74th Annual Manchester Road Race 'Biggest and Best' Yet

Forget the turkey and the stuffing. It wouldn't be Thanksgiving in Manchester without the road race.

What started as a modest effort by several Manchester High School cross country runners to extend their season has flourished into the renowned Manchester Road Race, a cherished and venerable part of the local community – not to mention one of the most popular and well-attended road races in the country.

It's also one of the most colorful races around, as a large percentage of runners choose to run the race each year in costume.

The 74th annual running of the 4.784-mile race, held Thanksgiving morning, saw a record field of 15,000 runners compete, the first time the race has ever reached its registration limit; while thousands more lined the streets of downtown Manchester to cheer them on. It takes an army of about 600 volunteers on the day of the race to coordinate the whole effort.

"It's an institution that has grown and grown and has become part of the Manchester culture," Rick Dyer, a local resident and a historian of the race who is writing a book about it, said of the event, which now draws runners from almost every state in the nation as well as a contingent of elite international runners each year.

The first race was run in 1927 with only 12 runners, and continued every year until 1934. That year, 38 runners finished the race, the last road race due to the Great Depression until its revival in 1945. Since 1945, the race has been run in town every year on Thanksgiving morning, growing in reputation and participation with each successive year.

Dyer attributed the race's longevity and success to several factors: the quality of runners who have participated in the race through the years, the increased popularity of long-distance running, and that the race is attractive to both competitive runners and those only out to have a good time.

"In the early days, you didn't run in this race unless you were a serious, serious long distance runner," Dyer said.  "As the road race expanded, and everybody started running in it, then people started wearing costumes. I always say that this road race is part costume party, part holiday celebration, part fundraiser, but at its core it's a world class running event."

Tris Carta, president of the Manchester Road Race Committee, which oversees the organization of the road race, ran the race for many years before joining the committee. Carta said he always looked forward to the Manchester race specifically because of the fans, which he also think attributes to the race's popularity.

"The reason why the runners come is because the people in town, no matter how good or bad the weather is, they will come out and cheer the runners on," Carta said. "As a long distance runner, I've been in a lot of races where you're out there just by yourself, no one's cheering, and Manchester always has people the whole course who are cheering you on, and so that as a runner it makes me want to come back. "

Mourad Marofit, a Moroccan runner, won the 74th annual race with an official time of 21:38, while Sally Kipyego was the top female finisher at 24:06.

Race officials said they were pleased with the record number of participants the 74th annual road race drew, but that they do not foresee increasing the registration limit in the near future because packing any more runners into the downtown area would strain safety standards.

"The event has grown so much, and that's why we had to put a cap on it," said James Balcome, who has served as the race's director for 34 years. "We're looking at the maximum. And you'll see when the gun fires and you watch everybody come through, we can't handle it."

Balcome attributes the race's popularity to the simple fact that it has become a Thanksgiving tradition in town through the years.

"It's Thanksgiving day; it's just tradition," Balcome said. "It's just grown and grown and that's where we are. We do our best to treat everybody with respect and everybody feels good when they get through running here."

Proceeds from the race are donated to charity after all costs have been paid. Last year, the race committee donated more than $119,000 to area charities. That figure is usually not determined until April, Balcome said, but he expected the donation figure to be larger than last year's.

"This was our biggest and best race yet," he said.