Familiar Face Appointed New Manchester Road Race Director

MANCHESTER, CT — A familiar face is taking over for a legend as the race day boss on Thanksgiving morning in Manchester.

Thayer Redman, a former decathlon competitor and longtime local high school football and track coach will oversee race day activities at the Manchester Road Race this November. Race officials announced Wednesday that the 53-year-old Redman has been named director of race operations for the annual Thanksgiving Day run.

He succeeds Jim Balcome, who served as the MRR's Race Director for the past 43 years.

Redman, who has been a physical education teacher at Manchester High School since 1995, worked alongside Balcome as the assistant race director for more than a decade. Redman recently stepped down after 28 years as the head track coach at Manchester High School. In 2011, Redman was honored as the Connecticut and New England Track Coach of the Year and was one of eight finalists for the National Track Coach of the Year Award. He was also an assistant football coach for many years at MHS and RHAM High School in Hebron.

A graduate of the University of Maine, Redman was a standout athlete for the Black Bears in the hurdles, long jump, decathlon and sprint relay events. He also played for two years on the UMaine football team.

"Thayer brings a great wealth of experience and enthusiasm to our road race," said Dr. Tris Carta, the President of the Manchester Road Race Committee. “We are so pleased that he has agreed to take over the reins from Jim Balcome on race day”

Redman was raised in Maine and moved to Connecticut in the mid-1990s after teaching on a Navajo Reservation in Arizona. His wife, Susan Moriarty Redman, is a Manchester native, and she introduced him to the MRR in 1994.

"I have been to every race since then, either cheering on my students, running with my family, or volunteering with clean-up and registration," Redman said. "When Jim Balcome asked me to join the race committee and subsequently become his assistant, I jumped at it. I believe the Manchester Road Race is one of the best sporting events anywhere."

The Redmans now live in Hebron.

Redman said that one of his immediate priorities will be continuing the MRR's reputation as an inclusive and runner-friendly event.

"We have some of the best runners in the world competing as well as weekend joggers," he said. "It’s a wonderful tradition that allows everyone to be part of the best day in Manchester."

The 87th edition of the Manchester Road Race is set for Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 23,2023) at 10 a.m. The 4.748-mile run through the town’s central streets, which is one of the nation's best known Turkey Day races, starts and finishes on Main Street in Manchester, in front of St. James Church.

More information is available at www.manchesterroadrace.com.