We had a pretty good year at Manchester Running Company, and we thank all of you for that. Your support of our events, whether it was by running, volunteering, sponsoring or just liking an event on social media, it all helps and we are greatly appreciative.

Let's start with some quick numbers:

• We had 73 new runners/walkers join the MRC Running Club in 2016! It's a bargain at a one-time fee of just $25, you get so many discounts to various running places and events and an awesome weekly race report.
• We added two events to our repertoire, the CT Women of Hope Run and the Barnum Financial Group Run 4 Life 5k, both in September.
• 1,467 people participated in our seven events held throughout the year. 450 of those came to the Beards & Beers 5k.
• With your help, we assisted various organizations in raising $60,375 through our events

Club highlights include:

• At least one runner participated in a race in every single weekend of the year.
• Our runners raced in 21 states and 2 countries
• 20 MRC Club Records were broken or set
• Our USATF-CT Racing team captured four team titles and earned nearly $3,000 in prize money
• Club runners collectively set over 65 personal bests.

Additionally we are proud to have launched the MRC Track & Field Series as a non-profit this year and we hope you join us at the Manchester High School track this summer!

2016 also had a sad note for the club and the CT community as a whole; the club lost Ned Smith, who was the beloved Band Director at Coventry High School, the loss was felt by the Mohegan Striders as well as Ned's father is a member of that club. Ned ran his last race on March 26th as he did the St. Joseph's School 3 Miler and Likety Split Mile and his presence is missed.

We hope you join us for many of our events in 2017 or join our club! We've got tons of great stuff going on all the time! If you have any questions, you can email us anytime.