Milestone Wins For Colley, Kelati In Manchester Road Race

MANCHESTER, CT — Andrew Colley won his first Manchester Road Race and Weini Kelati claimed her fourth-consecutive women's title on a rain-soaked 4.737-mile course on Thanksgiving morning.

Colley, a 33-year-old from Blowing Rock, NC, overcame a gap of about 20 yards at the 4-mile mark to outlast Edwin Kurgat and Eduardo Herrera at the finish line with a time of 21:09. Herrera was second (21:15) and Kurgat was third (21:19). Colley out-kicked both on the final downhill section of the course. At the top of Main Street, they were stride-for-stride.

Kelati finished in 23:14. The 27-year-old from Flagstaff AZ, by way of Eritrea, jumped out to a massive lead and cruised to a win.

This year marked the 88th edition of the race.

Kelati was coming off an eighth-place finish at the Paris Olympics at 10,000 meters.

Kelati won the MRR women's championship the previous three years and holds the women's course record of 22:55, which she set during her initial Manchester appearance in 2021.
Kelati's other winning efforts — 23:21 at last year's event and 23:39 in 2022 — are also the second- and third-fastest times ever recorded by a female competitor on the course. In addition to winning the women’s title last Thanksgiving, Kelati placed 19th overall. She finished 18th in the race's open division during her record-setting run here in 2021.

She was among the men's elite runners the entire race Thursday.

This year's fourth victory this year gave Kelati the MRR record for most consecutive wins by a woman and place her in some very prestigious company. Olympic runner Amy Rudolph won the women's race five times (in 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000 and 2002) and Olympian Judi St. Hilaire had four wins (in 1985, 1988, 1989 and 1992).

It was a showcase win for Colley both on the international and personal stages.

The win in Manchester capped off a huge comeback for Colley, who also had good showings at the 2024 Olympic trials at 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Before 2018, he hadn't ben able to run 19 months without suffering an injury and, in 2017, he was diagnosed with popliteal artery entrapment syndrome and two surgeries essentially re-started normal blood flow in both legs.