I currently live out of state and when I come home to San Jose, I usually try to take advantage of the great year round running weather before I brace myself for winter in the Midwest. One race I always sign up for when I'm home for Thanksgiving is the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot 10K, which is one of the largest Turkey Trot races in the country. Packet pickup has always been Sports Basement in Sunnyvale and they offer several days for pickup starting the weekend before Thanksgiving. I went in the middle of the week and didn't have trouble getting my packet. You can pick up your packet on race day, but I hate doing that. The race shirt last year was purple long sleeved shirt which is great for cooler weather. On race day, I usually park at the San Pedro Parking Garage which is really close to the start line and most importantly free. The course itself is pretty flat and it goes through downtown San Jose, Japantown, past the HP Pavilion, maybe at the edge of the Rosegarden neighborhood, and then back to downtown San Jose. When I was running through Japantown, one of my good friends came out of her house and we got the chance to wave hi each other. It was pure luck! I didn't use any of the aid stations because I had my hydration belt on me but there's a good number of stations on the course. I was shooting for a 10K under 1 hour but I was off by a minute. Once you are at the finish line, you can head to Guadalupe River Park. I didn't spend much time there because it was really crazy. Overall I had a great time especially since it's my hometown and also get to see the funny Thanksgiving costumes. It's always fun to run beside a turkey leg!