MANCHESTER, Conn. — It was the year of the Bicentennial when Dr. Dave Prindiville first ran the Manchester Road Race (MRR).
He had become hooked on running at the same time thousands of others laced up their sneakers.
The following year, when the Manchester Road Race saw a large increase in participants, Prindiville and two other local men, Dr. Eamon Flanagan and Atty. Richard MacKenzie, formed what would become the Manchester Road Race Committee.
They modernized the road race and implemented changes that enabled the MRR to grow as the years went on from 1,381 entrants in 1977 to 14,361 registered runners in 2014, the last road race before Prindiville retired.
None of the men had ever previously been involved with managing a major road race.
“However, we all had one thing in common,” Prindiville wrote several years ago. “We all loved running, and we all loved our Town of Manchester.”
Prindiville succeeded Flanagan as president of the organization in 1990 and held that position until 2006. He also served many years as the race’s elite runner coordinator and as head of its development committee, which recruits financial sponsors for the MRR.
Under his leadership, the road race donated more than $1 million to area charitable and non-profit organizations.
On Tuesday the Manchester Road Race committee named Prindiville honorary chairperson of this year’s road race, which will be run for the 86th time on November 24.
Prindiville, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, retired to Cape Cod in 2015. He is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and Tufts University. He is an adjunct faculty member at Tufts.
Doug Stewart is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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