The St. Paul Turkey Trot is a good option for those who want to avoid the total craziness of the downtown Minneapolis 5K. They offer a 6K and 10K on Thanksgiving morning.

Packet pickup was available a full week before the race at a running store in St. Paul. Super convenient and the store offers 20% off whenever you're picking up a bib.

The race is run by MN Run Series, who is one of the best in the state for races (second only to the mammoth, Twin Cities in Motion, in my opinion). They have the best announcer (same guy at every race!), are super organized with signage and information and just run great races. The medals get a bit boring as they use the same design throughout the year and just swap out the logo, but they are always nice quality. A long-sleeved running shirt was included as well (they provide short-sleeve shirts for warmer-weather races).

This particular race is on Shepard Rd. in St. Paul along the river, so parking was $5 at either the RiverCentre Ramp or Science Museum. Warning: traffic off the highways and into the ramp was awful. I saw lots of 10Kers just arriving when they should already have started their race. Next time I would try to find an alternative parking location, as it took quite awhile to exit the ramp as well.

Both courses are an out and back along the river. It is a rolling hills course, but nothing too crazy. The 6K runs long; my Garmin measured 4 miles and I thought it was due to weaving around walkers, etc. but other people have confirmed it hits 4 miles every year. Just something to be aware of. Not sure if the 10K course is long as well.

Highly recommend this as a fun, mid-sized (the 6K had 1,420 runners) turkey trot!

This was a fun Thanksgiving race to do if you're looking to avoid the gigantic downtown races. They offer a 5K and 10K.

Packet pick-up was available at a local running store starting a week ahead of the race, as well as the morning of. It was not advertised for this, however. It was advertised on their Facebook page as well as the race page as only being available the day before Thanksgiving by 5:00 p.m. or the morning of. The weekend before the race I happened to see an Instagram post stating packet pick-up was now available. This poor communication (there was also a lack of email notifications for reminders before the race, etc.) was the only bad part of the race, but it is something that should be fixed in my opinion.

Along with the bib, a long-sleeved Brooks technical shirt came with registration. Very fun logo and nice quality.

Race day was great. The parking lot right by the lake that is normally for the business center was free to us to use due to it being a holiday, and there was an abundance of spots. Super easy and very, very nice to sit in my warm car until the last minute.

The race went off without a hitch around Bde Maka Ska, a very nice lake. There were no aid stations for the 5K, which was fine as you don't need them for that short of a race (there was water for the 10K race at one stop). The Happy Thanksgiving banners that lined the finish line chute were a nice seasonal touch. The medals were very fun as well.

Post-race snacks included water, crackers, salted nut roll candy bars, granola or protein bars, and chips.

Overall it was a very good race to do if you'd rather not deal with the huge crowds of many other holiday races (546 people were in the 5K, much less even in the 10K) but still have music, a nice finish line, nice swag, etc.

I hope they improve the communication and incorrect info they posted everywhere in the future. Thanksgiving week is very busy for most people, and having correct info before the race is imperative. Anderson Race Management may be at fault for this as they ran the race.

This is a fantastic 5K that occurs during the big marathon weekend in the Twin Cities. Since it's part of marathon weekend, there is a good expo at the RiverCentre that starts the day before the 5K. 5K participants can visit the expo for packet pick-up, or they can pick up their packets the morning of the race. Swag at pick-up included a short-sleeve Brooks technical shirt and marathon weekend-branded gloves that came in very handy on the chilly race morning! The 5K starts and finishes at the State Capitol building in St. Paul, the same finish line as the marathon. The course is uphill for the first mile as you head out of downtown and into the charming Summit Avenue neighborhood. There was one water station about halfway through the race, followed by a great downhill finish back to the Capitol. A quality medal, bottle of water and several food choices (granola bars, Cliff bars, bananas, fruit cup, crackers) await you at the finish line. As this is set up for the marathon finishers the next day, there were plenty of porta-potties available and no wait time for them. Parking was easy and reasonable at $10 at the History Center a block or two away. You can probably find cheaper meters further away, but the History Center was easy in and out and right next to the festivities. Highly recommend this race for people who want to be apart of marathon weekend without going the full 26.2!

This was a fun Halloween-themed race next to the Mississippi River. A 5K, 10K and Half Marathon are all offered. It started on the cobblestone of Main Street, then crossed the river before returning on the Stone Arch Bridge.

There was no expo, but packet pick-up was offered for the full week before the races at Running Room in St. Paul. It was nice to be able to go in on my own schedule with such a wide window for pick-up.

The long-sleeve tech shirt was very nice with great Halloween graphics. Even the back had a charming Minnesota Frankenstein graphic in addition to the typical list of sponsors.

Parking was suggested at a few ramps, but only one was on the side of the river as the start and finish. Clearly, this became very crowded, and cars were lined up very far as many people did not come at the suggested 7:30 a.m. arrival time. I arrived early and had no problems getting in quickly.

The announcer was great at the start and finish (he said your name as you approached the finish line, which was a nice touch), and Halloween-themed music was played at the start line.

There was no aid station for the 5K along the way, they only provided aid stations for the 10K and Half Marathon. I never stop for water for 5Ks so it didn't matter to me, but just mentioning this as it's a bit unusual. 5Ks typically have one water stop.

The medal was very nice at the finish, and there was plenty of food choices available (water, bananas, apples, chips, protein bars).

The one thing I would suggest to the race organizers would be to at least make an announcement about slower runners/walkers starting in the back. There were no pace signs, and many walkers started smack dab in the front. The beginning of the race was quite annoying having to run around walkers and/or groups of people 4+ in a line across the street. If there aren't pace signs, at least make an announcement, please!

Overall, this is a very fun race and I would do it again!