Manchester Road Race

The Manchester Road Race is a 4.737-mile (7.623 km) footrace held every Thanksgiving Day morning in Manchester, Connecticut, one of the oldest continuously run Thanksgiving Day races in the United States. First staged in 1927 by Manchester High School cross country captain Frank "Duke" Haraburda, the race paused during the Great Depression (1935-1944) and again in 2020 for COVID-19, but has otherwise run every year since, reaching its 90th edition in 2026. The loop course starts and finishes on Main Street in front of St. James Church, sending runners up the demanding Highland Street hill just past the two-mile mark — with a $1,000 prime and a King and Queen of the Hill title for the first runners to crest it — before a fast downhill drop on Porter Street back toward the finish. The field is capped at 14,000 runners and typically draws well over 12,000 finishers plus roughly 1,000 unregistered runners, alongside a strong international elite field; the 2025 champions set course records of 20:54 (men) and 22:55 (women, set in 2021). Long sponsored by Manchester Memorial Hospital (ECHN), the race is presented in 2026 by new title sponsor Hartford HealthCare. Proceeds benefit Rebuilding Together of Manchester and Habitat for Humanity of North Central Connecticut, plus roughly 18 local charities.