Manchester Road Race Registration Begins Sept. 1

MANCHESTER, CT — Registration for the 88th Manchester Road Race will begin on Sept. 1, the race committee announced Thursday. The world-famous race, one of America’s largest and most popular turkey trots, will be run on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, at 10 a.m.

Billed for years as "the nation's oldest 5-mile race" despite the course actually measuring 4.748 miles, the loop course through Manchester’s central streets which starts and finishes on Main Street, in front of St. James Church, was recently re-measured, and it now exactly 4.737 miles long.

Entry fee is $32 for runners who sign up online at www.manchesterroadrace.com prior to midnight on Oct. 1. The fee increases to $37 on Oct. 1, and to $42 on Nov. 23.

Race officials said due to rising postage and logistical costs, the committee will no longer be able to mail bibs to runners free of charge. Entrants who wish to receive their bibs through the postal service will be assessed an additional postage and handling fee when they register.

The race committee has scheduled a number of times and dates when bibs can be picked up in person at no additional cost. Details about the new postage and handling fee and the schedule of in-person bib pickup dates will be available at www.manchesterroadrace.com when registration opens at 5 a.m. on Sept. 1.

The race attracted 11,060 registered entrants last Thanksgiving. They ranged in athletic ability from Olympians and national champions, to joggers and walkers dressed in turkey suits, Pilgrim costumes and every kind of crazy getup imaginable.

Morgan Beadlescomb of Ann Arbor, Michigan won last year’s event with a time of 21:12. Weini Kelati of Flagstaff, Arizona captured the women’s championship for the third consecutive year in 23:21.

Race officials are once again also offering a Virtual Manchester Road Race option. Participants can download a GPS-enabled app to their smartphones and have their times recorded as they run the MRR course distance at any location in the world.

Entry fee for the virtual run is $30, and online registration also begins Sept. 1. More details about the Virtual Manchester Road Race are available at www.manchesterroadrace.com.

"We are eagerly looking forward to Thanksgiving Day and another fantastic road race," committee president Dr. Tris Carta said. "We anticipate that we’re going to have another large field that will include some of the best distance runners in the world, and we are urging everyone to register as early as possible."

About 400 volunteers from the Manchester Road Race Committee organize the annual extravaganza, with support from the town of Manchester. The event's principal financial sponsors are Pratt & Whitney, ECHN and Hoffman Lexus.

Additional information is available at www.manchesterroadrace.com.