Hidden Gems of Hartford and Tolland Counties

MANCHESTER, CT — This week's trip to a Hidden Gem takes us along the Manchester Road Race course, where a famed runner will never stop participating in his favorite event.

In one spot, across from Highland Park Market (317 Highland St.) stands (or runs) a statue honoring the late Olympic medalist Joe McCluskey. McCluskey, a Manchester native who graduated from Manchester High School in 1929, won the bronze medal in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

An All-American runner at Fordham University, McCluskey won 27 national track titles and was a four-time Manchester Road Race Champion.

He died in 2002 at the age of 91.

(Chris Dehnel/Patch)

A paved path leads to the statue and a sitting area.

(Chris Dehnel/Patch)

Michael Keropian, a New York sculptor, created the life-sized bronze statue of the Olympic medalist for Manchester's Sculpture Project. Learn more about the sculpture project here.

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The Hidden Gems series features out-of-the-way mom and pop restaurants, small specialty stores you may have never heard of, little-known historical markers or beautiful nature spots that may be a bit off the beaten path, all located within Hartford and Tolland counties. Do you have a favorite "hidden gem" in the area that you wish to see featured in this column? Email your ideas to tim.jensen@patch.com.

Other columns in this series:

• Samuel Field Knight Historic Marker
• Carol's Lunchbox
• Country Casuals
• Dakota Restaurant
• Country Cobbler
• Beau's Burger Shack
• Daniel Glazier Tavern
• Mount Southington Ski School
• Awards & More
• Marquis de Lafayette Monument
• The Little Red Store
• River Bend Bookshop
• Gerry's Donuts
• Traveler Restaurant
• First Decorated Christmas Tree
• The Stanley-Whitman House
• Vernon's Santa House
• Vintage Radio and Communications Museum of Connecticut
• Old Country Banquet Hall
• Brazilian Gula Grill
• Thomas' Smokey Pit Stop
• Congregational Church of Burlington labyrinth
• Noah Webster House
• The Bushnell's Green Room Wall
• Belding Wildlife Management Area
• The Aborn Castle
• Heublein Tower
• Birthplace of Jonathan Edwards
• Grave of Revolutionary War Soldier Heman Baker
• Jessica's Garden, Lobster and Ice Cream Shack
• Shade Swamp Sanctuary
• Ken's Corner Breakfast & Lunch
• Tolland Red and White
• The Packing House
• Cold Harbor Seafood
• Nye Holman State Forest/Heron Cove Park
• Hosmer Mountain Soda Shack
• Connecticut Trolley Museum
• Matterhorn Mini Golf
• Wood Memorial Library & Museum
• Hastings Farm
• Liquid Nirvana
• Iwo Jima Survivors Memorial Park
• Academy Hall
• Southington Drive-In
• Little Theatre of Manchester at Cheney Hall
• Somersvillage Gifts & Gourmet Baskets
• New England Civil War Museum
• The Pinchot Sycamore
• Stafford Palace Theater
• Mansfield Hollow State Park
• Old Tolland County Jail and Museum
• Hill-Stead Museum
• Mark's Restaurant