MANCHESTER, Conn. — Following the 85th Manchester Road Race (MRR), officials held their 35th Ray Crothers Blood Drive at Manchester High School.
The drive, which happened Friday, saw 335 pints of blood donated. Lance Morgan, a member of the MRR Executive Committee and who coordinated the drive, said the blood donated will benefit over 1,000 patients.
“We are ecstatic with the results,” Morgan said, who is a physician’s assistant and longtime MRR volunteer. “There is such a critical shortage of blood in our state and nation, and we are profoundly grateful to our wonderful donors, volunteers, the American Red Cross staff and our financial sponsors for making the blood drive so successful.”
The blood collection effort, which began in 1986, honors the memory of Crothers, who won the road race in 1965 and ran in it for 43 years. Road Race officials decided to name the blood drive for the former champion after he died of cancer in 2008.
Morgan said that a total of 7,522 pints of blood have been donated at the event since it was initiated by the race committee 35 years ago.
Last November, although the road race was held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the committee held the blood drive in conjunction with the Red Cross as usual on the day after Thanksgiving and collected 306 units of blood. In recent years, the event has become one of the largest single-day collection efforts in the state.
“We intend to keep sponsoring the blood drive annually," Morgan added. "It’s our way of showing thanks to the community that has been so tremendously supportive of our road race."
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Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.
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