Manchester Road Race Registration To Open Sept. 1

MANCHESTER, CT — Registration for the 85th annual Thanksgiving Day Manchester Road Race, Connecticut’s largest and oldest holiday run, will begin Sept. 1. Runners can enter the 4.748-mile race, which starts at 10 a.m. on Nov. 25, online at www.manchesterroadrace.com.

Registration fee is $32 prior to Oct. 1, and $37 thereafter. Walk-in entries can be made in person on Nov. 20 between 9 a.m. and noon at the MRR Sports Expo at Manchester High School. Registration closes at noon on Nov. 23; no post entries will be accepted on race day.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the Manchester Road Race Committee to cancel its on-site road race last November and hold a virtual event instead. A total of 1,749 runners from throughout Connecticut, the United States and the world participated in the Virtual Manchester Road Race by running the 4.748-mile distance at locations of their choice while being tracked by a GPS-enabled app on their cell phones.

Race organizers, in consultation with the town of Manchester, are currently making plans to resume holding the traditional on-site road race through the town’s central streets this year on Thanksgiving morning.

"Obviously, we will be guided by the state and local pandemic protocols and regulations that will be in place in November, and how the race will be conducted will depend on conditions that exist then," Road Race Committee President Dr. Tris Carta said. "But we are enthusiastically looking forward to seeing the runners back on Main Street this Thanksgiving. We are doing everything we can to make it a thoroughly safe and enjoyable competition and celebration, and we are strongly urging all of our runners, spectators and volunteers to be fully vaccinated."

He added the race committee will remain in close contact with public health officials, and provide further guidance to runners and spectators on the race website during the coming weeks.

Carta indicated response to the new cell phone app was so enthusiastic in 2020 that this year’s race will be hybrid.

"Every entrant who signs up this year will automatically have the capacity to either run on our regular course on Thanksgiving morning, or to participate remotely by using the cell phone app," he said.

Runners who choose to compete on the Manchester course on race day will be tracked via the timing chips in their bibs, and will not have to carry phones. Runners who opt to participate virtually at another location will be tracked and timed by the cell phone app, Carta said.

Virtual runners will be credited with an official MRR finish for longevity streak purposes, but will not be eligible to receive awards or recognition for record times. The virtual race will be held during a 36-hour period, starting at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day and ending at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 26.

The Manchester Road Race, which annually attracts large fields and some of the world’s greatest distance runners, starts and finishes on Main Street in front of St. James Church. More details about the race and online registration are available at www.manchesterroadrace,com.

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