On weekday mornings this fall, from 7:45 to 8:15, kids at South Oceanside Elementary are doing laps before the first bell. Volunteers set up the course for five minutes, count laps for twenty, and spend the last five recording totals and cleaning up. Any runner who logs at least 12 laps in a week earns a reward. Over the six-week session, the top 10 get an extra prize and are recognized at the school's Soaring Seahawk Assembly.
Last Thanksgiving, that same program put 49 people on the O'side Turkey Trot's team leaderboard. No team in the race had more.
This is a race that, according to its organizer, San Diego Running Co., pulls in participants from 46 states and more than 500 cities. Runner's World and the Los Angeles Times have both listed it among the country's top trots. Even so, the biggest organized group at the 2025 start line was a before-school lap club from the south end of Oceanside. The race also works in the other direction. Every South O household that signs up can send part of its entry fee back to that school.
The 2025 leaderboard
The Trot gives prizes to its five largest teams, and the organizer posts the final counts. The 2025 list shows a school club beating out established adult running groups:
| 2025 rank | Team | Members |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Oceanside Elementary Run Club | 49 |
| 2 | PCRC | 34 |
| 3 | Carlsbad Coastal Runners | 30 |
| 4 | El Camino Cross Country Team | 28 |
| 5 | MY PHYSIO FOR LIFE | 25 |
The gap between first and second was 15 people. That makes the South O group about 44 percent larger than the runner-up, which is an adult club.
The scale of the event makes those 49 more striking. The race began on Coast Highway in 2006 with 2,000 runners, according to The Coast News. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the 2023 race drew nearly 10,000 runners and walkers. In a field that size, one neighborhood campus turned out more people under one team name than any running club in North County did.
The race grew out of a simple idea. Kathy Kinane and Richard Muscio founded it in 2006. "We wanted something families could share together year after year," Kinane told The Coast News in 2025. A team built around kids and their families is the kind of entry that idea had in mind.
How a 30-minute club gets that big
The club runs through the South O PTO, and it is set up so almost any family can take part. It's open to every student from TK through 5th grade. Kids pick which days they come. Nobody has to show up every morning, and they can run, walk, or mix the two. Family members are welcome to stay and run with their child.
The volunteer ask is just as small. The PTO says one morning a week is enough, and a volunteer can take one, two, or all three of the jobs: setup, lap counting, and recording laps plus cleanup.
Because parents are already standing at the track at 7:45, a family Thanksgiving 5K is an easy next step. The club's own history points the same way. A 2019 PTO sign-up form tied that spring session to the Carlsbad 5000, so the club has used local races as goals for years.
The fall 2026 session runs October 12 through November 20, and the spring 2027 session is still listed as TBD. That puts the last scheduled lap morning six days before the race. The PTO page hasn't announced a 2026 Trot team, so families who want to run together this year will be registering on their own or as a group.
Where a South O entry fee can end up
Here's where the race connects back to the neighborhood in money. During registration, each 5K runner can pick a beneficiary. According to the organizer, 10 percent of every 5K registration fee goes to the charity chosen at signup, and you have to make a selection for that donation to happen. The 2026 primary nonprofit partner is the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, which the organizer says serves an average of 400,000 people a month through more than 450 nonprofit partners.
The organizer also posts how 2025 registrants split their picks among causes chosen by at least 20 people. Here's an excerpt, with the Food Bank on top and Oceanside schools grouped near South O Elementary:
| 2025 beneficiary | Registrants who chose it |
|---|---|
| San Diego Food Bank | 1,354 |
| Oceanside High School | 94 |
| Casita Center Elementary | 63 |
| South Oceanside Elementary | 52 |
| Palmquist Elementary | 48 |
| Ivey Ranch Elementary | 39 |
| Martin Luther King Jr Middle School | 39 |
In 2025, 52 people picked South Oceanside Elementary, close to the 49 on the run club's team. That count of selections isn't the same thing as the team roster, but the two numbers line up. Every one of those picks sent a share of a 5K fee back to the school a few blocks from Coast Highway.
The race's charity totals are large, though the organizer's figures vary by page. Its event page says more than $500,000 over 20 years, and its charity section puts the figure above $550,000. If your cause isn't on the registration list, the organizer asks you to email [email protected] about adding it.
Thanksgiving morning from the south end
The 21st annual race is Thursday, November 26, 2026. The 5K starts at the Civic Center and finishes at the pier, behind the amphitheater on The Strand. The organizer's 2026 schedule:
- 7:00 a.m. Early Wave 5K
- 8:00 a.m. Main Wave 5K
- 8:15 a.m. 5K walk
- 9:45 a.m. Costume contest
- 10:00 a.m. Kids' 1-mile, starting at Tyson and Pacific
- 10:25 a.m. Kids' 1/5-mile, starting at Tyson Park
Visit Oceanside's event page still lists earlier times of 6:45 and 8:05 a.m. Check your confirmation email before you set an alarm. Double Dip entrants run both 5K waves. Strollers have to line up in the final two waves.
Getting there from South O. The organizer's route depends on when you leave. Before 6:30 a.m., take I-5 to Mission Avenue and head west to the Myers Street/Pier View lots, the lots north of Pier View Way, or the lots east of Coast Highway on either side of Mission. After 6:30 a.m., the organizer says to come in on Oceanside Boulevard instead. Head west, cross Coast Highway, then either turn right on Myers Street for the Beach/Train lot, or go right on Tremont and left on Seagaze for the Oceanside Transit parking structure or The SALT structure at Cleveland and Pier View. For South O residents, Oceanside Boulevard is the local road anyway, so the after-6:30 route skips the freeway entirely.
Parking and drop-off. City lots are free Thanksgiving morning until 11:00 a.m. The organizer warns that cars parked in the Walmart or Harbor Freight lots on Mission Avenue will be towed. The Harbor area won't be affected this year, and the Hwy 76/Coast Hwy exit from southbound I-5 stays open throughout the race. If someone is dropping you off, the free drop-off points are Horne and Civic Center, and Freeman and Seagaze. ADA parking is in the lots on Pier View Way and Seagaze west of Coast Highway, plus the Myers Street lots, which you reach from Oceanside Boulevard.
Shuttles. Free shuttles run from 5:30 to 11:00 a.m. from the North Coastal Live Well Healthy Center at 1701 Mission Ave., the Mira Costa Community Learning Center at 1831 Mission Ave., and the Brooks Street Swim Center at 130 Brooks St. Pickup is at Barnes Street and Mission Avenue, and the shuttle drops runners at the start line at Ditmar and Civic Center Drive.
Packets. Pickup and the expo run Wednesday, November 25, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Junior Seau Beach Community Center. Race-morning pickup is 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. at Oceanside Civic Center Plaza.
Putting a team together
Current posted prices, fees included, are $55.99 for the adult 5K, $77.99 for the adult Double Dip, and $34.99 for each kids' race. Runners 18 and under get 20 percent off, and groups of three or more get $3 off per person. The organizer hasn't posted dates for price increases, so today's prices won't necessarily hold until race week.
The top five teams each win a $100 gift certificate from Oceanside restaurants and businesses, and the organizer thanks Ruby's Diner and Stone Brewing for supplying them. The organizer suggests taking team photos at the start line, in front of the Oceanside Museum of Art.
The 2025 numbers set the bar. Last year it took 25 people to make the top five and 49 to take first. A South O team that hits either number this year, with every member picking a neighborhood beneficiary at signup, will send a measurable share of its fees back to the south end of town.
At OwensCPM, we track South Oceanside the same way we read a rent roll, one number at a time, and a 49-person lap club on the Trot leaderboard tells you something about this neighborhood too. If you own rental property in South O and want a partner who knows the area at that level, Schedule a Free Investment Consultation.
