Manchester Road Race Mourning Loss Of Beloved Starter

MANCHESTER, CT — A fixture on Main Street in Manchester on Thanksgiving mornings for more three decades has died. Bob Moran, the Manchester Road Race’s official starter since 1989, passed away Tuesday at the age of 72, race officials said Wednesday.

Race officials said Moran was a longtime and highly popular volunteer at the road race, where he'd fire the starter’s pistol each Thanksgiving Day promptly at 10 a.m. to send thousands of runners charging down Main Street.

A veteran track official, he also assisted for decades at area scholastic track meets.

"I called him the fastest runner at our race," said Dr. Tris Carta, the president of the Manchester Road Race Committee.

Carta recalled how Moran had to sprint to the side of Main Street after he fired the gun each year in order to avoid the surge of runners.

In 2016, Moran, who was a standout quarter-miler at East Hartford High School and Central Connecticut State University, received the Joe McCluskey Award from the Manchester Sports Hall of Fame for his longtime service to the MRR.

"Bob always had a smile and a joke, and we are extremely grateful for his many decades of wonderful contributions to our race," Carta added. "He will be terribly missed."