MANCHESTER -- The Manchester Road Race is Thursday and an already impressive field has another reason to step up as another Olympian will run this year.
Oregon's Galen Rupp, who recently took home the bronze medal in the marathon at the Rio Olympics, will race on Thanksgiving Day. Rupp, who also won the silver medal at the London Olympic games in the 10,000-meter, says he has been hearing about the prestige of the Manchester Road Race for years.
"I've heard so much from so many different people about this race and I'm just so happy it's worked out," Rupp said.
Traveling to Manchester with Rupp is his coach, Alberto Salazar, an accomplished runner and controversial figure in the running world. Salazar won the New York City Marathon three times (1980-1982) and lived in Manchester until age 10.
"After the New York Marathon and Chicago Marathon this is the best race in the country," Salazar said. "It's a stacked race."
With the addition of Rupp and Rio Olympic 5,000-neter silver medalist Paul Chelimo, race president Tris Carta says he expects a milestone year.
"I'm anticipating the record of 21:19 is going down," Carta said. "You're going to see a dramatic finish on Main Street in Manchester."
"I think the record is definitely a possibility there's so many great athletes here," Rupp added.
