22 For '22! Holiday races

In the spirit of the season, it's not too early to be thinking ahead to holiday-themed events in 2022.

In fact, Jones Racing Company's annual Running of the Lights will kick things off at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons just after the clock strikes midnight to start New Year's Day. A Creekside parkrun in Archdale and Save Youth Sports 5K are also on the Jan. 1 lineup.

And a handful of December events including the Mistletoe Run in Winston-Salem, Reindeer Romp in Jamestown and Junction 311 Endurance Sports' Jingle Jog 5K in High Point will help close the year and offer Christmas themes.

But looking ahead at running's two most popular days of the year:

Fourth of July

It's not clear at the moment when the Triad's two key Independence Day races will be held, but July Fourth will be on a Monday, so that's a possibility.

The Rotary Club of Kernersville Fourth of July 5K, part of the Trivium Racing Running Series in 2021, will return for a 27th year. First-place men's and women's winners last year pocketed $500 each, so the event attracts fast runners such as 2021 men’s winner Donnie Cowart and runner-up Brandon Hudgins and South Carolinian Purity Munene, who led the first of three women who ran under 18 minutes.

And the Triad's longest-running race, the Freedom Run 10K and 5K in Greensboro, will be directed by Junction 311 as part of the Omega Sports Race Series. The Freedom Run made its debut in 1977.

Thanksgiving Day

With the November holiday having supplanted the Fourth as the nation's most popular day for racing, the Triad should offer another plate full of events.

Junction 311's Running of the Turkeys 5K in Greensboro and Jones Racing's Turkey Strut 5K in Winston-Salem are already on the calendar for Nov. 24. The Greensboro Gobbler 5K held its 20th edition in 2021, and watch for returns of High Point's 5 Before the Feast 5K (a Trivium race), Burlington's Turkey Trot 5K, Lexington's Early Bird 5K and 3K (virtual in 2021) and Archdale's Creekside parkrun.

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