The numbers from 4th of July runs are in! At this point, Turkey Trots are as synonymous with Thanksgiving as pumpkin pie, and the increasing popularity of July 4th runs suggests runners are up for more holiday races. While July 4th races are smaller and fewer than Thanksgiving day runs new races are popping up and traditional races are growing.
More Races, More Runners
We’ve seen an increase in July 4th runs, both in terms of the number of races and the number of runners over recent years. In fact, in 2024 we saw a 46% increase in the number of races and a 64% increase in the number of participants on RunSignup. While some of that is likely due to increasing market share for our platform, we believe some of it also represents increased participation.
The average size of each individual race is also growing, with 428 runners in the average race in 2024, up from just 294 in 2019. And some races were really big: 37 July 4th races had more than 1,000 participants. Annually, just 5.1% of races exceed 1,000 runners.
In addition to an increasing number of races, existing races also saw growth. When we compared July 4th races that were on our platform in both 2023 and 2024, we saw a 14.9% increase in per-race participation.
July 4th Runs in 48 States!
Running patriotism was on display across the country, with July 4th races in 48 states (all but Delaware and North Dakota). The most firework excited states? Ohio hosted 36 races on RunSignup, and Pennsylvania had 30, followed by California (28), Michigan (27) and Texas (22).
July 4th RaceDay Stats
The July 4th race day experience was seamless for participants, with 47% of all races using the RaceDay CheckIn App to check-in 54% of all participants.
RaceDay Scoring also had a busy day, with 30,394 participants timed with the next generation timing software.
Races kept finishers and spectators informed about their finish information, with 102 races sending out 95,402 email and SMS notifications for finish times and split points.
Holidays + Events
We’ve obviously been tracking Thanksgiving runs for many years, and we’re now keeping an eye on July 4th. But it’s not just races: holiday seasons see a lot of opportunity to bring people together for shared experiences. With TicketSignup, our busiest times of the year are around holidays, especially Halloween Haunts and Holiday light shows. Whatever the type of event, it’s clear that there is opportunity for events (especially those with a social focus) around our holidays!