News Releases
ROAD RACE ENTRY FEES WILL INCREASE ON OCTOBER 1ST (September 19, 2024)
Manchester Road Race officials are reminding runners that they will be able to save some money by signing up for the iconic Thanksgiving Day run prior to October 1st.
The $32 entry fee increases to $37 at 11:59 p.m. EST on September 30th and rises to $42 at 4 p.m. EST on November 23rd.
On-line registration for the 88th edition of the MRR, one of America’s largest and most popular Turkey Day races, is available 24 hours a day at www.manchesterroadrace.com.
The Manchester Road Race Committee will also hold walk-in registration and bib distribution on the following dates:
- Saturday, November 23rd, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Manchester High School cafeteria, 134 East Middle Turnpike in Manchester;
- Sunday, November 24th, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Marathon Sports, 63 Hebron Avenue in Glastonbury:
- Monday, November 25th, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Fleet Feet, 1003 Farmington Avenue in West Hartford; and
- Tuesday, November 26th, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Urban Lodge Brewery, 47 Purnell Place in Manchester.
Registration will close completely at 11:59 p.m. EST on Tuesday, November 26th. No entries for the road race will be accepted after that deadline.
There will be bib distribution only on Wednesday, November 27 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Cone Gym of the Bennet Academy, 1151 Main Street. This will be the last opportunity for entrants who have elected to pick up their bibs in person to do so, race organizers said.
There will NOT be bib pickup this year on Thanksgiving morning at the Cone Gymnasium.
The 88th Manchester Road Race, which is run on a 4.737-mile loop course through Manchester’s central streets, will be held at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day (November 28, 2024). The race starts and finishes on Main Street in Manchester, in front of St. James Church.
Last Thanksgiving, 11,060 runners registered for the event. To date (as of 3 a.m. on September 19, 2024) more than 2500 entrants have already signed up for this year's road race.
MRR MOURNS PASSING OF BOB MORAN (September 18, 2024)
Bob Moran, the Manchester Road Race’s official starter since 1989, passed away on September 17 at the age of 72.
Bob was a longtime and highly popular volunteer at the road race, where he’d fire the starter’s pistol each Thanksgiving Day promptly at 10 a.m. to send thousands of runners charging down Main Street. A veteran track official, he also assisted for decades at area scholastic track meets.
“I called him the fastest runner at our race,” said Dr. Tris Carta, President of the Manchester Road Race Committee, who recalled how Moran had to sprint to the side of Main Street after he fired the gun each year in order to avoid the surge of runners.
In 2016, Moran, who was a standout quarter-miler at East Hartford High School and Central Connecticut State University, received the Joe McCluskey Award from the Manchester Sports Hall of Fame for his devoted service to the MRR.
“Bob always had a smile and a joke, and we are extremely grateful for his many decades of wonderful contributions to our race,” Dr. Carta added. “He will be terribly missed.”
REGISTRATION FOR LITTLE MANCHESTER ROAD RACE TO OPEN OCTOBER 1st (September 12, 2024)
The Manchester Road Race Committee is reminding parents that registration for the popular Little Manchester Road Race will open October 1st.
The event, which offers non-competitive “fun runs” for children 12 years old and younger, will be held on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024 at 10 a.m. at the Manchester High School track. Manchester High School is located at 134 East Middle Turnpike in Manchester.
Parents may register their children on-line at www.manchesterroadrace.com. There is no cost to enter, although participants are requested to bring two items of non-perishable food for donation to the M.A.C.C. Emergency Food Pantry.
The race committee is urging parents to sign up their children as soon as possible. Entries are limited to the first 1000 runners who register.
In addition to running events of different distances for children in various age groups, the LMRR will feature music, costumed characters, a display of fire trucks and other vehicles, a skydiving exhibition and other fun activities. All runners will receive a medal and a tee shirt.
“The Little Manchester Road Race is a wonderful activity for kids, and we are extremely grateful to our sponsors and volunteers who make it possible,” said Dr. Tris Carta, President of the Manchester Road Race Committee. “Because space is limited, we hope that parents will register their children as soon as possible.
As it has since the event’s inception in 2010, Henkel North America in Rocky Hill is serving as the Presenting Sponsor of the Little Manchester Road Race. Additional financial support is being provided by Fleet Feet of West Hartford and Waypoint Wealth Solutions of Manchester.
The LMRR is one of several events being held during the week before the world-famous Manchester Road Race. The 88th edition of the MRR, which attracts thousands of runners and is held on a loop course through Manchester’s central streets, will be held at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 28, 2024.
MRR TO HONOR OLYMPIAN MARK CARROLL (September 4, 2024)
Former Olympian Mark Carroll, a two-time Manchester Road Race champion and member of its storied “Irish Connection,” will be reconnecting with the race this November.
Race organizers announced today that Carroll will serve as the honorary chairperson of the 88th Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving Day.
Carroll, who grew up in Cork, Ireland and won All-American honors six times at Providence College, won the MRR in 1998 and 2000.
One of the event’s most prolific superior performers, Carroll had nine top-25 finishes at the Turkey Day race between 1996 and 2010, including second-place runs in 1996, 1997 and 1999.
He posted his fastest time on the Manchester course (21:28) when he finished one second behind winner David Makori at the 1999 MRR.
Carroll competed for Ireland in the 5000 meters at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games, and still holds the Irish national record of 7:30.56 for 3000 meters. Inducted last year into the Athletics Ireland Hall of Fame, he was one several great runners from Ireland (Including John Treacy, Eamonn Coghlan and John Doherty) who starred at the Manchester Road Race and were known collectively as the “Irish Connection.”
Carroll, 52, is currently the head coach of the Boston Athletic Association’s High-Performance Team of elite runners. He previously served as the Director of Track & Field and Cross Country at Drake University and as the Head Cross Country Coach at Auburn University.
The Manchester Road Race Committee annually honors an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the road race or the sport of distance running by designating him or her as the event’s honorary chairperson.
“Mark Carroll is exceptionally deserving of this selection,” said Dr. Tris Carta, President of the Manchester Road Race Committee. “He compiled an awesome record of consistently great performances at our race, and he continues to make wonderful contributions to the sport as a coach and mentor.” “We are so proud that he will be back with us in Manchester this Thanksgiving.”
“The Manchester Road Race has a special place in my heart,” Carroll said. “I want to thank the Manchester Road Race for this honor and for giving me the opportunity to compete in the best Thanksgiving Day race in America,” he added. “I am so looking forward to experiencing the incredible race day energy again.”
Carta said that Carroll will appear at the MRR’s annual pre-race media conference and will attend the race on Thanksgiving morning.
ROAD RACE REGISTRATION STARTS SEPTEMBER 1ST (August 16, 2024)
Registration for the 88th Manchester Road Race will begin on September 1st, the Manchester Road Race Committee announced today.
The world-famous race, one of America’s largest and most popular turkey trots, will be held on Thanksgiving Day (November 28, 2024) at 10 a.m. It is run on a 4.737-mile loop course through Manchester’s central streets that starts and finishes on Main Street, in front of St. James Church.
The entry fee is $32 for runners who sign up on-line prior to 12 midnight EST on October 1st. The entry fee increases thereafter to $37 on October 1st and to $42 on November 23rd.
Race officials also announced today that due to rising postage and logistical costs, the MRR will no longer be able to mail bibs to runners free of charge. Entrants who wish to receive their bibs through the postal service will be assessed an additional postage and handling fee when they register.
The race committee has scheduled a number of times and dates when bibs can be picked up in person at no additional cost. Details about the new postage and handling fee, and the schedule of in-person bib pickup dates will be available when registration opens on Sept. 1.
The Manchester Road Race attracted 11,060 registered runners last Thanksgiving. They ranged in athletic ability from Olympians and national champions to joggers dressed in turkey suits and Pilgrim costumes.
Morgan Beadlescomb of Ann Arbor, Michigan won last year’s event with a time of 21:12. Weini Kelati of Flagstaff, Arizona captured the women’s championship for the third consecutive year in 23:21.
Race officials are once again also offering a Virtual Manchester Road Race option. Participants can download a GPS-enabled app to their smartphones and have their times recorded as they run the MRR course distance at any location in the world.
The entry fee for the virtual run is $30, and on-line registration also begins on September 1st. More details about the Virtual Manchester Road Race are available at www.manchesterroadrace.com.
“We are eagerly looking forward to Thanksgiving Day and another fantastic road race,” said Dr. Tris Carta, President of the Manchester Road Race Committee. “We anticipate that we’re going to have another large field that will include some of the best distance runners in the world, and we are urging everyone to register as early as possible.”
Approximately 400 volunteers from the Manchester Road Race Committee organize the annual Thanksgiving Day run, with support from the Town of Manchester. The event’s principal financial sponsors are Pratt & Whitney, ECHN and Hoffman Lexus.
MRR “HONORS CLUB” RUNNERS WILL BENEFIT LUTZ CHILDREN’S MUSEUM THIS YEAR (August 10, 2024)
A popular local children’s museum will benefit from the efforts of a generous group of runners when the 88th Manchester Road Race is held on Thanksgiving Day.
The Manchester Road Race Committee announced today that the non-profit Lutz Children’s Museum in Manchester will be the beneficiary this November of the road race’s annual “Honors Club” Program.
Race officials set aside 120 bibs each year for entrants who elect to participate in the MRR Honors Club. These runners pay $100, instead of the traditional entry fee, and all of the money is donated by the road race committee to a designated charitable or non-profit organization in the community.
Established in 1953, the Lutz Children’s Museum is a multifaceted museum which offers children the opportunity to explore culture, history and natural sciences through internal and external exhibits, programs and experiences. The museum is located at 247 South Main Street in Manchester.
“The Lutz Children’s Museum has been doing great work for the kids in our community for more than seven decades,” said Dr. Tris Carta, President of the Manchester Road Race Committee. “Our race is very pleased to offer this assistance, and we are extremely grateful to the generous Honors Club members who donate their time and money each year to run in support of worthy community causes like this.”
Entrants who register for the honors club will receive several perks, which include a special bib and the ability to wait for the start of the race in the basement of St. James Church, where indoor plumbing and light refreshments will be available.
Carta said that entrants can sign up to participate in this year’s Honors Club when registration opens at 5 a.m. EST on September 1st.
SLIGHT CHANGE IN THE LENGTH OF MRR RACE COURSE ANNOUNCED (August 8, 2024)
The Manchester Road Race course has shrunk a little bit.
Race Officials announced today that a recent remeasurement of the loop course through central Manchester, which is run every Thanksgiving Day by thousands of entrants, revealed it to be 4.737-miles long.
The course was last measured in 1986 and was found then to have a distance of 4.748-miles.
“Repaving done along the race route over the years, and road alterations at the corner of Main and Charter Oak Streets when a drug store was built there several years ago, may likely have resulted in the slightly shorter length,” Dr. Tris Carta, President of the Manchester Road Race Committee, said.
Carta said that remeasurement of the course was commissioned in conjunction with the committee’s efforts to have the road race certified by USA Track & Field (USATF), the national governing body for track and field, long distance running, and race walking.
Pete Volkmar, an official course measurer with USATF, World Athletics, and the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races, oversaw the measurement and confirmed the 4.737-mile distance.
A three-person team riding bicycles measured the race course on June 28th. Following guidelines published by USATF, the team members used the same type of equipment and procedures that were employed when the course was measured 38 years ago.
Carta said that the road race’s start-finish line will remain at its long-time location on Main Street in front of St. James Church, and that the race course will look the same as it always has to runners. “With the exception of repositioned mile markers and split clocks, there will be no perceptible changes,” he added.
Carta noted that although the course length has now been determined to be fifty-nine feet, eleven and seven sixteenth inches shorter, existing course records will not be affected. “The MRR’s records are course records, and are not based on distances,” he said. “Additionally, we have no way of knowing exactly when these changes to the course occurred.”
The current MRR course record of 21:04 was set in 2022 by Conner Mantz. Weini Kelati set the women’s standard of 22:55 in 2021.
The 88th Manchester Road Race, one of the nation’s largest and most popular turkey trots, will be held on Thanksgiving Day (November 28, 2024). On-line registration for the event, which attracted 11,060 runners last year, will begin at 5 a.m. EST on September 1st at www.manchesterroadrace.com. More details about the opening of registration will be released next week.
ROAD RACE ANNOUNCES DONATIONS (April 3, 2024)
Fifteen charities will benefit from the efforts of the 11,060 runners who registered for last November’s 87th Manchester Road Race.
The Manchester Road Race Committee announced today that it will make charitable donations totaling $81,650 from the proceeds of the 2023 road race.
As it has done for more than seven decades, the committee will once again contribute to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Research to combat Muscular Dystrophy and other crippling childhood diseases has been a charitable objective of race organizers since 1951.
With the MRR’s growth in size and popularity, the race committee has been able to expand and diversify its philanthropic outreach. Other donation recipients this year include non-profit organizations that sponsor scholastic and youth running programs, operate a diaper bank, assist local residents whose homes need repairs, conduct an educational summer camp program, offer music and drama instruction to local children, print maps for area walking and running trails, and provide sports and recreational activities, and gifts at Christmas time, for young people in under-served communities.
In addition to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the road race committee will make donations this year to the following organizations: Blue Angels Foundation; CAST; Gentle Love Diaper Pantry; Manchester Adult and Continuing Education summer camp program; Manchester Elks Lodge; Manchester PAL; MARC; M.H.S. Track & Field; Manchester Running Company Track & Field; Manchester Pipe Band; Rebuilding Together Manchester; Rotary in Motion trail map project; and Shenipsit Striders.
The Transitional Living Center of Manchester, which provides a nurturing and supportive residence for homeless and displaced youth, will receive a special bequest from the MRR’s Honors Club Program. Each year, the road race designates a specific area charity to honor. Up to 100 entrants, who pay $100 instead of the regular entry fee, can sign up to run on behalf of the organization. All proceeds are donated to that charity. Last November, 86 runners ran the road race to benefit the Transitional Living Center.
“The Manchester Road Race has a very long and proud tradition of charitable giving,” said Dr. Tris Carta, President of the Manchester Road Race Committee. “We could not make these contributions without the tremendous support that we receive from our great runners, financial sponsors, volunteers, media partners, and the Town of Manchester, and we are very grateful to all of them.”
The 88th Manchester Road Race will be held on Thanksgiving Day (November 28, 2024). On-line registration for the event, which is regarded as one of America’s largest and best Turkey Day races, will open on September 1st.
ROAD RACE BLOOD DRIVE SETS ANOTHER RECORD (November 24, 2023)
Runners, volunteers and friends of the Manchester Road Race rolled up their sleeves to donate a record 372 pints of blood Friday at the 37th Ray Crothers Blood Drive.
The blood drive, which is sponsored by the Manchester Road Race Committee and the American Red Cross of Connecticut, has been held annually on the day after Thanksgiving since 1986.
The 372 pints of blood collected will benefit 1116 patients in need of blood, plasma and platelets, and set another single day collection record for the road race blood drive.
The prior record was 364 pints, which were collected at last year’s event. A total of 8,258 pints of blood have been donated at the MRR blood drive during the past 36 years.
“We were delighted with the turnout and are extremely pleased to partner in this life-saving effort with the Red Cross,” said Lance Morgan, a physician assistant and member of the MRR’s executive committee who coordinates the drive. “We are so thankful to our generous donors and financial sponsors.”
The blood drive is named in memory of Ray Crothers of Tolland, who won the Manchester Road Race in 1965 and competed in the race for 43 years prior to his death from cancer in 2008.
ECHN was the event’s principal financial sponsor. Additional support was provided by Eastern Connecticut Pathology Consultants, Highland Park Market and Fox 61.