COST: This Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot is offered for a cheap price ($17 or free if you've ran another event with this company within the year) AND they offer it twice; the day of Thanksgiving and an early bird event the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving. I ran 2 of their races this summer so I jumped on the opportunity for a free race. However, you have to pay extra if you want the swag. I bought the finishers' medal ($7) and a long sleeve cotton shirt ($15)...so it wasn't truly a free race for me because I like to collect medals and shirts from all events.

PARKING: It is close to the course and free.

COURSE: It is a 3 mile loop so if you run the 10K, 15K, or half marathon option, you're running a loop. This didn't bother me. There were a couple of hills. I think I recall 2 water stations (I used my handheld bottle so I didn't pay much attention). For those running the 15K or half marathon, I believe the participants needed to bring their own gels/electrolytes.

ORGANIZATION: Strollers, dogs, and kids (parents are supposed to register them) are allowed on the course, so keep that in mind if you're looking for courses that do or don't allow this. The announcer made a PSA and asked that the fast runners line up in the front and walkers in the back, which was so nice for the FAST runners! Like most races without corrals, it did get very cluttered after the race started. There were a lot of participants, it took me almost 1 min 30 seconds just to get to the start line once the race started and I lined up where I thought I should (middle of the pack).

CONS:
-The finish line was CLUTTERED with finishers just standing around blocking those who were sprinting into the finish zone. I heard the announcer ask that finishers please move out of that zone but there were no volunteers escorting runners/walkers out of the finish line.
-Those who already finished the race had to cut across the course to get to the other side of the sidewalks when walking to their cars or to get to family/friends. Most seemed to be aware of the runners, while others didn't.
-It isn't a closed course so runners had to be aware to run inside of the cones on the roads. Random people were on the course. A couple guys (no bibs) were laughing and smoking cigarettes right next to all the runners.

AWARDS/RESULTS: They offered age group awards and had one mounted screen that showed finish times (the other screen wasn't working). For those who didn't wait around to see their times, results were posted the next day online. I like that they show you gun time and chip time.

FOOD/VENDORS: Finishers were offered water, bananas and Whole Foods brand cereal bars. I also saw a yogurt vendor.

I thought it was well ran and will opt to run this course again if I don't run the downtown half marathon next year. Their races are great for those who prefer smaller crowds.