Irish Connection: Manchester is 'The Best Race in America'

MANCHESTER, CT — Two of the most famous Irish runners of all time were not shy on Monday about where they ranked the Manchester Road Race in terms of U.S. events. It is the premiere event in the nation, they said.

"It's the best race in America," John Treacy said.

"It's the race itself," added Ray Treacy when describing the demanding course of just less than 5 miles that draws an international elite field. "It's also a different race because of the atmosphere and it all comes together."

The Treacy brothers were part of the famed "Irish Connection" that helped make the Manchester Road Race an international event. It complimented an already elite field of U.S. runners in the front and a carnival atmosphere of the costumed participants to the rear.

John and Ray Treacy have come back this year to serve as the honorary co-chairmen of the traditional Thanksgiving Day event.

John Treacy still remembers when the late P.J. Tierney recruited them for the race.

"He was a great man and I have great memories of Manchester over the years," he said. "He introduced us to a great race in a great town."

John Treacy is an Olympic silver medalist who won the Manchester Road Race four times. Ray Treacy, the long-time head cross country and track coach at Providence College, had two second place finishes in Manchester.

Raised in the small hamlet of Villierstown, Ireland, the Treacy brothers were both All-American performers at Providence. They were members of a contingent of elite runners from Ireland—nicknamed the "Irish Connection" that dominated the Manchester course and captured nine individual championships between 1978 and 1987.

John Treacy was a winner in Manchester in 1978, 1979, 1984 and 1985. A tenacious hill runner and two-time World Cross Country Champion, he was the silver medalist in the marathon at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Ray Treacy finished second behind his brother at the 1979 road race. John Treacy smashed Amby Burfoot's course record of 22:21 that day with a winning time of 21:26, a mark that stood until 1995. Ray Treacy was timed in 22:25, and finished nearly a minute behind his sibling, but just four seconds off the old course record. Ray Treacy was also runner-up to another member of the connection, Eamonn Coghlan, the world-famous Irish indoor miler, at the 1981 MRR.

"We are so pleased that John and Ray will be coming back to Manchester, where they have so many friends and fans," said Dr. Tris Carta, President of the Manchester Road Race Committee. "They both have done so much for our road race. And it will bring back some terrific memories when these two great "Irish Connection" athletes rejoin us this Thanksgiving."

John Treacy holds an MBA degree and serves as Chief Executive Officer of Sport Ireland, the country's governing athletic organization. He lives in Dublin. Ray Treacy, a resident of Warwick, R.I., is the director of track and cross country operations at his alma mater. A coach at Providence College for the past 33 years, his women's cross country teams won NCAA Division 1 championships in 1995 and 2013. While at Providence, he coached Manchester Road Race champions Amy Rudolph, Kim Smith, Emily Sisson, Mark Carroll and Martin Fagan.

The 4.748-mile Manchester Road Race will be run for the 81st time on Thanksgiving Day. The race begins at 10 a.m. and starts and finishes on Main Street in Manchester, in front of St. James Church.

More information about the race is available on the event's website, www.manchesterroadrace.com.

Photo: The Treacy brothers at Manchester Country Club on Monday. Photo Credit: Chris Dehnel