Thanksgiving morning in downtown Greenville will once again mean thousands of runners lacing up for the TreesUpstate Turkey Day Run. A limited number of participants can take home a free native tree on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last. The race has become the nonprofit's largest annual source of support for its tree-planting work across the Upstate.
The 18th annual event is expected to draw around 9,000 participants, according to Kelly Byers, TreesUpstate's deputy executive director, as reported by the Greenville Journal. Byers told the paper that the field spans generations, with the youngest registered runner just 2 years old and the oldest 87. Runners can choose between the competitive 8K and a family-friendly 5K Fun Run and Walk. The 8K course winds past Cancer Survivors Park, Falls Park and Unity Park, while the 5K course uses roads only, according to a race listing on wellyoh.com.
Registration pricing has been listed differently across event platforms. The race's own registration page, hosted on runsignup.com, states that all events cost $30 until Sept. 1, $35 until Nov. 1, and $40 afterward, while the Greenville Journal reported the 8K run and 5K fun run or walk cost $35. The wellyoh.com listing separately describes entry at $30 per event, or $20 for children age 10 and under, with prices rising as race day approaches. The event is held rain or shine, with no alternate date and no refunds, per the registration page.
Free Trees, Presented by Duke Energy
The tree giveaway is central to the race's identity. A limited number of free trees are available to registrants on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last, as part of the TreesUpstate Energy-Saving Trees program presented by Duke Energy, according to the runsignup.com listing. Turkey Day Run participants can choose from native species including oak, pecan and redbud trees, per the Greenville Journal's reporting. The Turkey Day Run has presenting sponsors Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas, the paper also reported.
TreesUpstate describes itself as a nonprofit that gives away trees and helps communities plant and care for them. The organization was founded in 2005 as TreesGreenville before becoming TreesUpstate in 2019, and it now serves Pickens, Anderson, Oconee and Spartanburg counties in addition to Greenville, according to the Greenville Journal. Separately, TreesUpstate's own giveaway data page states that free trees are available to residents of Oconee, Anderson, Pickens, Greenville and Spartanburg counties, and that the organization has given away more than 60,000 trees.
Reaching Beyond the Race Course
TreesUpstate's work extends well past Thanksgiving morning. The nonprofit has planted more than 1,000 trees along the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail, the Greenville Journal reported, and it operates the NeighborWoods project, which provides 80 to 100 trees for residents to plant in yards or common areas with an emphasis on improving tree equity. TreesUpstate launched its local NeighborWoods program in 2008, and the initiative has planted more than 2,350 trees in neighborhood projects across the Upstate, according to the Greenville Journal's separate coverage of the program. In Greer's Creekside community alone, the nonprofit planted 130 trees with more than 200 residents and volunteers taking part, the same report noted.
That equity focus responds to a documented gap: low-income neighborhoods in 92% of U.S. communities have less tree canopy than high-income neighborhoods, according to a Nature Conservancy study cited by the Greenville Journal. The stakes are rising locally, too. South Carolina is among the fastest-growing states in the nation, and Woodruff, Greer, Fountain Inn and Mauldin rank among the state's fastest-growing cities, the paper reported, a trend that puts added pressure on tree canopy even as trees help offset carbon emissions, provide health benefits, cleaner air and water, shade, wildlife habitat and reduced flooding. Trees can also reduce home energy costs through shade — the South Carolina Forestry Commission notes that strategically placed shade trees, a minimum of three large trees around a home, can cut air conditioning costs by up to 30 percent.
New Grant Funds Digital Upgrade
Behind the scenes, TreesUpstate is modernizing how it tracks its growing canopy. The Community Foundation of Greenville awarded the nonprofit a $7,800 capacity building grant on Sept. 25, 2025, which will support implementation of a mobile urban forestry field platform, according to the Greenville Journal. That platform is meant to digitize TreesUpstate's field operations, giving field staff, interns and volunteers new equipment for data collection, mapping and maintenance tracking as the organization's community programs continue to expand.
