Thursday Nights Under the Lights, presented by TicketNetwork will take place every Thursday night from July 5^th through August 9^th and will be open to all ages and abilities with a special emphasis on youth and high school athletes. Manchester Running Company will put on the meets for the third year with an expected attendance of about 100 athletes each week. The track and field meets feature events on the track ranging from 100 meters to 2 miles as well as jumping and throwing events.

“We are very excited to have TicketNetwork as our title sponsor for this year’s series,” Patrick Byrne of Manchester Running Company said. “TicketNetwork has dozens of employees who are very active in our community, especially in educational and recreational programs of our youth and we are looking forward to their involvement with our track & field program.”

Each Thursday of the series, track and field events will begin at 6:00 p.m.; their will be eight running events, three jumping events, and two throwing events each week. The cost to take part in the entire series is just $20 for residents, $16 for youth, and $40 for non-residents; participants may register for just one week at a time for $5 (resident), $4 (youth) and $10 for non-Manchester residents.

For all the details please click here. 

Run MS will benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, CT Chapter and is expected to draw over 300 participants. Anyone interested in joining the Manchester Running Company team can register for the event here. The cost of registration is $30 leading up to race day and will increase to $35 if you choose to register the day of the event. Manchester Running Company will be the mile 1 sponsor.

Prize money is available to the first male and female finisher and there will be age group division award winners as well. A Cinco de Mayo themed fun-run will be held immediately after the 5k and the cost to enter is just $5. Light post-race refreshments will be available.

Multiple sclerosis  (MS) is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system (CNS), which is made up of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. Symptoms may be mild, such as numbness in the limbs, or severe, such as paralysis or loss of vision. The progress, severity, and specific symptoms of MS are unpredictable and vary from one person to another. Today, new treatments and advances in research are giving new hope to people affected by the disease.

If you have questions about the run or joining the Manchester Running Company team, email Patrick Byrne at patrick.byrne@nmss.org

Conditions were not ideal at all in Boston with temperatures reaching the mid 80′s and “on the road” temperatures peaking at 102 degrees. Despite all that, our friends toughed it out to run some great times, considering the conditions.

Nick Au Yeung was the first MRC runner across the line in 3:16, though he was disappointed in his finish, he still finished in the top 1,500 overall.

Elaina Mertens and Kristyn Meade also ran superb times for the day as Meade ran a very strong second half to chase down many runners and finish in 3:46:48 while Mertens finished just behind her friend in 3:47:14, both were in the top 1,000 overall female finishers.

Congratulations to all those who finished yesterday!

MANCHESTER, Conn. – March 16, 2012 — The Fourth Annual Finally Spring 5k! and Rockville Bank Kids Run takes place in just one week on Saturday morning, March 24, 2012 at Howard/Porter Reservoir in Manchester. All proceeds from the event will benefit Public Allies Connecticut.

Manchester Running Company is pleased to host the event for a fourth consecutive year and Rockville Bank will sponsor a one-mile kids run for the second year in a row! Great Harvest Bread, which has been a sponsor all four years will provide a morning breakfast spread along with Century 21.

Prize sponsors for the race include Thomas Hooker Brewery, Shady Glen, Courtyard by Marriott, and St. Laurent Health & Performance.

The Rockville Bank Kids Run will start promptly at 9:30 a.m. followed by the Finally Spring 5k! at 10:00 on the 24th. The races will start and finish on Ferguson St. adjacent to Highland Park School; much of the race courses take place on the trails of Howard/Porter Reservoir.

With an expected record crowd of 350 participants, parking will be at a premium this year as Highland Park School is under renovation and parking is not available in that parking lot as it has been in the past. MRC encourages participants to be prepared to park on neighboring streets around Highland Park School; participants should be prepared to walk about 1/4 mile as the parking will be spread out. There is no parking on Ferguson St. near the reservoir. Portable restrooms will be available.

On the competitive side the race will feature tw0-time defending champion Jake Gurzler who won in 17:29 in 2011 and Linda Yomamoto returns to defend her women’s crown.

MRC is also hosting a shoe drive with Soles4Souls and everyone is welcome to bring new or gently worn shoes to donate.

For more information about the race please contact manchesterrunningcompany@gmail.com

Manchester Running Company would like to encourage all participants and others to donate new or “gently worn” shoes on March 24 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Simply drop off your shoes in the Soles4Souls bin at the race to help us meet our goal of at least 75 pairs of donated shoes by the end of the day. The 2011 event saw 60 pairs of shoes donated.

Manchester Running Company will also be accepting donations for Soles4Souls at the Finally Spring 5k! All shoe and monetary donations are tax deductible.

“We can use the shoes taking up space in your closet to change the world one pair at a time,” said Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls.  ”We need our partners in Manchester to ‘STEP UP’ and get behind our call to action.  It’s one of the most simple yet profound gifts you can make, because it will greatly improve someone’s life in the most difficult of times,” he said.

“We have a goal of donating at least $5,000 through the Finally Spring 5k!, be it through shoe donations or monetary gifts” said Patrick Byrne, MRC’s Director.  ”We look forward to seeing just how generous the running community can be through our initiatives and hopefully the 20 pairs we donate will only be a small part of the donation to Soles4Souls.”

Manchester Running Company will also take shoe donations for the week leading up to the Finally Spring 5k! and interested donors may email manchesterrunningcompany@gmail.com.

That being said, we still like to race and train for events in and around the state. In Connecticut we have been very fortunate with a mild winter in 2012 (knock on wood) and are looking forward to some great races in the coming weeks and months. We’ll try to go through every distance for you.

Disclaimer: No one is paying us and there have been no exchanges of any kind to write anything about their race or website.

Personally, (yeah, that’s right I just switched from using “we” to “me” – I’m going with the singular from here on out in this post) I like to start my season with a long race and work my way down; of course this thought changes in marathon season, but for me Spring of 2012 is not a marathon season. Moving on, I like to start with a good solid distance run, and the Sugarloaf Mountain Athletic Club (SMAC) puts on a great 10-miler in Amherst, Mass. at the end of February each year. This year the Jones Realty Amherst 10-miler is on February 26 at 11:00 a.m. This race has something for everyone, prize money for the elite, team scoring, and they really do a great job putting on the event. It’s a great way to kick off the season!

After a nice 10-miler to get the legs going we have a few options for really high-quality races. One option is head back up to Western Mass and run the Holyoke St. Patrick’s 10k; if you’re looking for a real party atmosphere or some incredible competition, this is the place to go, spectators are out in full-force and this really is an event you should try.  If you’re not up for a big party and like to hang around and support the local crowd, the Bolton Road Race is the place to be. The Bolton Road Race has everything you need in a local road race and features a 5 mile and 5k option. Both of these races are on St. Patrick’s Day weekend in 2012 – Holyoke is on Saturday, March 17, and Bolton is on March 18th.

Continuing further down the distance spectrum we have the Finally Spring 5k! on March 24, 2012. Well we just can’t write enough about this event so we won’t, you can check out the link at the top right hand corner of every one of our pages for all the details. This is a fun day for everyone and who else in the state gives out free running socks!? You should act soon if you want those, today is Feb. 4 and we have 4 pairs of socks left to give out. In just our fourth year we are expecting close to 300 participants.

April gives us a number of 5k’s in Connecticut and if we had to pick just one, we would plug the Eco Husky 5k. This is a lovely little 5k started by Nick Au Yeung in 2006 that tours the UConn campus and the proceeds go towards a great cause – as most do. Fortunately, we don’t have to plug just one race in April, so we would also recommend the Glastonbury River Run. As much as the Hartford Marathon Foundation doesn’t need our endorsement, it’s still a great run that has grown substantially in the last few years. We might also be endorsing it because a friend of ours works for HMF but that’s besides the point.

May is when we get in to the fun stuff! Who doesn’t like to challenge themselves with a nice, short mile. While this is a tough race to find, it’s still a fan favorite and who doesn’t like a free race! The first option we have is slightly limited as you have to be an alum of a high school that participates in the JI Track Meet, if your town doesn’t get the JI, you’re probably not an alum of that high school. Either way, it’s the one time a year all the older guys and girls get to strap on their spikes and go all out on the track in mile against each other, it really is a great time. If that wasn’t enough to convince you, they also hand out the most obnoxious trophy in the world to the winner!

Finally, Memorial Day is one of my favorite races of the year, it is little known, but hopefully this plug will help change that. The East Hartford Memorial Mile, they don’t do much promotion for it at all, which is a shame because a downhill mile on the road is a great time, it costs $20 but all that goes right to the East Hartford Parks & Rec. department and takes all of 30 minutes total out of your day, that includes driving there, warming up and cooling down.

I’m sorry I don’t have a link for the last two races but as we get closer I’ll be sure to put one up. If you have a race you’d like us to talk about please let us know on our Facebook page! How do you get to our Facebook page? See our home page, it’s right there on the right hand side.

Happy Running!

The Finally Spring 5k!, which raises funds for Public Allies Connecticut has grown by over 35 participants in each year since its inception in 2009. The field for 2012 is expected to be over 300 participants with 50 youth expected to participate.

Registration for the event will take place online as well as on race day and is just $15 now through February 22nd when the cost will go up to $20 per runner. The youth race is just $5 and the price will not change. The first 100 registered participants will receive Manchester Running Company socks.

The FS5K! is one of the first trail races of the year in Connecticut and one of just a handful of races in Manchester that are open to the public. The race will take place at Howard/Porter Reservoir on Ferguson Street, adjacent to Highland Park School.  The youth race will begin at 9:30 a.m. followed by the 5k at 10:00 a.m.

The resolution of MRC is to post more on our website, more articles, helpful insights, races, and of course everyone’s favorite – our personal opinions.

(the rest of this is copied from our Christmas post but hey it’s effort)

2011 was a great year for Manchester Running Company as our featured event the Finally Spring 5k! continued to grow with over 225 registrants. We were able to raise well over $1,500 for Public Allies and donated 35 pairs of shoes to Soles4Souls with our spring event.

Despite the fact that we weren’t able to reach out to the youth with Thursday Nights Under the Lights – Summer Track & Field Series, we did make it out to many summer events including the JI Summer Series and Bolton Summer XC Series. Don’t worry we will be back with our Track & Field Series in 2012!

2011 allowed us to co-sponsor the JI Track Meet’s Alumni Mile in May, a sponsorship we are truly proud of as it gives those alum who are out of college the rare treat of a competitive mile on the track.

Labor Day weekend allowed us the opportunity to host the only “other” road race in Manchester, with the Life Without Limits 5k. This was truly a special event as it benefited United Cerebral Palsy of Hartford and we had our first celebrity appearance at an MRC event. Team Hoyt graced us with their presence at the event which was a huge crowd pleaser and it was an honor to meet the Hoyt’s.

Many of our club runners challenged themselves in 2011 with a marathon for the first time and fared very well, we also had numerous PR’s in the half-marathon, Carrie Corbett won her age group at the Hartford Half, and Jake Gurzler kept up his winning ways at several local road races.  Most of us also ran the Manchester Road Race, which of course remains the greatest running event on earth.

2012 is looking to be a great year with the fourth rendition of the Finally Spring 5k! and Rockville Bank Kids Run as we have new sponsor commitments already, great prizes to give away, and of course the socks, who could forget the socks! Register today as we are on pace for socks to be gone by Jan. 20th (first 100 registered). As already mentioned, 2012 will see the return of our Track Series, the Spring Street Mile (with a freshly paved course), and perhaps even a triathlon.

Have a great year!

Pat & Tyler
(neither of us are pictured in case you were wondering)

Despite the fact that we weren’t able to reach out to the youth with Thursday Nights Under the Lights – Summer Track & Field Series, we did make it out to many summer events including the JI Summer Series and Bolton Summer XC Series. Don’t worry we will be back with our Track & Field Series in 2012!

2011 allowed us to co-sponsor the JI Track Meet’s Alumni Mile in May, a sponsorship we are truly proud of as it gives those alum who are out of college the rare treat of a competitive mile on the track.

Labor Day weekend allowed us the opportunity to host the only “other” road race in Manchester, with the Life Without Limits 5k. This was truly a special event as it benefited United Cerebral Palsy of Hartford and we had our first celebrity appearance at an MRC event. Team Hoyt graced us with their presence at the event which was a huge crowd pleaser and it was an honor to meet the Hoyt’s.

Many of our club runners challenged themselves in 2011 with a marathon for the first time and fared very well, we also had numerous PR’s in the half-marathon, Carrie Corbett won her age group at the Hartford Half, and Jake Gurzler kept up his winning ways at several local road races.  Most of us also ran the Manchester Road Race, which of course remains the greatest running event on earth.

2012 is looking to be a great year with the fourth rendition of the Finally Spring 5k! and Rockville Bank Kids Run as we have new sponsor commitments already, great prizes to give away, and of course the socks, who could forget the socks! Register today as we are on pace for socks to be gone by Jan. 20th (first 100 registered). As already mentioned, 2012 will see the return of our Track Series, the Spring Street Mile (with a freshly paved course), and perhaps even a triathlon.

Have a great holiday season!

Pat & Tyler
(neither of us are pictured in case you were wondering)

In no particular order (the numbers just make it easier to read)…

15. At any time of year, to anyone in or around Manchester you can refer to the Manchester Road Race as just “the road race”. We love this because during the conversation no one has to ask which race you are talking about, the event is so popular that it can be referred to in the most generic terms and locals know exactly what the conversation is about.  P.S. it is NOT a “turkey trot”, don’t call it that, it’s offensive.

14. Everyone starts at the same time. You see so many races now that feature a different race for the elites or a different start time. We love the fact that everyone has a chance in Manchester, it’s true racing, man0-a-mano…if you want to get to the front you’re going to have to work for it. The winners get a few grand for taking first, they earn it in Manchester.

13. The course is a complete mystery. Not the actual course we all know where it goes, but to this day (this will be my 18th running) I have not spoken to anyone who knows how to truly master this course. Do you run a hard first mile to get out well only to suffer up the hill? Do you go out slow and run the hill hard? Can I recover on the downhill? So many questions and I have tried running this race with a different strategy 9 times and still haven’t come up with the answer.

12. The elite fields. Manchester has seen some of the greatest runners come down Main St. Not only Olympic Champions but also some of the most popular runners as well. Frank Shorter, Joan Samuelson, a bunch of Kenyans and Ethiopians whose names I can’t spell without looking up, Alan Webb, Marty Fagan, Sally Kipyego, Emilie Mondor, Amby Burfoot, and tons of others!

11. The crowds. This is the only non-marathon I have ever run where the crowds are out and loud throughout the whole course.

10. Waiting for the start. This might be the only day of the year we enjoy waiting in a long line. We try to get there about 15 minutes early just to see all the people lined up for the start. If you are fast enough to get a seed card it’s a little bonus as well, especially when you are younger, it’s almost like being an elite, then the gun goes off and you realize you aren’t very special after all.

9. Tradition and no compromise. We have a friend, we’ll call him Nick Au Yeung, he went to grad school in Oregon and each and every year he comes back for the road race. Obviously he likes his family and appreciates seeing his friends but if there’s one thing he’ll never miss on Thanksgiving, it’s the road race. We love this attitude, no matter how far away a spouse’s family lives, many of us will sacrifice just about anything to be there on Main St. for the race.

8. The history. I bought the book about the Manchester Road Race for the history of it and the fact that you can see all the pictures of this race over the last 75 years, it’s really pretty awesome to be a part of. Just an editor’s personal note here: As far as the book itself goes, don’t expect great literature, a novel, or really even great journalism, it’s not designed for that, the pictures are really what makes it worth buying.

9. The course again. The fact that it is a loop, and just one loop makes it special. You don’t have to cross over the same road twice, you don’t have to run point to point and worry about how to get to the start or finish. Mentally, it makes for an enjoyable race. Sure you have to go up the hill, but you start and finish in the same spot so you must have to go down hill at some point. Speaking of which…

8. The hill. The hill on Highland St. doesn’t have a name, this is why we love it, no one has come up with a catchy slogan like “heartbreak hill” or anything like that – we’ll make sure it stays that way. The hill itself, she is a cruel mistress, and not the part that everyone thinks is so bad either; if we all took a left just after Highland Park Market on to Wyllis we would think much differently of this hill. But alas, we are to continue on and the real punch comes just after the Market where you have to give one last surge after the 2-mile mark. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is where you tell yourself every year “I forgot about this part”.

7. Bagpipes. You heard me. They are all over the course and if an old man in a kilt playing some crazy tunes on the old bag pipes doesn’t get you going, well you need to check your pulse.

6. The people who don’t know about the road race. Okay so this is maybe our least favorite thing but it is worth mentioning. You seriously live in Manchester and don’t know about the road race!? This baffles us. A police sergeant who we work closely with at the Finally Spring 5k! likes to tell us a story; he handles the intersection of Highland St. and Porter on race morning, he makes sure traffic doesn’t get through for the safety of everyone. Well anyway he tells us every year there is always someone who doesn’t know the race is going on and yells at him “I need to get the turkey in the oven now! I’ve never heard of this race, why are they doing it today, what a stupid idea!” and he just smiles and says back to them “75 years ma’am, 75 years we’ve been running this race on this course”.

5. The finish. Apparently we weren’t done talking about the course. ”Like the lure of the siren’s song, never what it seems to be, yet who among us can resist?” – had to throw a Seinfeld quote in there. Those who have run it several times before know that we are to wait to unleash our finishing sprint, wait until the road goes uphill once again. One of our favorite things is watching runners sprint down the hill off the turn from Center St. only to be caught and out of breath with a few hundred strides to go. Be careful runners, don’t go too early, it is a long road to the finish!

4. No frills and still a sell out. This is what we like about the participants in the road race! We are blue collar, we make sure it sells out even if “all” we get is the experience. There are no goodie bags, no coddling, no special bag checks, just the bare essentials. The Road Race Committee does an amazing job with just those essentials too! We are glad they don’t give out a goodie bag full of coupons.

3. Hoping that someone from Manchester will one day win this race. We can dream can’t we!?

2. Wind, rain, snow, sleet, sun. I’ll admit some years have been downright miserable, I think 2006 was about 34 degrees and pouring rain, other times it has snowed, and then there are sunny days! No matter the weather we are out there every year.

1. ”This is Thanksgiving in Manchester!”  We have been campaigning with the state senate to make this the offical start of Thanksgiving, starting in 2012 Thanksgiving won’t offically begin until these words are spoken.

We’ll see you on Thursday!