MANCHESTER, Conn. — Tom Diana has unquestionably gone the distance for his love of running. He’s finished two marathons, 13 half marathons and some 20 Manchester Road Races over a lifetime of jogging.
To celebrate his running accomplishments, Tom, a 55-year-old native of Manchester, has three tattoos. One says 26.2, for his marathons. Another tattoo says 13.1, for his half marathons.
The final tattoo says 4.748. That is the mileage of the Manchester Road Race, or it was the mileage of the Manchester Road Race.
“They’ve changed the distance for the Road Race!,” said Diana, laughing as he finished a training lap in the same place he will run the real race next week.
And he is right. This past July, Manchester Road Race brass measured the course and found the actual distance is 4.737 miles, which means Tom’s tattoo is just a bit off.
“Tommy’s ankle says 4.748 but we went out and measured in July of this year and it’s 4.737 miles," said Dani Kennedy, a Manchester Road Race executive board member, before smiling and adding, “It’s similar to putting your girlfriend’s name on your chest and then you get a new girlfriend. I mean he’s got the wrong distance on his ankle.”
“Maybe I’ll put a big X through it and put [a new one] high up on my leg – I have plenty of skin,” he said.
Regardless of having inaccurate ink on his ankle, Diana said there is nothing better than being in Manchester on Thanksgiving.
“It’s not Thanksgiving without the Road Race," he said. "It’s just a beautiful thing that happens one day a year. It’s better than Christmas.”
The Manchester Road Race will kick off on Thanksgiving morning, next Thursday, at 9 a.m. If you can't make it out, you can still catch all the action on FOX61 and FOX61+.
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Jimmy Altman is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at jaltman@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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