Thu, Nov 26, 2026

131st Annual YMCA Buffalo Niagara Turkey Trot

Buffalo, NY

Registration openAnnual since at least 2015

Entry is $45 now and rises to $51 after Oct 9, 2026, so registering before then saves $6.

About the 131st Annual YMCA Buffalo Niagara Turkey Trot

The Turkey Trot runs through the streets of Buffalo on Thanksgiving morning, which means the city is quiet, the air is cold, and a lot of people show up in costume. It is a road race with a long history behind it, the kind of thing families have done together for generations.

Packet pickup runs at a YMCA branch in Amherst across several days before Thanksgiving, with race-morning pickup available at the Delaware Family YMCA on Delaware Avenue in North Buffalo. The race-day site is also the start area, so you can pick up and line up without moving far.

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Finish-Time Stats

Going by the 2025 results, this is a big field, and the spread of finish times is wide, so this is a mostly recreational race rather than one for club runners.

8K · 2025 results

10,500finishers

24:26winner

55:53median

2:06:34cutoff

Top 3: Joseph Whelan (24:26) · Michael Brannigan (25:24) · Thomas Appenheimer (25:34)

The 131st Annual YMCA Buffalo Niagara Turkey Trot has been held every year since at least 2015. That is as far back as RunSignup's records for this race go, so it may well be older.

Where Would You Finish?

Enter a finish time to see where it lands against the most recent 8K results.

Median

See how your time stacks up nationally →

How we calculate these stats: RunSesh calculates these figures from the most recent published results of past editions, sourced from RunSignup. We show aggregates only: field size, winning and median times, and the cutoff. We never publish individual finisher tables. Last updated Sep 10, 2026.

Distances & Start Times

8K11/26/2026 09:00$45

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Common Questions About the 131st Annual YMCA Buffalo Niagara Turkey Trot

Will I finish last at the 131st Annual YMCA Buffalo Niagara Turkey Trot?

Almost certainly not. Half the 8K field finished slower than 55:53, and the last recorded finisher came in around 2:06:34, so there is a long tail of runners behind the middle of the pack. Most fields are far slower than people expect.

Is the 131st Annual YMCA Buffalo Niagara Turkey Trot a good first 8K?

With 10,500 finishers there are runners at every pace, so you are never out on your own. There is no qualifying time, and the finish-time spread above shows how varied the field really is. If it is your first 8K, that spread matters more than the winner's time.

How competitive is the 131st Annual YMCA Buffalo Niagara Turkey Trot?

The 8K winner ran 24:26 while the median finisher took 55:53. That spread points to a broad, mostly recreational field rather than a race dominated by club runners.