Registration Opens For 88th Manchester Road Race

MANCHESTER, CT — Registration for the 88th Manchester Road Race is open.

The world-famous race, one of America's largest and most popular Thanksgiving Day races, will be staged on Nov. 28 at 10 a.m. It is run on a 4.737-mile loop course through Manchester's central streets that starts and finishes on Main Street, in front of St. James Church.

The entry fee is $32 for runners who sign up online at www.manchesterroadrace.com prior to midnight EST on Oct. 1. The entry fee increases thereafter to $37 on Oct. 1 and to $42 on Nov. 23.

Race officials said that, due to rising postage and logistical costs, the MRR will no longer be able to mail bibs to runners for free. Entrants who wish to receive their bibs through the postal service will be assessed an additional postage and handling fee when they register. The race committee has scheduled a number of times and dates when bibs can be picked up in person at no additional cost. Details about the new postage and handling fee, and the schedule of in-person bib pickup dates will be available at www.manchesterroadrace.com.

The Manchester Road Race attracted 11,060 registered runners last Thanksgiving. They ranged in athletic ability from Olympians and national champions to joggers dressed in turkey suits and Pilgrim costumes.

Morgan Beadlescomb of Ann Arbor, Michigan won last year's event with a time of 21:12.
Weini Kelati of Flagstaff, Arizona captured the women’s championship for the third consecutive year in 23:21.

Race officials are once again also offering a Virtual Manchester Road Race option. Participants can download a GPS-enabled app to their smartphones and have their times recorded as they run the MRR course distance at any location in the world. The entry fee for the virtual run is $30 and more details about the Virtual Manchester Road Race are available at www.manchesterroadrace.com.

Approximately 400 volunteers from the Manchester Road Race Committee organize the annual Thanksgiving Day run, with support from the Town of Manchester. The event's principal financial sponsors are Pratt & Whitney, ECHN and Hoffman Lexus.

Additional information is available at www.manchesterroadrace.com.