Is it any coincidence that the day we celebrate by gorging ourselves also is America’s most popular day for running? A physician-scientist at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation doesn’t think so.
While there’s no comprehensive tracking of Turkey Trot participation, nearly 1 million people registered through the website RunSignup.com to run or walk in 833 events last Thanksgiving Day, which the platform calls the biggest running day of the year.
“People take part in these events for a variety of reasons, one of which might just be appetite suppression,” said Hal Scofield, M.D. “There’s actually research showing that an intense workout can make you less hungry.”
Indeed, an international team of scientists put mice on tiny treadmills, then compared before-and-after blood samples. In the after samples, they reported finding an abundance of a molecule they later identified as an appetite suppressant.
This molecule, which the scientists named lac-phe, could be of particular use at the Thanksgiving dinner table, where Americans consume a belt-loosening 3,000 calories per capita, according to the Calorie Control Council. The figure soars to 4,500 when desserts, snacks and drinks are added.
By comparison, U.S. Department of Agriculture dietary guidelines recommend 1,600 to 2,400 calories per day for women and 2,000 to 3,000 for men.
Several factors, including speed, terrain and your size, determine how many calories you burn by running, but on average, we burn about 120 calories per mile, according to Harvard Medical School.
In other words, you’d need to run about 25 miles to offset those 3,000 pre-dessert calories.
“Fortunately, our metabolism naturally burns calories throughout the day, even when we’re asleep,” said OMRF’s Scofield, who also serves as associate chief of staff for research at the Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center. “We burn additional calories prepping for Thanksgiving by cooking, cleaning the house and pushing a grocery cart.”
Still, calorie-wise, those chores don’t come close to the impact of a Turkey Trot. In Oklahoma, organized Thanksgiving runs will take place in Ada, Edmond, Fort Gibson, Guthrie, Norman, Oklahoma City, Owasso, Stillwater, Tulsa and Vinita. Most are charity fundraisers featuring 5K and 1-mile options.
Those distances won’t fully burn off your meal to follow, but that’s not the point, says OMRF scientist (and avid runner) Dean Dawson, Ph.D., who began a family tradition of Thanksgiving Day runs with his twin sons about 15 years ago.
“For us, Thanksgiving is a day to celebrate the good things in our lives,” Dawson said. “The outdoors, being with family and having the good health to be able to run are all important things the silly old Turkey Trot helps us celebrate.”
And later, while piling your dinner plate, “you can comfort yourself by remembering that a few hours ago you were killing yourself in a 5K,” Dawson said.
