82nd Manchester Road Race: Warmth Of Family With A Frigid Course

MANCHESTER, CT — In a unique twist, the 82nd running of the Manchester Road Race will likely combine what "family" members call the warmth of Manchester with frigid temperatures on the 4.748-mile course.

"The cold is the biggest worry this year," defending champion Paul Chelimo said Monday at the annual pre-race Earl Yost news conference.

Chelimo is back for what many elite runners consider to be the last race of the season.

And the best race. Period.

"The Manchester Road race is the best road race in the country — hands-down," said running legend and this year's honorary chairperson Amy Rudolph.

Rudolph should know. Like Chelimo, Rudolph won the race in her first attempt. That was in 1995, when she was 22 and had a time of 24:24. She ran in the road race 14 times between 1995 and 2010 and won it a record five times, placed second five times, was third twice, and had two other top-15 finishes during that period.

"There's nothing like Manchester," she said. "It's like a family. Thanksgiving to us was always Manchester."

The "us" refers to husband Mark Carroll, a two-time winner himself. Carroll on Monday reflected fondly about longtime race official P.J. Tierney, not only playing matchmaker for him as an "Irish Connection" runner, but as Amy's future husband during post-race Thanksgiving dinners.

Chelimo said he felt the Manchester atmosphere right away.

"Every mile, there's a crowd and every mile, the crowd is cheering you on," he said.

"There's nothing like it in the country," Carroll said, while celebrating the fact that the race can have a dozen Olympians, like this year, combined with those whose goal is to win the annual costume contest. Yes, the Irish connection can essentially run on the same course as a guy dressed as a Shamrock Shake.

The idea for an all-encompassing road race evolved just after World War II. It was revived by a group of veterans and then tweaked to what it is today by the influence of Yost, the longtime sports editor of the Manchester Herald.

Chelimo and runner-up Kirubel Erassa have both entered the 2018 MRR. Chelimo, an Olympic silver medalist, won the race last year with a time of 21:32. Erassa, an All-American runner at Oklahoma State University, placed second in 21:34.

Chelimo, 27, won the silver medal in the 5,000 meters at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games and was bronze medalist in the 5,000 meters at the 2017 World Championships in London.

Chelimo ran the 5,000 meters last summer at a meet in Brussels in 12:57.55, the fourth fastest time ever recorded in that event by an American. He was an All-American runner at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and now competes for the U.S. Army as a member of its World Class Athlete Program.

With early morning temperatures forecast to be in the low teens and not getting above the 22-degree mark all day Thursday, it's likely going be a cold one as the runners round the corner at Porter Street onto East Center Street for the critical fourth mile.

Chelimo on Monday said throw out the time and just worry about the win.

"The win will be the goal," he said. "All I can do is try my best to get to the fourth mile in a good position. From there, we will just have to see what happens."

Photo Credit: Chris Dehnel

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