Manchester Road Race Sporting 10K Entries As Registration Winds Down
MANCHESTER, CT — Time is running out to sign up for the 88th edition of the Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving Day. Bibs look good on Thanksgiving Day, they said, and for a reason better than food.
Registration for the 4.737-mile race through Manchester's central streets will close completely in eight days — at 11:59 p.m. EST on Nov. 26. No entries will be accepted thereafter. The entry fee is $37 until 4 p.m. EST on Nov. 23, when it increases to $42.
Runners may sign up for the race 24 hours a day online at www.manchesterroadrace.com . The Manchester Road Race Committee has also scheduled several walk-in registration and bib distribution events which will be held before the deadline on Nov. 26th. The dates, times and locations of the events are posted on the MRR website ( www.manchesterroadrace.com ).
Last year, 11,060 runners registered for the race, which is one of America's oldest and most popular Thanksgiving Day events. As of 2 a.m. this morning, race officials have received 10,161 entries for the 2024 MRR.
The race committee president is urging runners not to poach the course because a good portion of the entree fees go to charity.
"We are urging everyone who wants to run in the race to officially register and get a bib," said Dr. Tris Carta, the president of the Manchester Road Race Committee. "By doing so, you'll have your finish and time officially recorded, and, more importantly, you'll be helping the wonderful charities and non-profit organizations that our race supports."
Some of the world's best long-distance competitors are included in the field.
Olympian Weini Kelati, who has won the women's race for the past three years, is returning to defend her title. Kelati holds the MRR women's course record of 22:55, which she set in 2021.
Annie Rodenfels, who finished second here last year with a time of 23:59, and Florencia Borelli, an Olympic marathon runner from Argentina who was fifth at the 2024 MRR, have also entered.
Former champions Ben Flanagan (2021) and Sam Chelanga (2013) will be returning to Manchester for the men's competition this Thanksgiving. They will be joined by Edwin Kurgat, a Kenyan Olympian who placed seventh in the 5,000 meters at last summer's Paris Games; Andrew Colley, who finished fourth here two years ago with a time of 21:07; and Patrick Dever, an Olympic runner from Great Britain who was fifth at the 2023 MRR in 21:18.
The MRR men's course record of 21:04 was set by Olympian Conner Mantz in 2022. Mantz is not competing at this year's road race.
The 88th Manchester Road Race will be held at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 28 of this year). The race, which has been designated a World Athletics Label Road Race, starts and finishes on Main Street in Manchester, in front of St, James Church.
The road race is organized annually by approximately 450 volunteers from the Manchester Road Race Committee, with support from the Town of Manchester. The event's Principal Sponsors are Pratt & Whitney, ECHN and Hoffman Lexus.
