Manchester Road Race's British Invasion Becomes Official

MANCHESTER, CT/MANCHESTER, UK — We've had the Irish Connection. Now it's time for the British invasion for the Manchester Road Race.

American athletes Weini Kelati and Morgan Beadlescomb both turned in stellar performances on Sunday at the AJ Bell Great Manchester Run in Manchester, United Kingdom.

Kelati, a U.S. Olympian from Flagstaff, AZ, who won the annual Thanksgiving Day run in Manchester, CT, for the fifth time last November, finished second in the women’s elite division of the Great Manchester Run 10-K race. Her time was 31:17.

Beadlescomb, a resident of Loveland, CO, won the Connecticut race in 2023 and finished third last Thanksgiving. He placed fourth Sunday in the GMR's elite men's 10-K bracket in 27:45.

The pair earned the opportunity to compete in the United Kingdom when they finished as the top United States runners last November at Manchester, Connecticut's annual Thanksgiving Day Road Race.

Ethiopia's Selemon Barega won the GMR men's 10-K title yesterday in 27:37. Kiara Lukan of Slovenia outdistanced Kelati by 19 seconds to capture the women's 10-K championship with a time of 30:58.

The AJ Bell Great Manchester Run is held annually during May in Manchester, UK. It features both a half marathon and a 10-kilometer run.

The 10-kilometer event is the largest in Europe and was designated this year as the UK's national road race championship for that distance. A field totaling nearly 35,000 runners participated in the 10-K and half marathon races on Sunday.

The Manchester Road Race, presented by Hartford HealthCare, is one of America’s oldest and most celebrated Thanksgiving Day runs. It is held each November on a 4.737-mile loop course through the central streets of Manchester, Connecticut.

Last year, officials from the two races with similar names on opposite sides of the Atlantic signed a memorandum of understanding to "twin" their events.

Under the agreement, the top U.S. male and female runners at the Connecticut road race win a trip to compete at the Great Manchester Run in the UK. The first UK man and woman at the race in Great Britain are reciprocally invited to run here on Thanksgiving Day.

Amy Eloise Neale and Marc Scott were the first finishers from the United Kingdom in the 10-K event at Sunday's AJ Bell Great Manchester Run. Neale finished third in the women’s elite race and Scott was the 10th elite male to finish. They both have been invited to compete in Manchester, Connecticut this November.

Officials from the Manchester Road Race Committee in Connecticut were in the United Kingdom to watch the GMR and confer with their British counterparts. Dr. Tris Carta, president of the Manchester Road Race Committee, Jack Leonard, the committee’s secretary, and elite runner coordinator Jim Harvey attended.

Carta, an avid runner, also competed in the GMR 10-K event yesterday and finished with a time of 54:07.

"It was a great race atmosphere running through the historic streets of Manchester," he said

"The Great Manchester Run is an absolutely spectacular event," Carta continued. "It was a fantastic opportunity to participate with the 35,000 runners who competed Sunday and to meet our new friends in the United Kingdom. We are eagerly looking forward to welcoming Amy Neale and Marc Scott to our road race in the United States this Thanksgiving”

The Manchester Road Race presented by Hartford Health Care will be staged at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26, 2026). The annual race, which will be run for the 90th time, starts and finishes on Main Street, in front of St. James Church. Registration opens Sept. 1.

More details are available at www.manchesterroadrace.com.