Sports
Kelati Gets Major National Honor After Win In Manchester Road Race
Weini Kelati is now in a tie with the great Any Rudolph for the most wins ever in Manchester.
MANCHESTER, CT — Weini Kelati’s win at Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving morning earned her selection as the USA Track and Field Athlete of the Week.
The announcement was made over the weekend.
Kelati, originally from Eritrea and now running out of Flagstaff, AR, is the 42nd USATF Athlete of the Week award winner for 2025.
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Holder of the course record of 22:55 that she set when she first won the race in 2021, Kelati took an early lead in the 4.737-mile race and was first to make it to the top of Highland Street to earn "Queen of the Hill" recognition and the accompanying prize money as she clocked 9:47 for that checkpoint.
At the four-mile split, Kelati was 49 seconds ahead of Great Britain's Hannah Nuttall in 19:42, and she kept that lead through the finish to win by 50 seconds in 23:18.
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Kelati, the eighth-place finisher in the 10,000 at the Paris Olympic Games, tied Amy Rudolph's record for most wins at the race.
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