Race City Location Map - zoom in · zoom out · big map
displays approximate race location · Charlotte NC 28202

My Best Runs Comments

Make A Comment

On Thanksgiving morning, 2004, Carl and Leslee Guardino heard a radio report announcing “20,000 people downtown running and walking to benefit the needy” in Sacramento. Carl turned to Leslee and said, “Somebody ought to do a race like that here.” Leslee gave Carl that look that said, “Maybe that somebody should be us.”

Reaching out to Bob Brownstein at Working Partnerships, a think-tank arm of the Central Labor Council, a partnership was formed. Several months later, a major milestone occurred when Joe Pon of Applied Materials successfully championed to the company the idea of Applied serving as the Multi-Year Title Sponsor. With a title sponsor, and then several branded co-sponsors, the Applied Materials “Silicon Valley Turkey Trot “was born.

Three great local charities serving local residents – Healthier Kids Foundation Santa Clara County, Housing Trust Silicon Valley and Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties –were initially selected as multi-year beneficiaries, and a volunteer Executive Steering Committee started planning the first race, set for Thanksgiving Day, 2005.

• Year One Goals: 1,000 participants, supported by 200 volunteers, with a stretch goal to raise $100,000 for charity.
• Year One Results: 1,900 participants supported by 250 volunteers, clearing $132,000 for the three charities.

The event blossomed beyond everyone’s wildest imagination.

• Year Seven Results: 22,124 participants, supported by 1,000 volunteers, clearing $612,000 for charity.
• Year Eight Results: 24,223 participants, supported by 2,000 volunteers, clearing $700,000 (from the race) plus an additional $500,000 from a one time, anonymous donor totaling $1.2 million for charity.
• Year Nine Results: 24,565 participants, supported by 1,800 volunteers. clearing $850,000 for charity.
• Year Ten Results: 26,405 registrants, supported by 2,000 volunteers, clearing $936,000 for charity.
• Year Eleven Results: 24,901 registrants, supported by 2,000 volunteers, clearing $936,000 for charity.
• Year Twelve Results: 24,388 registrants, supported by 2,000 volunteers, clearing $912,000 for charity.
• Total donated: More than $6.9 million.

In this modern world of professional runners, televised marathons, and hundred-dollar racing shoes, Berwick, Pennsylvania’s Run for the Diamonds has the authenticity of an old boxing gym. A nine-mile race with a grueling two-mile uphill, contested on Thanksgiving since 1908, this is a throwback event that reflects the history of running in America.

Some of the world’s greatest runners have competed at Berwick. Boston legend Johnny Kelley said, “Except for the Boston and Olympic marathons, there is no race that I would rather win than Berwick.”

The first race was contested between the locals over unpaved roads and followed by a “referee” on horseback. The frontrunner in 1909 was a diminutive Hopi named Louis Tewanima, who became the race’s first star. (Although he was captured by the US Cavalry in 1906 and forced to attend Carlisle Indian School, Tewanima went on to win an Olympic silver medal for the United States.)

Berwick also attracted some of Finland’s greatest runners—Hannes Kolehmainen (the first “Flying Finn”) and Ville Ritola (the “Flying Wolf”), both of whom went on to win Olympic gold medals.

The Manchester Road Race was born in 1927. "Francis" 'Duke' Haraburda' had the enthusiasm, Manchester Assistant Recreation Director Frank Busch had a willing ear, and his boss, Recreation Director Lewis Lloyd, was in a position to do something about it." Francis Haraburda had been captain of the Manchester High cross-country team in 1927. The season ended in mid-November and, in his opinion, much too quickly. He thought it would be fun if Manchester held a Thanksgiving Day cross-country race after the scholastic schedule was completed. Haraburda mentioned his idea to Busch, who then proposed the race to Lloyd. Lloyd and Busch took the idea to Charles "Pete" Wigren, Manchester High School's first track coach, and he took it from there.

The major problem they encountered was choosing a course for the race. Cross-country racing suggested running off road through a natural environment. In the late 1920's such a route did not exist in an up and coming town like Manchester, which was already covered with paved roads. The idea of a road race did not seem practical. Road running, other than 26.2 mile marathons, was not popular at that time. They settled on a course that had the start and finish at the High School, which at the time was at the bottom of Main Street. The route followed Main Street to Mt. Nebo to Charter Oak Street, down Highland Park to Porter Street and finally East Center Street back to Main Street. This combined trail running with some road running. The five and a half mile course was much more difficult than today and included territory now occupied by Interstate 384.

Lloyd, Haraburda, Busch and Wigren mustered a few local runners. "There were 12 starters in a steady drizzle of rain which continued until the finish." A few Manchester residents also went out to stand on the edge of the course and support the runners. The winner of the first race was John McCluskey, who completed the course in 29:36 and was awarded a silver loving cup for his effort.

A local newspaper, the Manchester Herald, said the Manchester Road Race was "a big success." Ninth place finisher, Bob Dougan saw it differently. He commented, "The first year didn't really amount to much. The reaction of most people in town was 'So what? So a couple of guys are going to run five miles. Big deal.' We had no idea whether the race would survive to see its second year."

Not only was the race held the next year, in 1928 it became an annual tradition. Jim Gwin won in 1928 and Walt Bennet in 1929. Thanks to the presence of Joe McCluskey, John's younger brother and a quickly rising champion high school runner, the Manchester Road Race took off in 1930, with crowds of 10,000 in downtown Manchester on race day. McCluskey won with ease in 1930, 31 and 32, but decided to pass up the race in 1933 and give someone else a chance. McCluskey's absence and the ongoing depression would soon bring an end to the Road Race.

As the race had begun to claim a name for itself, local businesses started to take an interest. They promoted the race in their shops, and donated prizes for the winners. However, the depression hit and put this to an end. The race organizers could not ask for donations when these businesses were barely surviving themselves. In 1934, 38 racers crossed the finish line, led by John Turley. Turley, a Yale student, won the race with a time of 24:43. This marked the end of the first chapter in the race's history, as the continued misery of the Great Depression followed by the coming of the Second World War, led to cancellation of the event until its revival in 1945.

• Beginning in 1927, the Manchester Road Race started with just twelve runners.
• Today, there are more than 15,000 registered runners and walkers.
• In 1961, the first woman ran the Manchester Road Race.

YMCA Turkey Trot History

In 1896, Henry A. Allison was among six runners competing in a five mile cross country race that stretched along routes that have long since been reconstructed in the downtown Buffalo, New York area. Little did Allison know he would become the first winner of the YMCA Turkey Trot, a race that would long outlive him. In those early days, runners paced along rugged dirt roads. It wasn’t until the mid-1900s that the race was run on pavement.

Through the years, the Turkey Trot has crossed paths with runners of various styles, attitudes, and ages. The race attracts not only serious runners, but also amateur, masters and team competitors. The team competition had a rocky start during the 1899 race when John Coleman, a member of the Buffalo Team, was charged with riding part of the race in a wagon. When officials discovered this, the team was disqualified and the victory went to Rochester. One of the most entertaining features of this race is the large field of competitors who dress in costume. In addition to the field of traditional Thanksgiving themed characters, you’ll also find plenty of superheroes, hockey players, a bunch of bananas and even the Gingerbread Man to name a just a few, trotting down Delaware Avenue on race day.

One notable runner, Gus Gressel, started running the race in 1907, and minus the one year he missed the race due to a leg injury, didn’t stop until well into his 70s! Gressel spent nearly 50 years running the Turkey Trot and won the race the first time he ran it. His son, Ed, competed with his father in 1916, and it was Ed who took home the victory that year. Some other notable male competitors after the Gressel years, include Mark Finucane of Buffalo, who won four straight Turkey Trot victories from 1980 – 1983, and David O’Keefe who holds the record for the best running time, 23:13, in 1989. The youngest person ever to take home the overall winner’s trophy is Anthony Diamond, who at the age of 15 crossed the finish line first in 1944. Sixty years later in 2004, 11-year-old Jacy Christiansen became the youngest woman ever to take first place female honors, crossing the finish line in the 102nd overall spot with a time of 30:09. Age is definitely just a number when it comes to the multi-generations that make up the field of runners each year.

Women did not actually join the field of runners until 1972. The first woman to enter the YMCA Turkey Trot was Mary Ann Bolles, who placed 142 out of 169 finishers. The most distinguished female runner is Victoria Mitchell who was the overall female winner eight times – in 1991, 1992, 1994, and 1996–2000. Victoria holds the female record for best running time, 26:21 in 1998.

The 100th anniversary of the race, held in 1995, saw a record 6,003 runners registered and 5,480 cross the finish line. 2002 was also a year to remember when Mother Nature treated us to a record snowfall that shut down the city just three days before the race. Thanks to the efforts of Buffalo’s leaders and snow removal crews, the streets were cleared in time for the just over 3,500 runners to run the race and help keep the Turkey Trot’s record as the ‘oldest continually run footrace in North America’ alive. The participant field crossed the 10,000 threshold in 2008 and continued to steadily grow, capping out at 14,000 for the past several years.

Runners come from all over the United States, Canada and even a few from overseas. In fact, runners from as far away as Ireland and Australia have taken part in the Turkey Trot at one time or another. Quite a difference from 1896!