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Manchester Road Race announces new director of race operations

In the official announcement, Redman said that one of his immediate priorities would be continuing the races' reputation as an inclusive and “runner-friendly” event.

MANCHESTER, Conn. — Manchester Road Race officials have announced a new director of race operations to succeed Jim Balcome, who served as race director for the past 43 years.

 Thayer Redman, 53, has been named the new director. Redman has been a physical education teacher at Manchester High School since 1995 and worked alongside Balcome as assistant race director for over a decade.

“Thayer brings a great wealth of experience and enthusiasm to our road race,“ said Dr. Tris Carta, president of the Manchester Road Race committee. “We are so pleased that he has agreed to take over the reins from Jim Balcome on race day.”

Recently, Redman stepped down after his 28 years at Manchester High School. In 2011, he was honored as the Connecticut and New England Track Coach of the Year and was one of eight finalists for the National Track Coach of the Year award.

Redman was also an assistant high school football coach for many years at the high school as well as RHAM High School in Hebron.

A graduate of the University of Maine, Redman was on the Black Bears' track team and also played for the school's football team.

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“I have been to every race since then, either cheering on my students, running with my family, or volunteering with clean-up and registration,” Redman said. “When Jim Balcome asked me to join the race committee and subsequently become his assistant, I jumped at it. I believe the Manchester Road Race is one of the best sporting events anywhere.”

Redman, who was raised in Maine, moved to Connecticut in the mid-1990s after teaching on a Navajo Reservation in Arizona. His wife, Susan Moriarty Redman, is a Manchester native, and she introduced him to the Road Race in 1994. They now live in Hebron and have two children; Cal, a member of the Stony Brook University football team, and Piper, who attends the University of Maine.

In the official announcement, Redman said that one of his immediate priorities would be continuing the Road Race's reputation as an inclusive and “runner-friendly” event.  

“We have some of the best runners in the world competing as well as weekend joggers,” he said. “It’s a wonderful tradition that allows everyone to be part of the best day in Manchester.”

The 87th Manchester Road Race will be held on Thanksgiving Day (November 23) at 10 a.m.  

The 4.748-mile run through the town’s central streets, one of the nation’s best-known Turkey Day races, starts and finishes on Main Street in Manchester, in front of St. James Church.  

Learn more about the race here.

Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.  

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