The History of the Buffalo Turkey Trot: America’s Oldest Footrace
For at least 14,000 people, Thanksgiving in Buffalo starts in the morning with the Turkey Trot, the nation’s oldest, continuous road race, with runners and walkers coalescing into a costumed mass at the old brick YMCA Buffalo Niagara headquarters on Delaware Avenue. Holding paper cups of coffee that double as handwarmers, they wait for the pop of the 9 a.m. start gun in running gear, turkey hats, turkey socks, orange tutus, and fully costumed as turkeys, pilgrims, Santa Claus, elves and Christmas trees.
When the crowd, with the wacky Dr. Suess-esque look of a Whoville holiday mashup, takes off, fans cluster along the curbs ringing cowbells, handing out small cups of water, beer, hot cider and stronger stuff. Just before the street curves its way between Delaware Park and Forest Lawn Cemetery, runners pass through the “doughnut drop.” This is where fans stand on a bridge cheering runners and aiming Tim Hortons Timbits into mouths of those who pause to try for a treat before it falls into a pavement mashup. The five-mile route continues past the mansions of Gilded Age millionaires with cheering crowds and loudspeakers playing rock n’ roll at the curbs, past City Hall to the grand finale party with beer, yogurt, bananas, oranges and apples at the Buffalo Convention Center at 153 Franklin St.
“It puts me in a great mood. I find myself being very thankful. You see all these people and these families. It’s just a big love,” said Joan Golda, who once led a winning costumed team of a Buffalo favorite Sahlen’s hot dog with local fixings.
The History of the Buffalo Turkey Trot
Buffalo’s historic five-mile race, sponsored by the YMCA since Thanksgiving of 1896, has become the nation’s oldest continuously run race. It has gone on through wars, storms and pandemics. The first footrace with six male runners on dirt roads grew to a parade-like jog for thousands of all ages.
“The overwhelming majority of the people that are running the Turkey Trot each year are just people that want to get a good run in before the Thanksgiving meal,” said Micheal Baggerman, YMCA communications director. “Obviously, I don’t think that when they started in 1896 — I don’t think they had any thoughts that it would be what it is today,” he said. “We’re certainly appreciative that they got the ball rolling for us.”
For the 100th anniversary, in 1995, a record 6,003 ran. By 2008, the sign ups swelled to 14,000, a number which now the caps the race, which now sells out every year. Tickets, about $50, have become the YMCA’s biggest fundraiser.
The trot is an item on the Buffalo bucket list, Baggerman said. It’s there along with the day-after-Easter Polish festivities of Dyngus Day, a Buffalo Bills home game tailgate and a stop in Niagara Falls. “But on Thanksgiving Day,” he said, “people need to do the Turkey Trot.”
A Trot Full of Costumes
For Carlie Todoro-Rickus the Turkey Trot is a spectacle that gets her up early. She is an artist who, instead of running, walks to a good viewing spot on Delaware. “The Turkey Trot situates itself between art and sport,” said Todoro-Rickus. She scans the crowd for people she knows and yells out their names. “I love that we have the world’s oldest foot race and it feels like a performance,” she said.
Her favorites include the gingerbread man who she figures must be riffing on the nursery rhyme – “Run, run, run as fast as you can. You’ll never catch me, I’m the gingerbread man.”
Another crowd favorite? The team running the race while carrying canoes. It’s a tradition that goes back to summer camp in Canada.
Since 2009, brothers Michael and Steven Szymkowiak’s routine of joining fellow alumni from Camp Pathfinder in Huntsville, Ontario, and running while carrying a cedar and canvas canoe has led to iconic status: A silhouette of a canoe runner made it on to one of the commemorative Turkey Trot t-shirts and a label for the Turkey Totter beer by Big Ditch Brewing Company.
“The energy was just so positive out there,” said Steven Szymkowiak. “We had people being like, ‘What are you guys doing? What are you thinking? This is crazy! How much does it weigh?’ It was just such a fun experience that we’ve been doing it ever since.”
Altogether the Turkey Trot elements are a motivating mix. “It’s a sense of accomplishment afterwards that that comes with doing it and leaning into the discomfort of carrying a 70-pound canoe for five miles,” said Michael Szymkowiak. “To be a small part of something that has run for as long as it’s run, and to show up, and people kind of get excited to see you — I mean, it’s hard not to want to keep coming back and participating in a race that is that historic.”
For those in costume, the planning process is as much a part of the quest as finishing the race. To create her first-place ensemble, Joan Golda joined forces with her cousin Madison Scheffler to use a wall projector to make big felt versions of beloved local brands — from own her getup as a bottle of Frank’s Hot Sauce to Scheffler’s can of Aunt Rosie’s Loganberry soda, a friend’s jar of Weber’s Mustard and the Sahlen’s hot dog logo on a ruffle around a friend’s daughter’s wheeled runner’s chair.
“It’s almost like a second Halloween. It’s a chance to use your imagination, ,” said Golda. “And you’re entertaining everyone around you. You’re making other people smile.”
Where to Watch the Trot
Runners start gathering around 8 a.m. at and around the Y building at 2564 Delaware next door to the Delta Sonic Car Wash. Once the race starts at 9 a.m., the best viewing also starts about 1.5 miles away at Middlesex Road near the “doughnut drop” bridge before Delaware curves past Forest Lawn Cemetery to Forest Avenue, where good places to stand by the curb begin again and continue along Delaware to the race’s end at the Buffalo Convention Center at 153 Franklin St.
