Veterans Row Again Part Of Manchester Road Race

MANCHESTER, CT — Members and veterans of the Armed Forces who are running in the 87th Manchester Road Race will again be honored on Thanksgiving Day.

Local veterans organizations and the Manchester Road Race Committee are teaming up for another race to co-sponsor a "Veterans Row" tribute for all active duty, reserve, and National Guard service members and veterans who enter the annual holiday run, race officials announced Friday.

A pre-race reception with light refreshments will be offered from 8:15 to 9:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, located near the corner of Main Street and East Center Street in Manchester. All service members and vets will receive a MRR commemorative pin.

Service members and veterans competing in the race will also receive recognition when they pass by the Veterans Row Path of Honor on the race course near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The Path of Honor will be lined with American flags, the POW/MIA flag, and the flags of all branches of the armed forces.

The Manchester Veterans Advisory Committee, American Legion Post 133 of South Windsor, American Legion Post 102 of Manchester, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2046 of Manchester, DAV Chapter 17 of Manchester, DAV Department of Connecticut and the Manchester Army & Navy Club are co-hosting the event with the race committee.

General Dynamics Electric Boat is the event’s Principal Sponsor. Additional financial support is provided by Horst Engineering, Pursuit Aerospace, Elks Lodge 1893, DAV Chapter 17, GEICO, Goodwin University and VFW POST 2046. Refreshments will be donated by Highland Park Market.

The Manchester Road Race has a long history of affiliation with veterans. In 1945, after a 10-year period when the event was not held due to the Great Depression and World War II, the road race was revived by returning veterans Earl Yost, Charlie Robbins and Fran Leary. The trio formed a committee to rekindle interest in the race, and convinced the local Army & Navy Club to co-sponsor it with the town Recreation Department.

The MRR, which has been staged every year since 1945 (including in 2020 when Covid-19 forced race officials to stage it as a virtual event) has been won 26 times by 17 veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. Olympian Johnny Kelley of Groton was an Army Veteran who won the race six times, and Manchester's Joe McCluskey, an Olympic bronze medalist who served with the Navy in the South Pacific during WWII, was a four-time winner. Robbins, a Navy vet, won the road race in 1945 and 1946.

"Our road race is extremely grateful to every veteran," said Dr. Tris Carta, president of the Manchester Road Race Committee. "This is our way of saying thanks for their sacrifices and service."

The 87th Manchester Road Race, one of the nation’s largest and most popular Thanksgiving Dat races, will be run at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. (Nov. 23). The race is run on a 4.748-mile loop course through Manchester’s central streets and starts and finishes on Main Street, in front of St. James Church. The race was recently included by World Athletics, the governing body for the sport of track and field, on its calendar of 2023 World Athletics Label Events. The MRR is one of only 238 races in the world, and 15 in the United States, to receive that designation.

On-line registration for the race and additional details about the MRR's Veterans Row activities are available at www.manchesterroadrace.com.