newsandviewsjb

NEWS&VIEWS by Jacqueline Bennett

Posts tagged “Manchester Road Race”

Brr!! Frigid Temps for Manchester Thanksgiving Day Road Race

Posted on November 24, 2018

by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com     Baby, it was cold outside! On a day usually dedicated to turkey – frigid temperatures were more suited to penguins at the 82nd Manchester Road Race. At race time, 10 a.m. Thanksgiving Day it was 17 degrees but add in a wind chill factor and it felt like single digit weather. Many runners came dressed for the cold but some elite contestants still wore shorts and sleeveless shirts !! Plenty of costumes too. Both the male and female winners were from Kenya ~ the race is known to attract top competitors from around the globe. More than 12,000 runners were registered but reportedly about 2,000 did not finish – likely due to the cold. Plenty of spectators still…

Categories: NEWS

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Manchester Road Race Adds Veteran’s Row to Thanksgiving Day Event

Posted on November 18, 2018

                      Write-up & photos by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com   New this year to the Manchester Road Race is a Veteran’s Row. According to race organizers, veterans will gather between 8-9:30 a.m., the morning of the race on Thanksgiving Day at the Vietnam Memorial. The memorial is located at the top of Main Street, near East Center Street. Runners who indicate they are veterans on their registration form with be given more details.   As of 7:30 a.m. 11/18, the total number of registered runners was 11,788. In its 82nd year, the MRR is a popular holiday tradition attracting elite runners from across the globe, as well as, generations of area families who continue to…

Categories: Honoring Veterans, Manchester Road Race, NEWS

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Boston Marathon’s Strong Field of American Women Apropos to the Times

Posted on April 16, 2018

By Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com   We have come a long way since a mother worried her daughter ~ with sights on running the Boston Marathon ~ might not find a husband, since New York Marathon officials warned that distance running could cause a woman’s uterus to fall out, and since LIFE magazine ran a headline ~ “Tomboy Out On a Limb” ~ after a woman broke the gender barrier in the 1961 Manchester Road Race in Connecticut.   “The best American women’s field ever assembled for Monday’s annual 26.2 mile trek from Hopkinton to Boston,” as described by sportswriter Lori Riley of the Hartford Courant, will take its mark this morning at the Boston Marathon. No matter what, this field of women would be…

Categories: American Woman Could Title at Boston Marathon, Boston Marathon, NEWS, Strong Field American Women Runners

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80th Manchester Road Race Running on Thanksgiving Day 2016

Posted on November 13, 2016

By Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com   The 80th running of the Manchester Road Race will take place Thanksgiving Day, November 24, slated to start promptly at 10:00 a.m. One of the largest sporting events in the Nutmeg state, MRR was honored in May with the presentation of the 2016 Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance Award recognizing the race’s “significant contribution to sports in Connecticut”.   As of early this morning, online registration remained open with 10,416 runners signed up, according to the MRR website. Visit https://www.manchesterroadrace.com/ for information about registration which will be capped at 15,000. Online registration will end November 17, at 14,000, this year there will be no evening or same day registration. However, walk-in registration will be held at the Sports & Fitness…

Categories: Manchester Road Race, Thanksgiving Day events in New England, Thanksgiving Traditions

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79th Manchester Thanksgiving Day Road Race – Bonuses for Fastest Hill Runners

Posted on November 24, 2015

    Write-Up & Photo by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com   Excitement is building in Manchester, Connecticut with the 79th Manchester Road Race held on Thanksgiving but two days away. Late Tuesday morning 13,848 runners had signed up and on-line registration remained open. As has been reported previously on newsandviewsjb, about two weeks before race day it is typical to see runners training along the course which travels through downtown. With the arrival of race eve, the town comes alive with participants and an annual homecoming of sorts which fills local pubs.   On race day, followers have their preferred spectator spots – a favorite of mine is near the Army & Navy Club. The featured photo above is one I snapped outside the club…

Categories: NEWS, Thanksgiving Day Road Race

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Snow Cleared For Thanksgiving Day – Always Fun – Manchester Road Race

Posted on December 3, 2014

Story & Photos by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com   Snow and freezing rain that fell just twenty-four hours before did not halt the 78th Manchester Road Race in Connecticut on Thanksgiving Day, November 27. Nor did temperatures in the mid-30 degree range keep some 15,000 registered runners – plus the strays who fall in after the event gets underway – and thousands more spectators from turning out. Town crews thoroughly cleared Main Street and once again the race started promptly at 10 a.m. as it does each year. A glitch with the sound system’s playing of the national anthem left the crowd to finish singing the “Star-Spangled Banner.”   As always, the Manchester Road Race was fun. Half the enjoyment of this 4.748 mile competition is seeing the costumes in which participants show up – from Stove…

Categories: Holiday Traditions, Holidays, New England Sports Events, NEWS, Thanksgiving Road Races

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Manchester Thanksgiving Day Road Race Seeks to Document Longtime Runners

Posted on November 24, 2014

Write-Up & Photo by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb.com One of New England’s premier sporting events is only three days away – the Thanksgiving Day Road Race, being held for the 78th year in Manchester, Connecticut. As of this morning online registration remained open with a total of 14,183 runners signed on to participate, according to their website. This year the road race committee wants to chronicle longtime runners and “is establishing a program to record and recognize the longevity of its perennial participants.” A longevity record database is slated to be posted to the road race website at some point down the road …. no pun intended. The committee is said to be looking for men who have run the race 45 times or more and…

Categories: NEWS, Sports, Thanksgiving Road Races

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Sunny Skies Grace 77th Annual Manchester Road Race

Posted on November 29, 2013

Write-up & Photos by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb It was a good day to bundle up as sunny skies but c-h-i-l-l-y temperatures graced the 77th running of the Thanksgiving Day, Manchester Road Race on November 28, 2013 in downtown Manchester, Connecticut. Some 15,000 runners and walkers filled Main Street for the 10:00 a.m. start of the race. As usual, spectators lined the 4.748 mile course in numbers that easily rival turnouts for events in much larger cities. Sam Chelanga of Kenya took first place with a time of 21:31 and coming in first for the women was another Kenyan, Alice Kamunya with a time of 25:07. In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing last spring, beefed up security was apparent with uniformed Manchester police…

Categories: NEWS, Road races, Sports

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Thanksgiving Manchester Road Race Walk-In Registration Today

Posted on November 23, 2013

Write-up & Photos by Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb The only walk-in registration for this year’s Manchester Road Race will be held today during a Sports Expo at Bennet Academy from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The academy is located at 1151 Main Street in downtown Manchester, Connecticut. The 77th running of the Manchester Road Race held annually on Thanksgiving Day will be on November 28. Start time is 10:00 a.m. in front of St.James Church along Main Street. According to the road race website, 14,000 runners have signed up and initial online registration is closed. It will only be reopened if the maximum participation number of 15,000 is not reached by the close of today’s Sports Expo. No evening registration or race day registration will…

Categories: NEWS, Road races, Sports

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Plans Underway for 6th Annual Tavern Trot in Historic Windsor, Connecticut

Posted on May 5, 2012

Story & Photo by: Jacqueline Bennett newsandviewsjb Save this date – September 16 – for the 6th annual Tavern Trot in the lovely hamlet of Windsor, Connecticut. Plans are underway for the sixth running of the 3.5 mile race through the historic center of Connecticut’s first town. Hosted by Union Street Tavern, the Tavern Trot is USATF certified and is a qualifier for the Manchester Road Race. Proceeds from the event will benefit Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a national charity for research to fight childhood cancer. The planning committee held its initial meeting Tuesday night, May 2, at the tavern which is located on 20 Union Street in Windsor Center. “Last year we raised $20,000 and overall have donated $60,000,” noted planning committee member Paul Murray.…

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