Sunday, November 22, 2026. Overland Park, Kansas. If you have been circling a fall half and not yet committed, this is the one to circle back to — and you still have time to train for it.
The Gobbler Grind has been part of Johnson County's running calendar for nearly three decades, and it's now in its 33rd year. It lands on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, which means you get a holiday-week long run with a finish line, a medal, and the smug satisfaction of having banked your miles before the turkey even goes in the oven. It's also one of Kansas' oldest marathons, and the kind of race that has quietly knitted the Kansas and Missouri running communities together for years.
A 95 out of 100 quality score puts it in Runner Favorite territory. That's not a marketing number — that's runners telling you this one is worth the drive.
The Course: Rolling, Out-and-Back, and Certified
The half is an out-and-back with mixed terrain and rolling hills. Translation: you will not be bored, and you will not be lulled into a flat-course trance either. Rolling means honest work on the way out and honest work on the way back — the kind of course where you feel the effort but never feel like you're climbing a mountain.
It's a USATF certified course, so your time counts for what it says it counts for. If you're chasing a personal best or a qualifying standard, that certification matters, and it's the sort of detail that separates a race you brag about from a race you have to explain.
Out-and-back also means you get to see the runners ahead of you and the runners behind you. On a fall morning in Kansas, with the trees turning, that's a feature rather than a flaw.
The Experience: A Thanksgiving-Eve Tradition With Real Atmosphere
Some races feel like a big event. This one feels like a tradition — the difference being that traditions have people who show up every year, and this race does. Its longevity is the whole story. Thirty-three years is long enough that runners have gone from first-timers to veterans here, and long enough that the Kansas and Missouri running scenes have basically agreed to share it.
Race day is the Sunday before Thanksgiving, so the mood is a little festive and a little "let's get this done before the family arrives." It's a road race with a marathon, half, 10K and 5K all on the same morning, which means you'll share the start area with everyone from speedsters to first-timers to people who signed up for the 5K purely to justify pie.
If you've run big-city halves, this will feel warmer. If you've run small-town races, this will feel more polished. It's the sweet spot where a historic race still remembers it's supposed to be fun.
Who It Fits Best
First-timers. A rolling out-and-back on certified roads is a genuinely forgiving introduction to 13.1. You know exactly what you're getting, the field is welcoming, and the 10K and 5K options mean your support crew can race too. November 22 gives you a real training block if you start now.
PR-seekers. The USATF certification is your friend, and the rolling terrain rewards runners who pace patiently rather than blasting the first miles. Cool late-November temperatures are working in your favor too. This is a course where a smart race plan beats a brave one.
50-state chasers. This is a Kansas race with genuine history behind it, run in a part of the state that pulls from two metro areas. If you're working through the map, Kansas deserves better than a checkbox — and the 33rd running of an established race is a good reason to make the trip.
Logistics and Weather
Overland Park sits in the Kansas City metro, so getting there is straightforward whether you're flying in or driving from Missouri. Race day is Sunday, November 22, 2026.
Expect a typical race-day high around 51°F and a low around 36°F. That's near-perfect half marathon weather — cool enough to keep you honest, warm enough that you won't spend the first three miles trying to feel your fingers. Layers you can shed at the start line are the move.
The Bottom Line
This is a Runner Favorite with real history, a certified course, and a date that gives you a training plan you can actually finish. Register now, build your fall block around November 22, and spend Thanksgiving knowing you already earned the pie.
See the Gobbler Grind Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K & 5K race page for the full details and to get registered.