MRC Runners Second at Ragnar

Foxboro, Mass., (June 26, 2010) — Manchester Running Company took second place at the 193-mile New England Ragnar Relay over Memorial Day weekend.  The race traveled the roads of southern New England from New Haven, Conn. to Foxboro, Mass.

“MRC Runners” completed the course in a time of just over 22 hours, an average of 6:55 pace for legs ranging from three to nine miles.  The team consisted of 11 men and one woman; led by team captain Kevin Beals and included Matt Anderson, Ryan Miller, Josh Miller, Brian Miller, Matt Conyers, Mike McCall, Alan McCall, Brian McClelland, Matt Coraccio, David Krinjak, Lanham Marks-Hamilton and John Longo.

On the track, Dani Kennedy moved into fourth place on the national list for her age division in the 1600 as she clocked a 6:11.47.

MRC would like to thank everyone who came out this summer to have a great time! We’ll see you next year!

TNUL 2010 Week 6 Results

TNUL 2010 Week 4 Results

TNUL 2010 Week 3 Results

TNUL 2010 Results Week 2

TNUL 2010 Week 1 Results

About The Series

MANCHESTER, Conn. (June 26, 2010) — The second season of Manchester Running Company’s Thursday Nights Under the Lights Summer Track & Field Series will begin on July 8, 2010 at Manchester High School at 6:00 p.m. The 2009 season was highly successful and MRC has added two meets in 2010 to make it a six-meet series.

Aptly named, the meets will take place every Thursday for six weeks (July 8th, 15th, 22nd,29th and August 5th and 12th).  Each meet will feature youth boys, youth girls, men’s and women’s divisions and each division will run separately and compete in each event.  Every week will start promptly at 6:00 p.m. at the Manchester High School Track, ample parking is available adjacent to the track on Brookfield Street.

MRC has added the 110-hurdles this season to three meets, and although not advertised, any parties interested in competing in a 4 x 400 meter relay race may do so at the end of each meet, free of charge (if participants competed in a previous event).

On August 5th, the standard meets take a break for a Relay Night featuring six relay races including a one-mile relay where MRC throws out the rule book and will allow runners to exchange the baton as often as needed in any location on the track so long as four-laps are completed total and each runner goes at least 100 meters.

Cost to compete in the events are as follows:

Manchester Resident (Youth – 12 and under): $3.00 per event/$5.00 unlimited
Manchester Resident Open: $5.00 per event/$7.00 unlimited

Non-resident Youth: $4.00 per event/$6.00 unlimited
Non-resident Open: $7.00 per event/$9.00 unlimited

Team discounts are available. For more information coaches should email manchesterrunningcompany@gmail.com

For complete information please visit the Track & Field Series page here.

MANCHESTER, June 11, 2010 — Jacob Gurzler won his third consecutive Manchester Running Company sponsored race while Ashley Reichelt won her second straight MRC Race at the first Pride in Manchester 5k held tonight in Manchester.

Ninety-nine official finishers crossed the line and Gurzler was first in 15:46 as three runners broke the 16-minute barrier.  Reichelt was the first female finisher in a time of 19:18.

The Pride in Manchester Committee requested that Manchester Running Company be the official race director and event management company of their inaugural event.  The Pride in Manchester 5k will take place on Friday (June 11th) evening with a planned ice-cream social event after – all participants can enjoy free ice cream after their race.  Prizes and awards will all come from Manchester establishments and there will be special award divisions for Manchester Residents.

Registration is now open online for $18.00 per 5k entrant before June 10th and $20.00 on race day; the maximum registration fee per family is $45.00.  For complete details about the race please click here; for more information about Pride in Manchester’s Heritage Week, please click here.

Photo by Bill Shea

On perhaps the nicest day of the year so far (68 degrees and sunny), over 200 participants not only registered for the race but dozens brought with them new or gently worn shoes which were donated to Soles4Souls. Proceeds of race registration will benefit Public Allies of CT while the 75 pairs of shoes donated will be distributed throughout the world.

Manchester Running Company wishes to thank the hundreds of participants who registered for the event and also extend a great thank you to the volunteers from

Photo by Bill Shea

Public Allies of CT for their time and efforts.  The race was also sponsored by Big Y, Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS), Great Harvest Bread, and Century 21.

Jake Gurzler won the race in a new course (3.25 miles) record time of 17:21 while Ashley Reichelt defended her women’s title in a time of 21:05.

All Photos by Bill Shea

Manchester, Conn. (March 16) — The Second Annual Finally Spring 5k! to benefit Public Allies of Connecticut will take place this Saturday (March 20) at 10:00 a.m. at Howard/Porter Reservoir in Manchester. The forecast is calling for a beautiful 65 degrees with partly cloudy skies.

Manchester Running Company is once again the title sponsor and host while other sponsors include Big Y, Great Harvest Bread, Eastern Mountain Sports, and Century 21.  Public Allies is a non-profit organization with a mission of advancing new leadership to strengthen communities, non-profits and civic participation.

Registration will begin at 8:15 a.m. on Saturday morning at Highland Park School on the corner of Ferguson St. and Porter St. in Manchester. Parking and restrooms will also be available in Highland Park School.  Cost to register in advance is $15.00 for runners, $10.00 for walkers, and $8.00 for youth (14 and under). Registration costs on race day increase by $5.00 per person. Pre-registration is available online at manchesterrunningcompany.com and closes on Thursday (March 18) at 11:59 p.m.

The course is a 5k trail race; the 2009 winner was Manchester native and regional elite Drew Best while Ashley Reichelt was the women’s winner.  Free running socks will be available for the first 100 registrants; raffle prizes, refreshments and water will also be provided and are included in the cost of registration.

Manchester Running Company will also be hosting a Shoe Drive with Soles4Souls.  MRC has pledged 25 pairs of new shoes to donate to Soles4Souls which provides footwear for those around the world in areas of natural disaster.  Any new shoes or gently worn shoes are greatly appreciated and may be dropped off at registration – all donations are tax deductible.

Mertens took home a $125 prize for being the first female finisher from the three neighboring counties around Amherst.  The Springfield resident was 233rd in the field of 691 runners.  Mertens was clocked in 1:09:27, a 6:57 per mile pace, for the hilly ten-mile loop.

Drew Best continued to improve on his best times as he was the eighth finisher overall in a scintillating time of just 53:03.  Best’s average mile time was 5:19.

Kristyn Meade also competed on the women’s side as she finished in 1:16:14 and Patrick Byrne was clocked in 1:02:24.  Complete Results can be found here.

To find out more about Manchester Running Company’s Club or to join click here!

With the recent earthquake in Haiti, Manchester Running Company would like to encourage all participants and others to donate new or “gently worn” shoes on March 20 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Many of the residents of Haiti are without even the most basic of needs, having shoes on their feet will help more than those in America can even imagine.  Simply drop off your shoes in the Soles4Souls bin at the race to help us meet our goal of at least 50 pairs of donated shoes by the end of the day.

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 Co-Owner.  ”We look forward to seeing just how generous the running community can be through our initiatives and hopefully the 25 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.

Week 1 (Jan. 10, 2010) saw ten official finishers in the open 5k, approximately 15 brave men and women toed the line and after some course confusion a few requested their results not be posted out of fairness.  We promise for the next week the course will be marked more clearly with volunteers out on the course for guidance.

Results:

1.  Ken Clark  - 23:11

2. John Hankins – 23:17

3. Michael Tassinari – 23:35

4. Amy Stewart – 23:59 ** First Female **

5. Aria Childress -24:12

6. Kathy Furlani   – 24:23

7. Bruce Marvonek – 24:50

8. Jesse Quagliaroli – 27:30

9. Clinton Morse – 27:50

10. Vicki Quagliaroli – 53:50