The 10th annual Turkey Trot on The Ranch is Thursday, November 26, 2026. It doesn't loop back to where it began. The 10K and 5K start at The Pavilion at 2 Tierno Road in Esencia and finish at Sendero Field, a village away. The Little Gobbler's 1K starts and finishes at Sendero Field. That means a family with one runner in the 5K and one child in the 1K has two starting lines and one finish to plan around. Where you park, which streets you can use to leave Esencia, and whether you need the shuttle all follow from that layout.
Two starting lines, one finish line
Here's the morning as the race lays it out for 2026.
| Time | What's happening | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 6:00 a.m. | Three Esencia street closures begin | Fauna Dr, Esencia Dr, Andaza St |
| 7:00 a.m. | Race-day packet pickup opens; RanchRide shuttle starts circulating | The Pavilion; shuttle loop |
| 8:00 a.m. | 10K start | Andaza Street behind The Pavilion |
| 8:30 a.m. | 5K start | Andaza Street behind The Pavilion |
| 9:00 a.m. | 1K packet pickup opens | Sendero Field |
| 10:00 a.m. | Little Gobbler's 1K start; Esencia closures end around now | Sendero Field |
| 11:30 a.m. | Shuttle service ends | Shuttle loop |
The free RanchRide shuttle is what connects the two ends. The race FAQ says it runs about every 10 to 15 minutes between The Pavilion, Sendero Field and the Guest House from 7 to 11:30 a.m. Parking is free too, in two clusters. Near the start, the race lists The Pavilion, Esencia Farm, Esencia K–8 School and nearby street parking. Near the finish, it lists the Guest House, Reata Park, Sendero Marketplace and street parking around Sendero.
Choosing a cluster comes down to which leg you'd rather ride. If you park near The Pavilion, you finish in Sendero and take the shuttle back to your car. If you park near Sendero, you ride up to the start and walk off the finish line straight to your car. A household with a child in the 1K has an extra reason to pick Sendero. The 1K starts there at 10:00, 90 minutes after the 5K goes off from Esencia, and 1K packets are handed out at Sendero Field from 9 to 9:55 a.m. The 11:30 shuttle cutoff leaves plenty of time after a 5K, but don't treat it as open-ended.
The 5K is the main event
The numbers show what kind of morning this is. In 2024, the eighth edition drew 1,555 runners, the biggest turnout in the race's history at the time. That included 171 in the 10K, 1,040 in the 5K and 344 in the 1K, according to Leeta Latham, executive director of The Nature Reserve at The Ranch, speaking to The Capistrano Dispatch. That works out to about two-thirds of the field in the 5K, a little over a fifth in the kids' race, and roughly one runner in nine in the 10K. No event-wide total has been published for 2025, so 2024 is the latest full count.
So the 10K and 5K share a course direction and a finish line, but they're very different races. The 10K goes off at 8:00 with a field that was under 200 people in 2024. Thirty minutes later, more than a thousand people fill Andaza Street for the 5K. The 2024 front of the pack was quick in both races. Kyle White won the 10K in 37:03, and Parker Herbert won the 5K in 15:52. Gemini Timing handled results questions for the 2025 race.
The price gap is small. On the 2026 registration page, the 10K is $48.70 and the 5K is $43.40, fees included. The difference is $5.30. The Little Gobbler's 1K is $16.90. So the 10K isn't small because it costs more. Most of the field simply picks the shorter distance.
The size of that 5K crowd also explains why the street closures run as long as they do.
Esencia's 6-to-10 window
To clear the course from The Pavilion toward Chiquita Canyon Road, three streets in Esencia close from about 6 to 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning:
- Fauna Drive between Chiquita Canyon Drive and Esencia Drive
- Esencia Drive between Saliente Road and Andaza Street
- Andaza Street between Esencia Drive and Aprender Street, by The South Plunge
The four-hour window covers the start area well before the first runners arrive and keeps the route clear until the last 5K runners have passed. The race's street-closure page has a map showing the best way out of Esencia onto Cow Camp Road while the closures are in place. This matters even if you aren't running. If you live in Esencia and you're driving to a holiday meal, picking up a relative, or heading out early to get a turkey in the oven somewhere else, use that map before you leave.
The 2026 materials don't announce a course change. The race's map page links elevation maps for the 10K and 5K and notes that the 1K stays on the flat or paved ground around Sendero Field. The race descriptions say the 1K follows the loop pathway around the park. Earlier editions used different routes. A 2019 RMV recap described a trail course linking Sendero and Esencia through The Nature Reserve. Check the 2026 race pages rather than going by memory of an older course.
Before Nov. 26
Registration opened September 7. These are the details worth sorting out ahead of time:
- Know the deadlines. Online registration for the 10K and 5K closes at 9:00 a.m. on race day, and the 1K closes at 10:15 a.m. The page shows one price for each race, with no early-bird tiers. In-person registration on race day runs from 7 to 8:30 a.m. at The Pavilion Gym for the 10K and 5K, and from 9 to 10 a.m. at Sendero Field for the 1K.
- Confirm the Saturday pickup location. Advance packet pickup is Saturday, November 21, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Wednesday, November 25, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The race FAQ lists the Saturday pickup at The Pavilion. The race's separate registration and packet page lists both dates at the Rancho MMC Resource Room. RanchLife handles race questions, so check with them before you go on the 21st. If you miss both days, race-day pickup runs at The Pavilion from 7 to 8:15 a.m.
- Read the 1K rules. The Little Gobbler's 1K is for children ages 5 to 10 and is untimed. Each registration covers one child. A parent can run alongside but doesn't get a medal.
- Pack for weather. The race page says the run happens "rain or shine."
On that last point, it has rained on this race before. RMV's recap of the rainy 2019 race reported that it raised about $15,000. By the 2024 race, Latham said the event had raised $250,000 for The Nature Reserve since it began in 2017. All 2026 proceeds go to the Reserve's education and conservation work. According to Latham, the money funds school and outdoor-learning programs that bring more than 4,500 students to the Reserve each year.
Latham also said many runners come from across the country to visit family on The Ranch and run the race. If you're hosting relatives this year, they'll need the logistics as much as anyone. Show them the parking clusters and the shuttle loop, and send anyone driving out of Esencia before 10 a.m. to the Cow Camp Road egress map.
Putting together a Thanksgiving-morning plan for houseguests is the kind of local detail we sort through every week with neighbors across The Ranch. If you have a question about race day, the shuttle, or what's opening around RMV next, reach out to The Archuletta Team. We'll see you on Andaza Street on the 26th.
