MANCHESTER, Conn — The course used in Manchester's Annual Thanksgiving Day Road Race has changed ever so slightly since being remeasured ahead of this year's race.
Since the last measurement in 1986, Manchester Road Race runners would traverse the 4.748-mile loop course around town, a tradition that will continue into its 88th rendition this November.
After the course was remeasured this past June, MRR officials determined that the new measurement is 4.737 miles, a 0.011-mile difference, or about a 58-foot difference in the course. Or to be more precise, just 59 feet, and 11 and 7/16ths of an inch shorter, race officials said.
This image shows the former 4.748-mile loop course:
Race officials are not entirely sure how the course distance changed, but they believe a possible contributor is the road work that took place over the past 40 or so years.
“Repaving done along the race route over the years, and road alterations at the corner of Main and Charter Oak Streets when a drug store was built there several years ago, may likely have resulted in the slightly shorter length,” Dr. Tris Carta, President of the Manchester Road Race Committee, said.
The course was remeasured using a three-person team riding bicycles as part of MRR's goal of becoming a certified USA Track & Field (USATF) race. Race officials said the remeasurement utilized the same equipment and procedures used when it was last measured.
The Manchester Road Race is a well-attended race. Elite participants from all over the world vie to cross the finish line first, with as many as 11,000 others donned in costumes and turkey hats trotting behind.
Conner Mantz set the current MRR course record of 21:04 in 2022. Weini Kelati set the women’s standard of 22:55 in 2021. The measurement change will not erase any records, as race officials said the course records are not based on distances.
"With the exception of repositioned mile markers and split clocks, there will be no perceptible changes,” Carta added.
The 88th Manchester Road Race will be held on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, 2024. Registration begins on Sept. 1 at 5 a.m. Click here for more details.
Leah Myers is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at LMyers@fox61.com
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