Scandalous Turkey Trotting

To many Dallas folks, the Turkey Trot is the official kickoff to Thanksgiving Day activities. Running through the streets of downtown justifies the calorie-laden foods to follow. Dallas’ original trot was held in the early 1940’s at Fair Park, but the race did not become an annual event until 1968 when an 8-mile course was designated around the shore of White Rock Lake ‘to the big oak tree and back’.

In 1979, the race was relocated downtown to accommodate more runners and to showcase the city. A few years later, the 3-mile Fun Run/Walk was added to attract families. The course became a certified 5K in 2009.

In the early 1900’s, when Dallas was an up-and-coming city (population 45,000+/-), the turkey trot was a dance performed to fast ragtime music such as Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag. With hopping, side-stepping and scissor-like flicks of the feet, it was quite the scandalous dance! Newspapers of the day reported turkey-trotting dancers fined for disorderly conduct. In Philadelphia, fifteen working girls employed at a publishing company were fired when caught trotting on their lunch break. In 1913, our Waco neighbors banned the dance at the Central Labor Ball reporting “no new-fangled dances will be tolerated” including the tango, bunny hug and turkey trot…

You won’t catch me doing either type of turkey trot on Thanksgiving. I’ll be cooking and watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, less strenuous yet equally popular Turkey Day activities.

But I will admit the amount of sugar in my pecan pie is a bit immoral.