Manchester Road Race Blood Drive Nearing 8,500 Pint Total

MANCHESTER, CT — The Manchester Road Race Committee and the American Red Cross of Connecticut are again teaming up for one of the largest blood drives in the state.

The race committee has announced that the 38th-annual Ray Crothers Blood Drive is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 29, from 8:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. at Manchester High School.

Race officials have been sponsoring the blood drive since 1986. A total of 8,258 pints of blood have been collected since then.

Staged each year on the day after thousands of runners make their way through Manchester's streets, the event is named in memory of the late Ray Crothers. Crothers, a Tolland resident who died of cancer in 2008, won the Manchester Road Race in 1965 and competed in the Thanksgiving Day run for 43 years.

All donors will receive a Manchester Road Race shirt. Walk-in donations will be accepted. Appointments are encouraged and can be made by calling 1-800-733-2767, or on-line. A direct link to the Red Cross appointment website is available at https://www.manchesterroadrace.com.

Last year, 372 pints of blood, which benefitted 1,116 patients in need of blood, plasma and platelets, were collected at the road race blood drive. This was an MRR record for most pints collected at the event.

"We are hoping to do even better this November," said Lance Morgan, a local physician's assistant and the MRR executive committee member who coordinates the drive. "There is a critical need for blood, especially around the holiday season, so we are urging everyone who possibly can to join us on the day after Thanksgiving."

ECHN is again the presenting sponsor of the road race blood drive. Additional support is also being provided by Eastern Connecticut Pathology Consultants, and Highland Park Market.

More information about the Ray Crothers Blood Drive and the 88th Manchester Road Race is available at https://www.manchesterroadrace.com.

The Manchester Road Race, one of America's largest and most popular Turkey Day running events, will be held at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. It is run through the central part of town on a 4.737-mile loop course that starts and finishes on Main Street, in front of St. James Church.