for the race.
| Start | Event | Distance | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8:30 a.m. | Challenger Division | 0.18 mile | Short separate course for physically challenged competitors; includes T-shirt |
| 9:30 a.m. | Fun Run/Walk | 1.4 miles | Untimed; includes T-shirt |
| 10:00 a.m. | 5-mile run/walk | 5 miles | Chip-timed by Elitefeats; includes T-shirt |
The FAQ answers the questions families tend to have. Walkers are welcome in both the Fun Run and the 5-mile race, and strollers are allowed in both. The race goes on "rain or shine," and the FAQ adds that "we run in the snow too." There's no secure bag check, but the indoor field house is open before and after the race. That's useful on a cold morning, though valuables shouldn't be left unattended.
According to the race's instructions, Elitefeats times the 5 miles with a chip built into the bib, and finish times are texted to runners and posted online. For reference, Brendan Martin, 36, won the 2025 race in 24:33.13, a pace of 4:55 per mile.
The race is organized by Turkey Trot Race Committee Inc., which does business as The Garden City Turkey Trot. The 2026 registration page calls the race a fundraiser for four groups: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, MDA Muscular Dystrophy Association, Council 1869, and The INN, which serves hungry and homeless Long Islanders. At checkout, registrants can add a donation to any of the four. There's also a donation-only option for people who want to give without registering.
The food drive needs nothing but something from the pantry. The FAQ asks everyone to "BRING NON-PERISHABLE FOOD TO THE RACE FOR THE TURKEY TROT FOOD DRIVE." If you're in the field house Wednesday night anyway, you can bring your donation with you.
The race also depends on volunteers, and Garden City News described the hundreds who worked alongside the race committee in 2025. Anyone who wants to help this year can email the committee at [email protected].
The top prizes go to the 5-mile race. The Jim Flynn Memorial Trophy goes to the overall winner, and Garden City News reported that Brendan Martin took both the 2025 race and the trophy. The Patrick Ryan Award goes to the first Garden City runner to finish. It honors Patrick Ryan, a Garden City High School student in the class of 1993 who volunteered at the Turkey Trot.
That second award keeps a local prize inside a race that draws runners from well beyond Garden City. Last year's overall winner came from Brooklyn, according to Garden City News. So even with more than 3,000 people finishing the 5 miles, the first Garden City runner across the line still gets a trophy of their own.
Leatherman Homes follows events like the Turkey Trot closely because they shape how Garden City's streets work, and on Thanksgiving morning that means road closures around St. Paul's. If you have questions about the village, from race-week traffic to the blocks near Stewart Avenue, Let's Talk.
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