Manchester Road Race Striving For 380-Plus Pints At Annual Ray Crothers Blood Drive

MANCHESTER, CT — On the day after it stages its world-famous Thanksgiving Day run, the Manchester Road Race Committee will quickly shift gears and sponsor one of Connecticut’s largest blood drives.

The committee is again partnering with the American Red Cross of Connecticut to offer the annual Ray Crothers Blood Drive on Friday, Nov. 28, at the Manchester High School gymnasium. Manchester High School is located at 134 East Middle Turnpike.

The event is slated for 8:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.

Although walk-in donors are welcome, appointments are encouraged, and can be made either by calling 1-800-733-2767, or on-line at the Red Cross website. Everyone who donates a pint of blood will receive a Manchester Road Race T-shirt. The event will also feature refreshments, entertainment and a raffle.

The drive is staged in memory of the late Ray Crothers of Tolland. Crothers is a former Central Connecticut University track and cross-country star, who won the race in 1965 and competed in the event 43 times. During his career, Crothers won the race's high school, open and master's divisions and had eight top-10 finishes at the MRR.

Race officials named the annual blood drive (which began in 1986) in Crothers' honor after his death from cancer in 2008.

A total of 376 pints of blood — which benefited 1,128 patients in need of whole blood, plasma and platelets — were collected at last year’s drive, a record for units collected at the MRR event.

"We are aiming to do even better this year," said Lance Morgan, a physician assistant and MRR Executive Committee member who oversees the drive. "There is a critical need for life-saving blood in Connecticut right now and we are hoping for another large turnout of our tremendously supportive runners, volunteers and friends."

Financial support for the Ray Crothers Blood Drive is provided by the event's presenting sponsors, Hartford HealthCare and Eastern Connecticut Pathology Consultants. Additional support is provided by Highland Park Market and Fox 61.

The Ray Crothers Blood Drive is one of several events which will be sponsored by the Manchester Road Race Committee around the time of this year's race. More details about the blood drive are available at www.manchesterroadrace.com.

The 89th Manchester Road Race, one of America’s largest and most popular Turkey Day runs, will be held on Thanksgiving Day (this year on Thursday, Nov. 27) at 10 a.m. The race, which is expected to attract more than 11,000 entrants and 30,000 spectators, is run on a 4.737-mile loop course that starts and finishes on Main Street in Manchester, in front of St. James Church.

Online registration for the event is available at www.manchesterroadrace.com.