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Eric Jenkins of Portland, Oregon and Edna Kiplagat of Boulder, Colorado have won the men’s and women’s division of the 83rd running of the Manchester Road Race.
Jenkins covered the 4.748-mile (7.641-kilometer) distance in 21:18 (unofficial), almost besting the old mark of 21:16 set last year by Edward Cheserek.
Edward Cheserek, last year’s men’s division winner, of Johnson City, Tennessee, was second.
In the women’s race, Edna Kiplagat finished with an unofficial clocking of 24:29.
Kiplagat is a policewoman in Iten, Kenya. She started the Edna Kiplagat Foundation to raise awareness of breast cancer. Is is the 2011 and 2013 IAAF World Champion, and has established herself as an elite marathon runner in 2010 with wins at the Los Angeles and New York City marathons.
Jenkins competed for Northeastern University and transferred to the University of Oregon in 2013 where he won the men’s 3K and 5K at the 2015 NCAA DI Indoor Track and Field Championships.
During his time at the school, a famous rivalry formed between him and his teammate Edward Cheserek who would always finish either closely behind or ahead of Jenkins in several races (including today!).
(11/28/2019) Views: 691 ⚡AMPThe Manchester Road race is one of New England’s oldest and most popular road races. The 80th Manchester Road Race will be held on Thanksgiving Day. It starts and finishes on Main Street, in front of St. James Church. The Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance recently honored the Manchester Road Race. The CSWA, which is comprised of sports journalists and broadcasters...
more...An 85-year-old retired master craftsman and cancer survivor will achieve what organizers are calling a "remarkable" achievement when he lines up to start the 2019 Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving morning. It will be Wilhelm "Willi" Frederich's 50th appearance in the famed race.
Frederich, a retired contractor and master craftsman from Ellington, ran in his first MRR in 1968. He has finished the 4.748-mile run every year since then with the exception of 1999 and 2000. He missed those races due to illness in the family, race officials said.
Frederick's own illness did not stop him last Thanksgiving,. Frederich, who was then battling bone cancer that is now in remission, braved the 14-degree weather with a zero wind chill and covered the road race course in a wheel chair equipped with a hand crank.
He plans to walk and jog the course next Thursday, accompanied by 10 family members and friends. Frederich will be easy to spot on the race course. He will be wearing one of the special red, white and blue numbers bibs that the road race committee issues to its longtime entrants. Frederich and his running mates will also don special yellow jerseys emblazoned with "Team Willi" on the front.
This is a fantastic accomplishment," said Dr. Tris Carta of the Manchester Road Race Committee. "We are very proud of Willi Frederich, and all of our perennial performers."
(11/23/2019) Views: 864 ⚡AMPThe Manchester Road race is one of New England’s oldest and most popular road races. The 80th Manchester Road Race will be held on Thanksgiving Day. It starts and finishes on Main Street, in front of St. James Church. The Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance recently honored the Manchester Road Race. The CSWA, which is comprised of sports journalists and broadcasters...
more...His goal, for a while now, has been to win the race he grew up running, the fabled Manchester Road Race, on Thanksgiving Day.
Cabral, 29, of Hartford finished third over the 4.748-mile course in 2012 in 21:33. He was fourth in 2014 (21:51) and second in 2015 in 21:36.
“If I were to win Manchester,” Cabral said at Thursday’s annual press lunch at the Manchester Country Club, “that would trump winning the Penn Relays, the national title – it would be on the same level as making the Olympic team.
“I’m feeling as confident now for my fitness this year as any year I’ve ever run this.”
The 83rd annual race will take place Nov. 28 at 10 a.m. on Main Street in Manchester. Over 12,000 runners and walkers are expected.
Cabral, who grew up in Glastonbury, said he had a “horrible track season.” Last year, he finished 20th at Manchester in 22:36. But his recent workouts are mirroring his successful past runs.
“I just did a workout which was a 5-mile run, where four miles are at a comfortably hard pace and the last mile’s hard,” he said. “I did that same workout eight days before Thanksgiving in 2012. I ended up running 21:33. I just did the same workout this past weekend, and given conditions and pacing, it was at least equivalent to what I did in 2012. I’m confident going forward. I’m ready to go.”
Cabral has been going to law school and business school but he’s taking the spring semester off to focus on making it to the Tokyo Olympics.
“I’ve had a couple years where I’ve been struggling to kind of get my legs under me and find out what’s been going on,” he said. “I had little bright spots here and there but they’re becoming fewer and further between. To an outside observer, maybe it is age. But there are plenty of 30-year-old runners who are at the top of their career, so I ignore that.
“I’ve spoken with some doctors and I think it’s being able to keep some stressors in my life down and being able to keep the amount of calories up I need to meet those needs.”
Defending champion Edward Cheserek is returning. Cheserek ran a course record 21:16 in bitter cold conditions last year.
“Well, Edward Cheserek is one of the best runners in American history,” Cabral said. “If he wants to go out and run what that time is equivalent to on a good day, I don’t think anyone’s going to be stopping him - 21:16 on the coldest day in Manchester Road Race history is otherworldly. That said, he’s human and he gets beat and he’s not always on his game. When he’s on his game, it would take something I haven’t seen in myself yet to beat him. I think I’m ready to run phenomenally and if he’s at all off, or compromised, I’m ready to take him down.
(11/22/2019) Views: 783 ⚡AMPThe Manchester Road race is one of New England’s oldest and most popular road races. The 80th Manchester Road Race will be held on Thanksgiving Day. It starts and finishes on Main Street, in front of St. James Church. The Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance recently honored the Manchester Road Race. The CSWA, which is comprised of sports journalists and broadcasters...
more...The director of the Manchester Road Race has been recognized nationally for his efforts to coordinate the Thanksgiving Day event.
Jim Balcome, the director and backbone of the Manchester Road Race for about four decades, has been recognized nationally for his efforts to coordinate the annual Thanksgiving Day run.
Balcome is known for his meticulous — and personal — approach to the annual Thanksgiving Day event and, last weekend, he was awarded the "Marathon Foto/Road Race Management RaceDirector of the Year Award," which is presented by MYLAPS Sports Timing.
The honor has been described by Boston Marathon champion Bill Rodgers as "the goldmedal of race directing," has been presented annually since 1987 to the nation's best race director. It is considered to be one of the most prestigious awards in the sport of road racing.
A committee comprised of race directors, athletes, media representatives, corporate executivesand club officials selected Balcome from a group of nominees who were judged on several factors,including overall ability, the reputation of the race, creativity, and organizational ability.
Balcome, 76, coined the race day phrase, "This is Thanksgiving in Manchester," and is known for making Manchester "a runners race" from the elite athletes kicking toward the tape down Main Street to the guy in the back of the 11,000-strong field kicking back in a bunny suit.
Balcome has served as the MRR's race director for 40 years. He's a past president of the Silk City Striders Running Club and competed in the road race for several years before being asked to lead its operations.
He's an Air Force veteran and retired Rockville High School teacher, guidance counselor and track coach who spends between 500 and 600 hours each year performing the "countless tasks" that are necessary to stage a major road race like the MRR, other race officials said.
(11/14/2019) Views: 497 ⚡AMPThe Manchester Road race is one of New England’s oldest and most popular road races. The 80th Manchester Road Race will be held on Thanksgiving Day. It starts and finishes on Main Street, in front of St. James Church. The Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance recently honored the Manchester Road Race. The CSWA, which is comprised of sports journalists and broadcasters...
more...Defending champion and course record holder Edward Cheserek has entered the 83rd Manchester Road Race, race officials announced Thursday.
Cheserek hails from of Flagstaff, AZ, by way of Kenya.
Cheserek, 25, won the annual Thanksgiving Day run last year in 14-degree weather with zero wind chills and set a new record for the 4.748-mile course with a time of 21:16. He sliced three seconds off the old mark of 21:19 that had stood since 1995.
"Edward Cheserek ran a super race under very difficult conditions last year," said Dr. Tris Carta, president of the Manchester Road Race Committee. "We are very pleased that he will be back this Thanksgiving to defend his championship."
Cheserek captured 17 NCAA running championships when he competed for the University of Oregon. He won the Carlsbad 5,000 Road Race in California this past April with a time of 13:29. Cheserek recorded a personal best time of 13:04.44 for 5,000 meters this summer during an outdoor meet in Belgium, and also placed third at the seven-mile Falmouth Road Race in 32:30.
The 83rd Manchester Road Race will be run at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 28, 2019).
The 4.748-mile race is run on a loop course through Manchester's central streets and starts and finishes on Main Street, in front of St. James Church.
(11/13/2019) Views: 619 ⚡AMPThe Manchester Road race is one of New England’s oldest and most popular road races. The 80th Manchester Road Race will be held on Thanksgiving Day. It starts and finishes on Main Street, in front of St. James Church. The Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance recently honored the Manchester Road Race. The CSWA, which is comprised of sports journalists and broadcasters...
more...One of the world's greatest marathon runners will compete at the 83rd Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving Day. Race officials announced Monday that Edna Kiplagat, who won the 26.2-mile event at the World Championships in 2011 and 2013, will return to Manchester after a two-year absence.
She finished fourth at the 2016 MRR with a time of 24:34.
Kiplagat, who turns 40 on Nov., 15, grew up in Kenya and recently relocated to the Boulder, Colorado area. She won the 2017 Boston Marathon, the 2014 London Marathon, and the New York City and Los Angeles Marathons, both in 2010. Kiplagat recorded her best time for the event in 2012 when she placed second behind Mary Keitany at the London Marathon in 2:19:50.
The mother of five children and a former police physical fitness instructor in Kenya, Kipligat was the runner-up at the Boston Marathon last April, and finished fourth in the marathon at the 2019 World Championships, which were held last month in Doha, Qatar.
Kiplagat will join Olympic silver medalist Sally Kipyego in a highly competitive womens elite field at the annual 4.78-mile Thanksgiving Day run through Manchester's central streets.
The 83rd Manchester Road Race is scheduled will take place on Nov. 28 at 10 a.m.
(11/12/2019) Views: 766 ⚡AMPThe Manchester Road race is one of New England’s oldest and most popular road races. The 80th Manchester Road Race will be held on Thanksgiving Day. It starts and finishes on Main Street, in front of St. James Church. The Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance recently honored the Manchester Road Race. The CSWA, which is comprised of sports journalists and broadcasters...
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