Run With Friends, the group producing the new race at Centennial Park, describes what it is building as "a joyful kickoff to a day of gratitude, food, and time with the people you love," and its vision for the Friendswood Turkey Trot says it wants this to be "the event you look forward to every year." Until this year, a Friendswood household that wanted a Thanksgiving race had to leave town for it. On Thursday, Nov. 26, 2026, the first Friendswood Turkey Trot & Festival opens at 7 a.m. and closes at 11 a.m. That is the same hour the city's Thanksgiving restaurant service begins. You can start the holiday at a local start line and end it at a local table without leaving Friendswood.
A First-Year Race Built From Local Parts
The race's sponsorship page calls this the "inaugural Friendswood Turkey Trot & Festival" and invites businesses to help "build a new Friendswood Thanksgiving tradition." The event is produced by Run With Friends. The group's plan lists local charities as beneficiaries, local businesses as partners, local musicians and neighbors who volunteer.
You can already see that in how the morning is organized. The Primrose School of Friendswood is the presenting sponsor of the Kids 1K. The festival page describes a free festival with a marketplace for local makers and small businesses, music and entertainment, games and family activities, and Thanksgiving costumes. Vendor booths cost $200, and food trucks pay no booth fee. That pricing makes it easier for a food truck than for a booth vendor to show up on a holiday morning. The race's donation page shows a $10,000 goal.
The first year of a recurring event sets its habits. These include the start times, the booths and where families end up standing at 9 a.m. A household that goes this year helps decide what the race becomes.
Three Start Times, Three Distances
The race is built around one 3.1-mile loop. According to the Race Day Guide, the 5K runs it once and the 10K runs it twice, while the Kids 1K covers 0.6 miles. The starts are staggered, so one family can cover all three events in a single morning.
| Event | Distance | Start | Listed entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10K Run | 6.2 miles, two loops | 7:30 a.m. | $50 |
| 5K Run/Walk | 3.1 miles, one loop | 7:50 a.m. | $40 |
| Primrose Kids 1K | 0.6 miles, untimed | 9:00 a.m. | $15 |
The listed prices don't include RunSignup service fees, and the registration page says they increase after 11:59 p.m. CST on Nov. 10, 2026.
The schedule works well for mixed-age households. A parent can run the 10K at 7:30 while a partner walks the 5K at 7:50. Both should be finished before the kids line up at 9:00. The 5K page invites people to "run it, jog it, or walk it," so a grandparent can join without training. The festival runs on both sides of the races, from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., so people who aren't running still have a reason to come to Centennial Park.
Packet pickup is Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2026. Organizers will send the time and location to registered participants, and parking instructions and any race-day traffic restrictions will be announced before Thanksgiving. If you pick up your bib Wednesday, Thursday morning starts with getting to Centennial Park, not standing in a pickup line.
Eleven O'Clock Is the Handoff
The festival ends at 11 a.m. Two Friendswood steakhouses start Thanksgiving service at that same hour. Both serve until 9 p.m., which leaves room for a shower, a nap and a later meal.
Perry & Sons Market & Grille is serving Thanksgiving on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Thanksgiving menu costs $49 per person for dine-in or to-go. It includes a garden salad, sliced smoked turkey breast with pan gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry relish, homemade bread, and a choice of pumpkin or pecan pie. The full dinner menu is also available. The family-style to-go dinner feeds four or more for $169, and orders are taken by phone at 281-482-2842. At four guests, the family-style dinner costs about $42 a person, compared with $49 for individual plates.
Perry's Steakhouse & Grille – Baybrook, at 700 Baybrook Mall Drive, is serving a $59 Thanksgiving menu for dine-in from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Nov. 26. Takeout preorders can be picked up Nov. 25 or Nov. 26. From 4 to 9 p.m., the restaurant also offers its caramelized prime rib for $59. If you pick up Wednesday, the turkey is in your kitchen before race morning.
To cook at home but buy the dessert table, Savannah Cafe & Bakery in Webster, at 14020 Galveston Road, Suite 180, is the closest option in this lineup with a set holiday order window. Its 2026 holiday order form lists full pies and a $279.99 turkey dinner that serves 10 to 12. Orders are due Monday, Nov. 23, and pickup is Wednesday, Nov. 25, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. That is the same Wednesday as packet pickup, so one round of errands can cover both.
What Pearland's Move Says About a Race in Its First Year
The Pearland Turkey Trot, the long-running race next door, is also on Nov. 26, and it shows what happens as a race like this grows. Community Impact reported on Oct. 15, 2026, that the race is leaving its previous route at Independence Park. It will now start and finish at the Pearland Recreation Center and Natatorium and use the inside lanes of Bailey Road between Veterans Drive and Allen Road. The outlet reported that organizers decided after the 2026 Pearland Half Marathon that both events had outgrown Independence Park. The city then asked them to find a layout that could hold more participants with less impact on the neighborhood. Per Community Impact, the inside Bailey Road lanes close at 7 a.m., and some intersections stay closed until about 10 a.m.
Prices show the difference between an established race and a new one. On the Pearland Turkey Trot registration page, the 5K is $50 plus a $6.75 signup fee and the 10K is $60 plus $7.35, with increases after Nov. 11. Friendswood's 5K and 10K are each listed $10 lower. In its first year, Friendswood's race starts and finishes at Centennial Park, and you can reach it without driving to another city on the holiday morning.
The Dates From Now Through the Parade, in Order
Friendswood's Thanksgiving season comes down to a few dates. Here they are in the order they arrive:
- Nov. 10, 11:59 p.m. CST: Friendswood Turkey Trot entry prices increase after this point.
- Monday, Nov. 23: Holiday order deadline at Savannah Cafe & Bakery in Webster.
- Wednesday, Nov. 25: Race packet pickup, Perry's Baybrook takeout pickup window opens, and Savannah pickup from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Thursday, Nov. 26, 7 to 11 a.m.: Festival and races at Centennial Park, with Thanksgiving service at Perry & Sons and Perry's Baybrook from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Friday, Dec. 4: Signup deadline for entries in the Christmas Lighted Parade.
- Saturday, Dec. 12, 6 to 8 p.m.: The Friendswood Chamber of Commerce Christmas Lighted Parade. It starts at East Heritage Drive by First Baptist Church, runs along South Friendswood Drive/FM 518 and ends at Stevenson Park for Santa in the Park.
If you're hosting family this Thanksgiving and want a local's plan for the long weekend, or you're thinking about what the next year in Friendswood could look like, Living Vogue Real Estate would be glad to talk it through. Request a Complimentary Concierge Consultation, and we'll have a reply to you before race day.
